1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. Welcome to What could Happen Here, a 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:11,040 Speaker 1: show about things falling apart. I'm Garrison Davis and this 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: episode is going to be a special audio companion piece 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: to an article published last night on Substack at shatter Zone. 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: That's Robert's usual substack, though last night I publish an 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: article detailing the online history and transvestigation discourse regarding a 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin. The article has pictures and 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 1: hyperlinks which might help explain some of the stuff I'm 9 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: talking about, but I'll do my best to relate it 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: here to you on the podcast feed. Another Monday in 11 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: America and another school shooting. On the morning of December sixteenth, 12 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: a female student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: Wisconsin shot and killed a teacher and fellow student, and 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: injured six others before killing herself. Initially, police falsely reported 15 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: the shooter was seventeen years old, but late Monday night 16 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: they correctly identified the deceased shooter as fifteen year old 17 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: Natalie Ruppnow, who went by Samantha or sam. In the 18 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: aftermath of this horrific event, right wing influencers and content 19 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: creators wasted no time in blaming the shooting on trans people, 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: labeling the suspect as another in a series of alleged 21 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: transgender terrorists. But what really happened here had nothing to 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: do with trans people, and this sadly ordinary for the 23 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: United States. In August of twenty twenty four, the father 24 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: of the future school shooter took his daughter to a 25 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: gun range to do trap shooting. Samantha wore a shirt 26 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: bearing the logo of a band KMFDM. In another photo 27 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: of the shooter, we can see the front of the shirt. 28 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: The same design was famously worn by Columbine shooter Eric Harrol, 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: who is a fan of the band. The bulk of 30 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: this new shooter's online footprint suggests a general obsession with 31 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: school shooters and the TCC or True Crime Community, a 32 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: nickname used for the de facto international Columbine fandom. This 33 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: sort of content dominates Samantha's tumbler, which last posted in 34 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: May of twenty twenty four. An alleged online friend of 35 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: the shooter said that she quote posted about school shooters 36 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: all the time unquote end quote, had school shooter leanings unquote. 37 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: Samantha is hardly alone in this. There have been over 38 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: one hundred copycats inspired by the Columbine shooting since nineteen 39 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,239 Speaker 1: ninety nine. A Twitter account believes to have belonged to 40 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: the shooter posted a series of videos that teased and 41 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: glorified school shootings in the days leading up to her 42 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 1: own shooting. The account was created in December of twenty 43 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: twenty four, and the profile picture featured a young man 44 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: in cam ammopants and a tactical backpack. The male profile 45 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: picture was used as evidence by some conservative influencers that 46 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: the shooter must have transitioned, though these same influencers cannot 47 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: agree on whether she was female to male or male 48 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: to female. One user constructed an overlay trying to compare 49 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: the photo of the shooter with her Twitter profile picture. 50 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: This is a ridiculous diagram with about seven images overlaid 51 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: at different opacities, trying to layer the faces and body 52 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: shapes of these two people on top of each other. 53 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: This post is only proof that most of what gets 54 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: passed off as quote unquote ocant online today's just completely 55 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: incompetent rambling and propaganda. The main issue with his diagram 56 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: is that the male profile picture is actually another Columbine copycat. 57 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: A school shooter from Russia, who, similar to Samantha, was 58 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: only fifteen years old when he carried out his shooting. 59 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: Hours after the shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, while right wing 60 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: accounts were still arguing about what sort of transgender the 61 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: shooter had been, a neo Nazi Twitter account named Nitro 62 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: claimed to be friends with the shooter on discord and 63 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: repeatedly denied accusations that the shooter was transgender, calling her 64 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: our quote unquote biological woman. An early complicating factor in 65 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: establishing the motive and identity of the shooter is that 66 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: her alleged Twitter account posted a link to a Google 67 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: doc of her manifesto, but seemingly forgot to make the 68 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: visibility setting public, so you couldn't access the Google doc. 69 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: You had to put in an email for approval, and 70 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: the person who was supposed to approve your email was 71 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: now dead, so there was no way to actually look 72 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: at this person's manifesto. The shooter's alleged Discord friend, Nitro, 73 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: claims to find what he believes to be a snippet 74 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: of a manifesto draft shared by the shooter in a 75 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: Discord group chat based out of the UK, and so 76 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: if this is legitimate and that is a big if. 77 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: This message would have been sent about an hour and 78 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: a half before the shooting, per the discord timestamp. I'm 79 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: going to read a bit of this alleged writing from 80 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: the shooter quote. Women are the only hope for this 81 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: wretched world. But even women have been brainwashed by moids 82 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: for too long. They've internalized the patriarchy and turned on 83 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: each other, always begging for male approval and validation. It's disgusting. 84 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,280 Speaker 1: I realize the truth. Men are irredeemable. Radfem Hitler was 85 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: is fucking vindicated. Now they can't be reformed or redeemed. 86 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: They are a fucking scourge upon the earth. The only 87 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: solution is to total exterminate them and every foid who 88 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: worships these fucking parasites. Every single male must be wiped out, 89 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: from babies to the elderly. Only then can women be 90 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,799 Speaker 1: free to create a new world. All be the pioneer. 91 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: I'll be the first one to take the first step. 92 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: I don't care if their fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, teachers, police, 93 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: and especially n words or politicians. I've been craving to 94 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: kill them all. This is my mission. Only when their 95 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: parasitic sludge has been expunged from the earth. Is when 96 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: then the world will be clean and women can start over. 97 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: It's the only way. In approximately ten minutes, I should 98 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: be dead. It's strange, but it feels good unquote Hopefully 99 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: to most people, this should read like unintelligible gibberish. A 100 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: reactionary quote unquote feminist screed about initiating a wave of 101 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: male targeted violence to cleanse the earth with pepperings of 102 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: moids and foids, which is Internet in cell slang for 103 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: male and female respectively. Also included our racial slurs and 104 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: something called quote unquote radfem Hitler. That last part is 105 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: a reference to a Twitter influencer by the same name 106 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: and the handle hollow earth Turf, whose content is a 107 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: mix of trad influenced right wing feminism with anti trans 108 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: flourishes advocating for a mass purge of moids this includes 109 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: trans women. This account is derided by those both on 110 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: the right and left, but has a small dedicated following 111 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: of conservative radfem and anti trans women with trad or 112 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: often occult interests. The discord Nazi Nitro claimed that the 113 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: shooter was quote unquote a fan of Radfem Hitler and 114 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: talked about the account frequently on Discord, though Nitro previously 115 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: believed her interest in the account was merely ironic. Now, obviously, 116 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: an anonymous Twitter nazi is certainly not the most reliable source, 117 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: but Nitro was the first person to correctly identify and 118 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: post photos of the shooter. Though they could be utilizing 119 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: this newfound clout to troll a widely disliked Twitter user, 120 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: but the fact that he's been right about all other 121 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: details inclines me to not discount his claims just altogether, 122 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: but instead just hold them with a billion pounds of salt. 123 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: Allegations that the shooter was a neo Nazi Radfem certainly 124 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: sent Radfem Hitler into a panic, who quickly deleted her account. Meanwhile, 125 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: some of her online associates worked damage control, claiming to 126 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: have contacted the alleged boyfriend that the shooter had been 127 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: quote unquote e dating, with the apparent intention of disproving 128 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,199 Speaker 1: any ties the shooter had to the Twitter Radfem orbit. 129 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: Through this alleged online boyfriend, the right wing turf Ecosystem 130 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: claimed to have acquired a copy of the quote unquote 131 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: full manifesto. This purported manifesto lacks the anti mail, anti 132 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: moid ramblings of the discord screenshot, but unsurprisingly shares its 133 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: use of racial slurs and glorification of violence, at times 134 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: evocative of Pecca Eric Auvinen's manifesto, a Finnish school shooter 135 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: from two US and seven who killed eight people. Auvinen 136 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: considered himself a quote unquote natural selector who had evolved 137 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:19,199 Speaker 1: beyond the classmates he gunned down. In Samantha's purported manifesto, 138 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: he is mentioned by name as a quote unquote true inspiration. 139 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: Over the course of eight hours, a rad fem Twitter 140 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: account released six pages of what they claimed to be 141 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: Samantha's writing. It contains general misanthropic rambling about humanity and 142 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,079 Speaker 1: parents being quote unquote scum. The writing describes a difficult 143 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: family life, suicidal thoughts, and admiration for school shooters and 144 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: white supremacists. Though it briefly references the accelerationist terror Graham Saints, 145 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: the whole of this piece of writing is much more 146 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: reminiscent of old school column biners than the modern white 147 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: nationalist terror mill u. The alleged manifesto directly names the 148 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: two Columbine shooters, and includes a paragraph on Vladyskov Rosleyakhov, 149 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: another Columbine copycat, but from crimea who also cause played 150 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: as one of the Columbine shooters during his own mass shooting. 151 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: Though the discord Nazi and the reactionary rad femmes question 152 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: the authenticity of the other's alleged manifesto, what both sides 153 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: of the in cell war do agree on is that 154 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: Samantha was not transgender. We're going to go on a 155 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: quick ad break and come back to discuss transvestigation and 156 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: the trans terror panic. Okay, we are back. It seems 157 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: these days the fastest way to get transvestigated is to 158 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: do a school shooting. Transvestigating is the practice of trying 159 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 1: to determine if an individual is transgender. It's often leveled 160 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: against celebrities, athletes, and politicians, but in recent years there's 161 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: been a new common subject of transvestigation, mass shooters, in 162 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: particular school shooters. Myself, Robert Evans, and James Stout previously 163 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 1: reported on this trend back in twenty twenty three, right 164 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: as it grew in prominence after the Nashville Covenant school shooting, 165 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: which police say was committed by a trans man. We 166 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: theorized that the online right was testing out a new 167 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: strategy to attack trans people by associating them with mass 168 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: shootings via the use of selective bias reporting and plane disinformation. 169 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: That fear has come to pass. The modicum of believability 170 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,080 Speaker 1: provided by the Nashville shooting, as it's the only legitimate 171 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: trans related incident that meets criteria for mainstream mass shooting databases, 172 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: was enough to fuel this ongoing strategy for the next 173 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:04,439 Speaker 1: time two years. Since then, conservative influencers have attempted to 174 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: link nearly every viral mass slash school shooting to trans 175 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:14,080 Speaker 1: people to create a false trend. The strategy operates as follows. 176 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: During the first few chaotic hours after a shooting, a 177 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: small group of right wing content creators weaponize the lack 178 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: of verified information to make posts framing an alleged shooter 179 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,839 Speaker 1: as being transgender. This can be done through the use 180 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: of out of context social media posts, doctrine photographs, photos 181 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: of other people, or simply pictures of long or dyed hair. 182 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: All they need is a collection of loose evidence to 183 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: affirm on social media that a mass shooter is really transgender. 184 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: For more context on this, you can listen to an 185 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: episode of it could happen here, I wrote earlier this 186 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: year covering the rise of fake trans terrorists. The goal 187 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: is to get as many of their followers to see 188 00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: and spread these claims as fast as possible. Even if 189 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: it's widely debunked the next day, many who heard the 190 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: false claim won't be aware of the verified correction. All 191 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: these anti trans influencers in need is a brief window 192 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: of time to plant the idea into people's minds, and 193 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 1: then that becomes remembered history. If this strategy is repeated 194 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: every few months whenever there's a new mass shooting, then 195 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,560 Speaker 1: it's pretty easy to create the false perception of a 196 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: growing trend. Now. In reality, trans people per capita are 197 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: actually way less likely to commit a shooting compared to 198 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: SIS people, and are much more likely to be the 199 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: victim of gun violence. But this past Monday, conservative and 200 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: anti trans influencers tried once again to weaponize a tragedy 201 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: for their own hateful agenda. Monday afternoon, Ian Miles Chung 202 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 1: posted trans terrorism must end. Hours later, Laura Lumer wrote quote, 203 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: the trans movement is really turning out to be a 204 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: terrorist movement. Just minutes after police responded to the shooting, 205 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: the conservative influencer Matt Wallace posted that an unknown quote 206 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: unquote witness said that the shooter quote looked to be 207 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: transgender unquote. Wallace, who has over two point two million 208 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: followers on Twitter, provided no source or citation and has 209 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: since deleted this post, but others in the online mega 210 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: orbit parroted this language before any identifying information was released, 211 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: with the user just Jeff from Cali writing a transperson 212 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: targeted and opened fire on students at Abundant Life Christian 213 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: School in Wisconsin twelve hit. The right wing content creator 214 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: Ryan Mada baselessly claimed that the shooter was on hormone 215 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: replacement therapy, calling the shooter quote another mentally unstable psychopath 216 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: who was prescribed puberty blocker and hormones unquote. Mada hosts 217 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: a show on the right wing YouTube alternative Rumble and 218 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: has over one one hundred and twenty three thousand followers 219 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: on Twitter. His tweet claiming the shooter was on HRT 220 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: racked up one point six million quote unquote views and 221 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: seventeen thousand likes in just twelve hours. Larger accounts like 222 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: Tya Wichech's libs of TikTok fuel to undo speculation about 223 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: the gender identity of the shooter, ceding confusion into the 224 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: growing discourse and weaponizing a tragedy for political gain. Quoting 225 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: the police chief saying quote, I don't know if the 226 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: shooter is male or female unquote. A small group of 227 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: conservative influencers have just so successfully created in alternate reality 228 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: in which nearly every new mass shooter is transgender that 229 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: they don't even have to outright say it anymore. Accounts 230 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: like libs of TikTok and Malaysian blogger Ian Miles Chung 231 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: can merely gesture to this reality tunnel they've intentionally created, 232 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: and now thousands of people will affirm this fake reality 233 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: as the obvious truth, backed up by historical precedent of 234 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: fabricated memory. Matt Waller Us posted a photo of the 235 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: shooter and the male profile picture, saying what do you 236 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: notice about the shooter again? Ian Miles Chung posted quote 237 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: police are unable to identify if the school shooter in Madison, 238 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: Wisconsin is male or female, but they do know who 239 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,560 Speaker 1: did it and identified them as a student. Is anyone 240 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: else thinking what I'm thinking? Unquote? This speculation fueled conspiracy theories, 241 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: which spread claiming that police were intentionally withholding information about 242 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: the shooter's gender identity in service of some hidden agenda, 243 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: and actually they were just waiting to like let the 244 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: family know that their daughter was dead and making sure 245 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: they had the correct identification. Very basic stuff. Police always 246 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: do this, but no, it's all part of some secret 247 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: agenda and some hidden narrative. As early as one pm 248 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: EST on Monday, which is just like an hour after 249 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: the shooting would have taken place, the neo Nazi Twitter 250 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: account Nitro correctly identify find the shooter as his online 251 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: friend Sam Samantha. As this name spread online, the multi 252 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,679 Speaker 1: gendered nature of the name added to the speculation that 253 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: the shooter was trans. Scarlett Johnson, an activist with the 254 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: ultra conservative parents' rights group Moms for Liberty Shared self 255 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: admitted unconfirmed reports that the shooter was quote unquote a 256 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: transgender teen who went by Sam or Samantha. As alleged 257 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: pictures of the shooter started to spread online courtesy of Nitro, 258 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: the transvestigation of the shooter only intensified. An unfortunate coincidence 259 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: is that the shooter's given name matches the ancient Sam 260 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: Hide meme, in which extremely online people try to trick 261 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:49,680 Speaker 1: journalists into believing the culprit of a new mass shooting 262 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: was the American comedian Sam Hide. In recent years, the 263 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: meme has turned into the Samantha Hyde meme, used to 264 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: falsely label mass shooters as trans women. One Hide post 265 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: from an unassuming boomer named Ed Massey raked up over 266 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: six hundred thousand views, four point five thousand likes, and 267 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: one and a half thousand retweets. Massy posted quote, when 268 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: you put disturbed children on hormone blockers and sexually mutilate them, 269 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: you're not curing them. You're creating potential school shooters unquote. 270 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: Now it should go without saying, but the use of 271 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: puberty suppressing medication has no link to increased violence. We're 272 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: going to go on one last break and return to 273 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: conclude our discussion of transvestigating school shooters. Okay, we are back. 274 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:55,080 Speaker 1: Time to talk about the potential double flipper. So as 275 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: this transvestigation continued, the quote unquote, we can always tell 276 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:04,680 Speaker 1: crowd ended up transvestigating in both directions. Seemingly unsure of 277 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 1: what a signed gender at birth, this shooter must have had. 278 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: Some believe the shooter was transferm while others concluded they 279 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 1: were trans mask with one reply to an end Wokeness 280 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,880 Speaker 1: tweet reading quote those do not look like female hands, 281 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: and another transvestigation post saying the shooter is a trans kid, 282 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: a female pretending to be a male. Exactly why we 283 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: keep our Second Amendment rights to protect our children from 284 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: this mental health crisis. Zoom in close on her shirt 285 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: and hand gesture unquote. A now deleted post from a 286 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,159 Speaker 1: terf account also attempted to pass off the shooter as 287 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: a transgirl, saying, quote, the Wisconsin school shooter was a 288 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 1: seventeen year old transidentified male. It just keeps happening now 289 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: quote unquote. Trans identified male was usually a transphobodogu whistle 290 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 1: to refer to a trans woman as a male who 291 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: identifies as a trans woman, but sometimes transfoms get confused 292 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: by words and use the phrase to refer to trans 293 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: people who quote unquote identify as men, like this other 294 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,120 Speaker 1: transvestigation post saying quote shooter was a seventeen year old 295 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 1: trans but identified mail now. One of the most widespread 296 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: posts claiming the shooter was a trans guy came from 297 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: an anti Semitic doctor in Denmark with one point four 298 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,199 Speaker 1: million followers. She falsely claimed with no evidence, that the 299 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,639 Speaker 1: shooter was taking testosterone, writing quote, the Wisconsin school shooter 300 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: has been identified as a seventeen year old trans identified 301 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: male another mentally ill girl on testosterone unquote. As of 302 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: Tuesday morning, this post has over three million views, twenty 303 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: two thousand likes, and eight point three thousand retweets. In 304 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: a following post, this doctor blamed quote unquote the Jews 305 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: for inventing transgenderism as a note extremism. Researchers have argued 306 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: that transphobia is structurally similar to anti semitism. Now a 307 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: common piece of anti trans memetic propaganda deployed in the 308 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: wake of mass shootings is the trans shooter collage. This 309 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: format spread after the Nashville school shooting in twenty twenty three, 310 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: and this week Matt Wallace provided us with a brand 311 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: new version. This post is an ugly mishmash of one, two, three, four, five, six, 312 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: seven people's faces with a variety of backgrounds, a purposeless 313 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: red circle in the middle of the image, and text 314 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: that reads quote. Almost every child killed in a mass 315 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: shooting in the last few years was killed by a 316 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: transgender shooter. Now out of all those pictures in this clagh. 317 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: Only one person in this klagh has actually reported to 318 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: be transgender, the Nashville shooter in the upper left. The 319 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: rest of the people pictured are not trans and have 320 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: never claimed to be trans. The person with long hair 321 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: in the lower half the image is Colt Gray, who 322 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: is falsely labeled as trans by far right influencers like 323 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: end Wokenness and Mike Cernovich. Cult Gray's discord posts reveal 324 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: he actually held transphobic beliefs. A more classic version of 325 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,919 Speaker 1: the trans shooter collage format is just five pictures with 326 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: texts next to each of them reading the X shooter 327 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: identified as trans, the X shooter identified as trans right, 328 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: just a big list of five of these names saying 329 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,920 Speaker 1: that they all identified as trans. The version I'm using 330 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,719 Speaker 1: here is courtesy of Limbs of TikTok admin Chaya Reichek, 331 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: who posted this earlier this year. But just as before, 332 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: the majority of the subjects in this meme aren't actually 333 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: trans and it's just full of disinformation. The Colorado Springs 334 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: shooter who targeted a queer club is not actually non 335 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: binary and simply tried to weaponize a false identity to 336 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,359 Speaker 1: get out of hate crime. Charges. The person labeled as 337 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: the Denver shooter is not trans, has never claimed to 338 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: be trans. He just has dyed hair. This individual pictured 339 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: did play the shooting with a transgender male who is 340 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: not pictured. Now. Lastly, though the person pictured as the 341 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: Euvaldi shooter is trans, this is not the actual Euvaldi shooter. 342 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: It's a random trans girl who is one of two 343 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: trans women whose photos were used to falsely label the 344 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 1: shooter as transgender. The other two people in this image 345 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: is the Nashville shooter who does appear to be trans, 346 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,400 Speaker 1: and the perpetrator of the Aberdeen workplace shooting. But back 347 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: to Madison, Wisconsin. So after all of that transvestigating, what 348 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,439 Speaker 1: do we have, just another Columbiner with neo Nazi ties. 349 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: The right has gotten so good at deploying the trans 350 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: shooter as a smoke bomb it obscures the reality of 351 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: the over availability of firearms, the dynamics of online radicalization, 352 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: and the social issues that fuel alienation and anger in youth. 353 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,359 Speaker 1: Instead of focusing on all that on the victims of 354 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: this epidemic of white supremacist violence, we instead have to 355 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: spend a whole day debunking the late shooters pronouns, and 356 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: that's the point. That's what they want us talking about. 357 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: Those who delete their quote unquote trans terrorist posts after 358 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: being conclusively proven wrong, will try the exact same shtick 359 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: in a few months after the next mass shooting goes viral. 360 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,439 Speaker 1: Others won't even care that much. They'll just leave up 361 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: their post, secure in the stability of the reality tunnel 362 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: they helped to create. I'm going to close with a 363 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,920 Speaker 1: quote from Sartra. Never believe that fascists are completely unaware 364 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their 365 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: remarks are frivolous, open to challenge, but they are amusing themselves, 366 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: for it is their adversary who's obliged to use words 367 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: responsibly since he believes in words. This post has been deleted. 368 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 1: It's Happened Here is a production of cool Zone Media 369 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: podcasts from cool Zone Media. Visit our website coolzonmedia dot com, 370 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 371 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can now find 372 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: sources for it could Happen here listed directly in episode descriptions. 373 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:14,719 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.