WEBVTT - The Weaponization of Mass Shootings

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<v Speaker 1>Cool zone media.

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<v Speaker 2>This is it could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. On

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<v Speaker 2>the morning of Sunday, September twenty eighth, a forty year

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<v Speaker 2>old man drove a pickup truck into a Grand Blanc,

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<v Speaker 2>Michigan church. The man started shooting people inside and then

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<v Speaker 2>set the church on fire, burning the building down. Four

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<v Speaker 2>churchgoers died, eight others were injured but have survived, and

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<v Speaker 2>police killed the shooter on the scene. The President, the

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<v Speaker 2>Vice President, and the rest of the right were quick

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<v Speaker 2>to call this yet quote another targeted attack on Christians

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<v Speaker 2>in the United States, to quote Trump on truth Social

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<v Speaker 2>White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt went on Fox and

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<v Speaker 2>Friends the day after the shooting and said this.

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<v Speaker 1>It's unfathomable and as the President rightfully put in his

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<v Speaker 1>true social yesterday, this appears to be yet another targeted

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<v Speaker 1>attacked on Christians.

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<v Speaker 2>As the church was still burning, right wing podcaster Betty Johnson,

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<v Speaker 2>who recently rode with Ice in Chicago, posted on x

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<v Speaker 2>the Everything app quote church is on fire, Christianity is

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<v Speaker 2>under attack. Pray unquote what Betty Johnson neglected to mention

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<v Speaker 2>this was a Mormon church, and pretty soon it became

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<v Speaker 2>clear the attacker was not some transgender leftist ANTIFA, but

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<v Speaker 2>a Christian Trump supporter who thought Mormon's were quote unquote

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<v Speaker 2>the anti christ. According to Burton City council candidate Chris Johns,

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<v Speaker 2>who claims to have spoken with the shooter just days

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<v Speaker 2>prior while canvassing, one of the shooter's friends told The

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<v Speaker 2>New York Times that Shoulder believed that the Mormons quote

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<v Speaker 2>are going to take over the world unquote. This guy

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<v Speaker 2>obsessively talked about his dislike of Mormon's stemming from a

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<v Speaker 2>breakup with a Mormon girlfriend over a decade ago. After

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<v Speaker 2>the background of this shooter and his apparent motive became

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<v Speaker 2>more clear, the Trump badmin quite quickly stopped talking about

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<v Speaker 2>this specific attack, save for vague references to attacks on Christianity.

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<v Speaker 2>But this attack was more deadly than any recent school

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<v Speaker 2>shooting or any instance of targeted violence, which the administration

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<v Speaker 2>has been framed as political violence happening this year. After

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<v Speaker 2>the shooter was identified, Rather than talk about his apparent motive,

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<v Speaker 2>people online argued about his political orientation. A picture spread

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<v Speaker 2>online of him wearing a Trump twenty twenty camo shirt

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<v Speaker 2>that read make Liberals Cry Again. The right wing outlet

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<v Speaker 2>The Daily Caller attacked Democrat Representative Eric Swalwell for posting

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<v Speaker 2>a photo of that shirt, claiming that the Trump graphic

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<v Speaker 2>was photoshopped, with The Daily Caller sharing a version of

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<v Speaker 2>the shirt that they alleged to be the original unedited

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<v Speaker 2>photo without the Trump graphic. Except that version without the

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<v Speaker 2>Trump graphic is in fact the doctored photo. The Trump

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<v Speaker 2>one is the authentic version. Right Wing users on x

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<v Speaker 2>the Everything app spread a list of political donations to

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<v Speaker 2>progressive organizations that they attributed to the shooter, as well

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<v Speaker 2>as a screenshot of a Twitter account with a bio

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<v Speaker 2>that read politically Active Democratic Socialist. Except that account and

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<v Speaker 2>those donations were from a completely different person, just with

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<v Speaker 2>a similar name. Now, just because it's pretty clear that

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<v Speaker 2>this shooter supported Trump doesn't mean that we should frame

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<v Speaker 2>this as partisan political violence. This was a classic American shooting.

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<v Speaker 2>A Marine veteran who moved to Utah after getting back

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<v Speaker 2>from Iraq, got involved with a Mormon woman, had negative

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<v Speaker 2>experiences with the Mormon church, moved to Michigan, but continued

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<v Speaker 2>to have very strong anti Mormon sentiments, which he held

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<v Speaker 2>until he acted on those sentiments, leading to his death

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<v Speaker 2>and the deaths of four other people and extremely tragic

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<v Speaker 2>yet extremely American sequence of events. But the conversation and

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<v Speaker 2>coverage surrounding this Mormon church shooting is such an open

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<v Speaker 2>display of this game of picking and choosing shootings to

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<v Speaker 2>care about and then which can be weaponized against political enemies.

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<v Speaker 2>Former Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker went on Fox News

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<v Speaker 2>to discuss this shooting, where he laid blame on politicians

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<v Speaker 2>rhetoric calling people Nazis.

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<v Speaker 3>So, you know, this is a situation of you find

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<v Speaker 3>a manufactured grievance, if you will, and that a whole

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<v Speaker 3>lot of stimulus from from people either on the Internet

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<v Speaker 3>or even politicians. They irresponsible politicians. We all know who

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<v Speaker 3>they are. You know they're talking about Nazis and anarchists

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<v Speaker 3>and existential threats. You know, they need to crawl back

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<v Speaker 3>into their dark places. These people are out there. That

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<v Speaker 3>has to be taken into account when you start firing

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<v Speaker 3>off your mouth.

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<v Speaker 2>That simply has nothing to do with this specific attack.

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<v Speaker 2>But both politicians and the media have this obsession with

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<v Speaker 2>only talking about shooters insofar as they can try to

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<v Speaker 2>identify a shooter's orientation towards a political party, and then

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<v Speaker 2>weaponize that suspected orientation against political opponents by trying to

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<v Speaker 2>frame every deranged shooter as emblematic of the oppositional political project.

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<v Speaker 2>Following Charlie Kirks assassination and the media blitz around it,

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<v Speaker 2>fellow far right commentator Stephen Crowder has revived his long

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<v Speaker 2>dormant college debate series Change My Mind Now, with the

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<v Speaker 2>prompt they left is violent propagandists collapse political violence into

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<v Speaker 2>a simple binary, which is just a very limited way

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<v Speaker 2>in trying to actually understand public acts of violence, the

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<v Speaker 2>idea that things can only happen because because of ideologies,

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<v Speaker 2>not downstream of personal experiences, material conditions, or class This year,

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<v Speaker 2>there's been one other target attack that ties the Mormon

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<v Speaker 2>Church shooting for the highest fatalities in attacks this year,

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<v Speaker 2>and that was the Midtown Manhattan mass shooting in July,

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<v Speaker 2>where the gunmen attempted to shoot up the NFL offices,

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<v Speaker 2>motivated by getting CTE from playing football in high school.

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<v Speaker 2>No clear ideological motivations here. Lots of shooters aren't typically

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<v Speaker 2>ideological in like the ordinary political sense. The only recent

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<v Speaker 2>shooter that could be accurately categorized as quote unquote leftist

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<v Speaker 2>is the former PSL member who assassinated two Israeli embassy

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<v Speaker 2>staffers in May of twenty twenty five. Now are no circumstances.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you have to hand it to Bill Maherr. But

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<v Speaker 2>this exchange between him and Ben Shapiro, just two days

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<v Speaker 2>after the Tri Trek assassination, demonstrates this point about how

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<v Speaker 2>media and politicians only understand and weaponize public acts of

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<v Speaker 2>violence through ideology, long before we have any actual clear

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<v Speaker 2>indication on what motivated a shooter to commit an attack.

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<v Speaker 4>There's a shooting at a synagogue, it is very likely

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<v Speaker 4>to be either a white supremacist or radical Muslim. If

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<v Speaker 4>it is shooting of a Republican politician, it is very

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<v Speaker 4>likely to be a trans Antifa Marxistian.

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<v Speaker 5>That is, we don't know. We don't know what this

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<v Speaker 5>kid is.

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<v Speaker 2>Wait, we do know this kid was of the left.

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<v Speaker 4>We do know that.

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<v Speaker 2>We do know what that this kid was of the

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<v Speaker 2>political left.

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<v Speaker 4>That is, according to contemporarious reporting from The Guardian as

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<v Speaker 4>well as Tablet Magazine.

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<v Speaker 5>Today, it's two days out. We don't know shit. But

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<v Speaker 5>here we don't know shit. They never do. The Internet

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<v Speaker 5>is undefeated in getting it wrong to begin with.

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<v Speaker 4>It's not about the Internet. That's about the that's about

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<v Speaker 4>the The actual reporting by mainstream except the Guardian is

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<v Speaker 4>not right wing.

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<v Speaker 3>Here's what I.

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<v Speaker 5>Here's what we heard. Here's what I was told so far,

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<v Speaker 5>And I'll tell you what was wrong. First I heard

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<v Speaker 5>he's a registered Republican not not true. Okay. Then he

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<v Speaker 5>was a donor de Trump not true. His father works

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<v Speaker 5>in the sheriff's office, not true. There was a picture

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<v Speaker 5>I'm wearing a pro Trump shirt not true. A member

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<v Speaker 5>of the Democratic Socialists of America not true. We don't

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<v Speaker 5>know what he is. Well, how are you so sure

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<v Speaker 5>he's of the left? Now I agree? When you right

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<v Speaker 5>on a bullet? What did he write on the bullet there's.

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<v Speaker 4>A catch as fascist, which is also a gamer thing.

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<v Speaker 5>Okay, But now I'm hearing he may have been part

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<v Speaker 5>of that group for whom Charlie Kirk was not right

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<v Speaker 5>wing enough.

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<v Speaker 4>Yes, I mean so that you're sure he's not that

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<v Speaker 4>I'm not sure that he's not there.

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<v Speaker 5>You were sure? Hold on?

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<v Speaker 4>Hold on, no, hold on, okay, because I meant you were.

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<v Speaker 2>Another thing that can be tricky to understand is just

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<v Speaker 2>because the target of violence is a political figure does

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<v Speaker 2>not mean that it's political violence. The attempted assassination of

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<v Speaker 2>Ronald Reagan is a key example of this, and for

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<v Speaker 2>the Kirk assassination, available evidence points towards more of a

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<v Speaker 2>personal motivation based on romantic attraction on a dog day afternoon,

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<v Speaker 2>over any larger partisan political motivation. It doesn't even make

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<v Speaker 2>sense to view the first attempted Trump assassination as political violence.

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<v Speaker 2>Thomas Crooks searched online for a variety of events to

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<v Speaker 2>commit a shooting at. In the month prior to the shooting,

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<v Speaker 2>he did more than sixty internet searches related to Biden,

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<v Speaker 2>Trump and information about the upcoming DNC and RNC conventions.

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<v Speaker 2>Donald Trump's campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania just happened to

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<v Speaker 2>fall into the right place at the right time. The

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<v Speaker 2>mass killer obsessed school shooter from last August, who shot

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<v Speaker 2>two kids at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, which the

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<v Speaker 2>Right branded as a trans terrorist, originally planned to do

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<v Speaker 2>the shooting at a small LGBTQ music venue, but feared

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<v Speaker 2>that trans girls attending the concert would be armed for

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<v Speaker 2>self defense. As I've previously reported on this show, this

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<v Speaker 2>shooting bared similarity to TCC or true crime community, not

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<v Speaker 2>as in true crime podcasts, but an online community of

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<v Speaker 2>usually young people obsessed with school shooters or mass shooters,

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<v Speaker 2>akin to neo columnbiners, who encourage each other online to

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<v Speaker 2>then commit their own acts of violence inspired by or

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<v Speaker 2>replicating those of previous school shootings or mass shootings. This

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<v Speaker 2>pseudo mass shooter fandom demonstrates the extent to which the

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<v Speaker 2>role of quote unquote the shooter can be its own

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<v Speaker 2>motivating force, beyond any culture war issues or ordinary partisan

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<v Speaker 2>politics that might get sprinkled on top as seasoning.

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<v Speaker 1>On.

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<v Speaker 2>On Wednesday, September twenty fourth, the twenty nine year old

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<v Speaker 2>open fire with a bolt action rifle targeting an ICE

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<v Speaker 2>Field office in Dallas, Texas. This attack claims the lives

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<v Speaker 2>of three immigrants who were detained by ICE in a

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<v Speaker 2>copycat style following the Kirk assassination and the United Healthcare

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<v Speaker 2>CEO assassination. This shooter allegedly wrote anti ICE on unfired

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<v Speaker 2>bullet casings. In the immediate wake of this attack, the

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<v Speaker 2>right attributed this shooting to the radical left and blamed

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<v Speaker 2>Democrat politicians for spreading anti ICE rhetoric. At a North

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<v Speaker 2>Carolina event, JD. Vance said quote, Here's what happens when

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<v Speaker 2>Democrats like Gavin Newsom say these people are part of

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<v Speaker 2>an authoritarian government. When the left wing media lies about

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<v Speaker 2>what they're doing, when they lie about who they're arresting,

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<v Speaker 2>when they lie about the actual job of law enforcement,

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<v Speaker 2>what they are doing is encouraging crazy people to go

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<v Speaker 2>and commit violence. Here's a brief Fox News report.

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<v Speaker 6>We have a problem America. We are living through a

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<v Speaker 6>scourge of left wing political violence that three weeks into

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<v Speaker 6>this month has made it bloody September today, another attack.

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<v Speaker 2>On ice as is not uncommon with mass shooters. This

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<v Speaker 2>guy was a registered independent, and the shooter's brother told

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<v Speaker 2>NBC News that he wasn't really interested in politics. I

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<v Speaker 2>find it highly unlikely that this millennial and other gen

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<v Speaker 2>Z shooters are regularly watching liberal news, getting their opinions

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<v Speaker 2>from politicians and news anchors on MSNBC or CNN. Journalist

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<v Speaker 2>Ken Klippenstein spoke with friends of this shooter, who described

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<v Speaker 2>him as a libertarian leaning four Chan edge lord who

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<v Speaker 2>hated both political parties and most mainstream politicians. Friends believed

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<v Speaker 2>that the bulletin scriptions could have been written as a

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<v Speaker 2>joke intended to rile people up, they tol Klippenstein. The

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<v Speaker 2>shooter became more isolated in recent years as friends drifted

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<v Speaker 2>away due to his continuous anti social edgelord behavior in

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<v Speaker 2>regular day to day interactions. Nancy Larson, the acting of

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<v Speaker 2>his attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said the

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<v Speaker 2>shooter left behind a writing where he referred to ICE

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<v Speaker 2>operations as human trafficking. Larsen says the shooter did not

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<v Speaker 2>mention any government agency besides ICE, but left a note

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<v Speaker 2>for police reading quote good luck with the digital footprint.

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<v Speaker 2>This shooter killed himself after the attack. These public acts

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<v Speaker 2>of violence usually have a suicidal component, a drive for

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<v Speaker 2>self annihilation while simultaneously gaining some final sense of meaning

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<v Speaker 2>or purpose by crudely emblazoning yourself in history through a

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<v Speaker 2>violent act. What causes someone to do this can be

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<v Speaker 2>a mix of many factors, including access to guns, individual motivations,

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<v Speaker 2>social alienation, self annihilation. In so far as there is

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<v Speaker 2>an overtly political element, it's often the result of a

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<v Speaker 2>political alienation. Usually, the type of person who commits a

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<v Speaker 2>bloody act of violence lacks a recognizably coherent political philosophy

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<v Speaker 2>that can be easily grafted onto our Democrat Republican binary,

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<v Speaker 2>with there sometimes being a mix of political beliefs across

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<v Speaker 2>the left right spectrum. Mass shootings which are accompanied by

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<v Speaker 2>express political motivations usually stem from anti Muslim or great

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<v Speaker 2>replacement rhetoric, the idea that white people in Western culture

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<v Speaker 2>will slowly be replaced by brown immigrants. But throughout the

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<v Speaker 2>next three years, under Trump's federal government and the right

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<v Speaker 2>wing anti woke backlash currently flexing dominance over our culture,

0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:11.720
<v Speaker 2>nihilistic self destructive acts against American society may take a

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<v Speaker 2>form which could be characterized as quote unquote left wing violence,

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<v Speaker 2>despite most of these shooters being far from your average

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<v Speaker 2>DNC acolyte or bread tube watching leftist. Considering the Mormon

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<v Speaker 2>church shooting, the Kirk assassination, the iced DTAE shooting, and

0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.520
<v Speaker 2>the Minneapolis Catholic School shooting in the Year of our

0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.320
<v Speaker 2>Brain Rot twenty twenty five, I think it's pretty clear

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<v Speaker 2>that the current US state apparatus does not need to

0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:43.520
<v Speaker 2>stage false flags. The state just tries to take advantage

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<v Speaker 2>of naturally emergent events, twisting them to fit narratives in

0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:54.200
<v Speaker 2>an ad hoc manipulation of consensus reality. No crude fabrication

0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:58.000
<v Speaker 2>of physical reality is needed. They are more than happy

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<v Speaker 2>to simply pick and choose, and dignify and obscure various

0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:07.120
<v Speaker 2>events to fit their preferred version of reality. The night

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<v Speaker 2>before the shooting at the Mormon Church, another Iraq war

0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:14.960
<v Speaker 2>veteran did a mass shooting in North Carolina, which did

0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:19.000
<v Speaker 2>not result in nearly as many national headlines. The shooter

0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:24.440
<v Speaker 2>targeted a waterfront bar, killing three people injuring six others.

0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.080
<v Speaker 2>The suspect rowed a boat up to the bar, fired

0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.640
<v Speaker 2>with an ar mounted with a scope and silencer, before

0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:35.560
<v Speaker 2>speeding off on water. Police have also deemed this a

0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:40.200
<v Speaker 2>targeted attack, but without a tangential link to culture war issues,

0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:46.280
<v Speaker 2>this event will be quickly forgotten. As I'm recording this episode,

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<v Speaker 2>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he's launching undercover

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<v Speaker 2>operations to infiltrate and uproot quote leftist terror cells in Texas.

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<v Speaker 2>Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. There

0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:05.400
<v Speaker 2>can be no compromise with those who want us dead unquote.

0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.919
<v Speaker 2>This mirrors President Trump's National Security Presidential Memorandum number seven,

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<v Speaker 2>which targets quote unquote domestic terrorism indicators like anti Christianity,

0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:22.199
<v Speaker 2>anti capitalism, anti Americanism, extremism on race, gender, immigration, and

0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:27.240
<v Speaker 2>hostility towards traditional American values. All this partisan rhetoric on

0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.040
<v Speaker 2>targeted violence and political violence is in service of authoritarian

0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:36.520
<v Speaker 2>crackdowns and enhanced surveillance against their political opposition. Meanwhile, this

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<v Speaker 2>passed Saturday morning, the home of a South Carolina Circuit

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<v Speaker 2>Court judge was burned down, hospitalizing her husband, a former

0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.800
<v Speaker 2>state senator, and their son. The judge was out of

0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.320
<v Speaker 2>the house at the time. Last month, the judge temporarily

0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:55.280
<v Speaker 2>blocked a voter suppression executive order signed by President Trump.

0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.400
<v Speaker 2>In the weeks leading up to the fire, the judge

0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:02.360
<v Speaker 2>had received death threats. This has been it could happen here,

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<v Speaker 2>See you on the other side.

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<v Speaker 1>It could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media.

0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.480
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website

0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:17.120
<v Speaker 1>coolzonmedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,

0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:19.200
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<v Speaker 1>You can now find sources for it could Happen here,

0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.399
<v Speaker 1>listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.