this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
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[–] [email protected] 121 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hunter Bidens laptop could have stopped this. Dark Brandon will kill again!

[–] grue 12 points 2 months ago

But SCOTUS says that's all cool and legal, though.

[–] Diplomjodler3 75 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Maybe some 2nd amendment people still take the defending against tyranny bit seriously.

[–] problematicPanther 28 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I know I certainly do. But seriously, was the shooter a republican? I've been traveling for the past 48 hours and apparently missed all the fun.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Allegedly registered republican but also allegedly donated small amount of money to Biden PAC.

Don't count your chickens yet.. Could just be another apolitical psychopath

[–] Viking_Hippie 37 points 2 months ago

also allegedly donated small amount of money to Biden PAC.

He donated $15 to a Democrat get out the vote PAC... On inauguration day.

One of the least useful donations ever 😂

[–] Fedizen 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I mean the guy that nearly got Reagan wanted to impress an actress.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

He was only 20, registered as a republican. But could've done that as part of his plan to make it look like infighting.

[–] Feathercrown 12 points 2 months ago

The rare double false flag

[–] CoffeeJunkie 5 points 2 months ago

A registered Republican, back in 2020 or something. RINOs exist.

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's always the ones you suspect the most

[–] Viking_Hippie 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You must be the greatest detective the world never had! 😉

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[–] KoalaUnknown 61 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Him being registered republican doesn’t necessarily mean he still feels that way. He made a blue political donation. Some people register with a certain party just because their parents are present when they sign up.

I don't think there is currently enough public information to build an accurate profile on him.

[–] Viking_Hippie 54 points 2 months ago (1 children)

He made a blue political donation

To a GOTV PAC. On inauguration day.

About as useful as tits on a tractor.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Well, if you’re a lonely farmer and there aren’t any single and willing women around, tits on a tractor could be very useful.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 2 months ago (4 children)

He was 20 and registered to vote in 2021 (which is public information), so he wouldn't have had a lot of time to change his mind

[–] KoalaUnknown 25 points 2 months ago

Trump and the Supreme Court are more than enough reason to change one’s mind.

[–] candybrie 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

At 20, 3 years is definitely a long time.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Someone with same first and last name as him made a donation after the 2020 election.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You can look up the receipt on the FEC and the address is listed as 2506 Milford Drive, which is the same address as his voter registration and what's being reported on the news. I keep seeing this "there is another Thomas Crooks" narrative online and wanted to confirm myself.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Wouldn't he have been 16 at the time?

[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Unless the late Mr. Crooks jotted down a manifesto or otherwise is discovered to reveal his motive, we're not going to know, and are only able to guess at why he shot at Trump. Let me repeat that: We can only guess and will never know unless we get really lucky.

(One of my favorite details of a shooter incident was Adam Lanza's favorite video game obsession, Dance Dance Revolution since it was still a common opinion that video games trained rampage killers. Tastes in video games and music are about as useful as needing to impress Jodie Foster, or reread The Catcher In the Rye. You may be a lover, Adam, but you ain't no dancer.)

Crooks' choice of weapon (an AR-15–style rifle ) indicates a weapon of convenience. He didn't have the time or means to get something that was more suited to the task. This fits more the profile of a radicalized civilian than a trained operative.

When Al-Qaeda wanted to attack a target (or CIA, or IRA, or any other active group trying to influence a theater of conflict) they'd look at the suicide demographics. What young people are killing themselves in high numbers. Then, in the internet age, it's a matter of finding people who are self-radicalized, who want to express their outrage violently. And then its a matter of grooming that person (in this case very much the way predators groom children) to see the target of interest as the site / VIP / venue of the terror action. The rampage killer / saboteur / terrorist never knows who he's working for or what his cause is, only that by suicide bombing at this site, he'll be heard and known.

Is this to say Crooks was pointed at killing Trump by CIA? Not at all. Trump is an easy viable target, and there are plenty of reasons to be pissed off at him that make sense. But the reason that Crooks had to express his discontent violently has likely very little to do with Trump directly, and whether he's left-wing and wants to stop the US' descent into one-party autocracy, or he's far-right wing and thinks Trump is selling out isn't why he's shooting.

There are however, droves of pre-radicalized war boys in the US, silver paint in hand wanting an opportunity to be witnessed all shiny and chrome into Valhalla. A lot of them can be seen in the alt-right, the incels, the MGTOWs the alpha-male wannabes who have been entirely disregarded since they were teens without explanation or education, and are expected by society to either magically turn into high-paid salarymen, or suffer as losers in a single-occupant dwelling in a dead-end job where they're overworked and underpaid. This lot tends to be a bit dissatisfied with their lot in life.

I'm not saying Crooks is one of these guys, only that it's a big circle on the Venn-diagram, and not a difficult target to fall into. This circle not only has a higher-than-average male suicide rate (which is already high in the general population) but also is where pro-trump militants and the transnational white power movement gets its recruits. And they tend to register Republican.

Again, we don't know, only this might inform our guesses.

[–] FrowingFostek 16 points 2 months ago (5 children)

No disrespect you wrote so much but, as far my politics are concerned; this dude was a registered republican.

He's right wing and that's what we know.

[–] chiliedogg 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)

A registered party member is just someone who voted in the primary.

The Democratic primaries in my area had a bunch of uncontested seats or I was comfortable with all the candidates, so I registered Republican to vote against Trump.

I'm a registered Republican, but I am not a supporter of the GOP.

[–] III 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Continued information coming out about him confirm he was an active and proud conservative. Quoted students confirmed this and the like-minded alt-right group of kids he hung out with.

Sorry, the "secret democrat" narrative is over.

[–] PugJesus 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Source? I'd love to read more and be prepared for future discussions.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There were a ton of fake accounts made the second a name was released, excuse me for not taking a screenshot as proof of anything.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

That's fair, I'm certainly not going to check the account details as that would require having an account myself, like some kind of weird Nazi.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago

This act of Chinese aggression will not stand!

[–] Fedizen 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

thoughts and prayers.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

It doesn't matter. This is the Reichstag Fire.

[–] Feathercrown 5 points 2 months ago

Fucking called it

[–] fukurthumz420 5 points 2 months ago

because what they're really asking is "why would someone who isn't a christian nationalist do this?" in the end, that's what it's going to come down to: either you're a christian nationalist, or you're a societal problem that they must 'fix'.

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