So will you ever leave messages or videos on your blog or website before you die? Will you let people know your plan days before you commit a senseless act of violence?
In a recent tragic incident, a 22-year-old shooter named Jared Lee Loughner attempted to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The very troubled gunman left the Democratic lawmaker from Arizona in a very critical condition (as of this writing) when the bullet hit the congresswoman’s head through and through. Five others died and 14 others were injured from the shooting spree. But what was interesting were the messages that the suspect left online.
Based on the videos he made and posted via YouTube, he is clearly a very troubled man. I watched all the videos, and although most of the time I could not understand his point, everything appeared to be anti-government zealotry. He said “In conclusion, reading the second United States Constitution, I can’t trust the current government because of the ratifications: the government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar. No! I won’t pay debt with a currency that’s not backed by gold and silver! No! I won’t trust in God!”
All videos with texts were posted about three weeks before the horrifying attack.
When a likely attacker posts something online before pulling off a sickening act of violence, will this be a hint that the attacker may have wanted to be stopped by anyone reading the posts? If the intention was solely to harm, so why warn the victims? If the be-all-and-the-end-all was to see dead bodies sprawling in blood, then why allow a chance for intervention and have a fling at being caught?
Do you remember Joseph “Joe” Andrew Stack who crashed his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas almost a year ago? He ranted about capitalism, Catholicism, and George W. Bush on his website EmbeddedArt.com (already taken down) two days before the bombing. The 34-paragraph-long manifesto ended with this:
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.
I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.
Didn’t that suggest a tragic event waiting to happen? Joe Stack even signed the message like he already predicted his death: Joe Stack (1956-2010).
Killers who do not own a website oftentimes used the social network sites. Clay Duke, who terrorized a Florida school board meeting last December 2010 by taking the male board members hostage, used the “V” logo on his Facebook profile. He was a fan of anarchist cult classic V for Vendetta. His “About Me” section said:
“My Testament: Some people (the government sponsored media) will say I was evil, a monster (V)… no… I was just born poor in a country where the Wealthy manipulate, use, abuse, and economically enslave 95% of the population. Rich Republicans, Rich Democrats… same-same… rich… they take turns fleecing us… our few dollars… pyramiding the wealth for themselves. The 95%… the us, in US of A, are the neo slaves of the Global South. Our Masters, the Wealthy, do, as they like to us…”
His friends on his FB list may have seen and read the message. But did anyone care to stop or report it? Clay Duke was ultimately killed during the shooting exchange with authorities.
There was also a tragic shooting in August 2009 inside a LA fitness center where three women were killed and tens of others were injured. The gunman was 48-year-old George Sodini. He kept a blog and if anyone followed the sequence of events, one could tell that he was about to commit something terrifying. On May 4, 2009, he wrote:
“I was so eager to do this last year….What is it like to be dead? I always think I am forgetting something, that’s one reason I postponed. Similar to when you leave to get in your car to go somewhere – you hesitate with a thought: “what am I forgetting?”. In this case, I cannot make a return trip! “
He wrote this a day before the shooting:
August 3, 2009: I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven’t had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day…. Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.
After the massacre, George Sodini took his own life.
In 2007, a young man, Matthew Murray shot and killed people at New Life Church. He was furious about his religious home-schooling and with Youth With A Mission. Hours before the shooting, he posted this online:
“Well all you people out there can just kiss my a** and die. From now on I don’t give a @#%$ about what you mutha f____ have to say, unless I respect you which is highly unlikely, but for those of you who do happen to know me and know that I respect you, may peace be with you and don’t be in my line of fire, for the rest of you, you all better @#%$ hide in your houses because I’m coming for EVERYONE soon.
“No I am not crazy, crazy is just a word, to me it has no meaning, everyone is different, but most of you @#%$ heads there in society, going to your everyday @#%$ jobs and doing everyday routine shi____y things, I say @#%$ you and die ….
“DEAD PEOPLE DON’T ARGUE. My belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law … Dead people can’t do many things like argue, whine, @#%$, complain, name, rat out, criticize, or even @#%$ talk. So that’s the only way to solve argument with all you f__heads out there, I just kill. God, I can’t wait till I can kill you people, I’ll just go to some downtown area in some big city and blow up and shoot everything I can.
“You break my back but you won’t break me … all is black but I still see…shut me down, knock me to the floor… shoot me up, @#%$ me like a whore, trapped under ice, comfortably cold, I’ve gone as low as you can go … feel no remorse, no sorrow or shame …. time’s gonna wash away all pain I made a God out of blood not superiority I killed the king of deceit and now I sleep in anarchy.”
Matthew Murray was gunned down by security.
I am sure there are still many other catastrophic occurrences in the past where the gunman/killer/shooter left messages online before fulfilling their homicidal goals. The internet is now being used as a form of suicide note by would-be executioner.
Would there be a way to predict what is going to happen? What is this telling us? Here is my take — Although it is hard to monitor millions of daily postings on the web, that should not be a reason for everyone not to be vigilant online. Whenever your friend will start posting and continually posts online messages that are disturbing, you must take the initiative to ring the alarm and report it to proper authorities. Usually, people take for granted most of the things they read or come across online, especially if they do not concern them. Maybe we should switch the attitude around and be socially proactive. Doing so may save others’ lives. Or maybe our own.
