Shooter Believed He Was Fulfilling Trump's Wishes

[babylonsister]

https://politicalwire.com/2025/03/31/shooter-believed-he-was-fulfilling-trumps-wishes/

Shooter Believed He Was Fulfilling Trump’s Wishes
March 31, 2025 at 5:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

“Patrick Crusius believed he was acting at the direction of President Donald Trump when he murdered 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019,” El Paso Matters reports.

Said defense attorney Joe Spencer: “He thought he had to stop the invasion because that’s what his president was telling him… He thought, if he doesn’t do it, then nobody’s going to do it. He’s got to start.”

[UpInArms]

1. It's a cult

A very dangerous cult

[Javaman]

7. a cult of sociopaths. nt

[Montauk6]

21. a dumpster of deplorables too.

[leftyladyfrommo]

36. A murder of morons.

[AZ8theist]

44. I think you ment "murder BY morons", no?

The people he killed were certainly not morons. They were innocent victims of fascist stupidity.

[leftyladyfrommo]

45. A group of crows is called a murder. nt

[AZ8theist]

59. Yes of course. Context.

[mdbl]

34. Seriously, I wonder what the percentage of Dump voters are sociopaths

And to those that aren't I say "WTF WERE YOU THINKING MORON?" I really don't even want to know the answer any more.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. No boundaries, leaky sieve for a mind.

Both in and out.

[Solly Mack]

3. And you can bet your sweet bippy Trump and the rest of them cheered those deaths for the same sick reason.

[SharonAnn]

4. An example of "stochastic terrorism". Rile 'em up and somebody will take action.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Trump loves it when he manipulates people to kill for him.

It makes him feel powerful and in control.
And he is a sadist who loves inflicting pain and tormenting others.

[bdamomma]

50. Yes

Irish_Dem we are seeing the felon inflicting a lot of pain, hope that pain reciprocates on him.

[Scrivener7]

6. The tragic thing is, he was.

[sop]

8. A grinning Trump giving a thumbs up while posing with orphaned baby at El Paso Hospital:

Mission accomplished!

[Dixc]

9. Disgusting!

She took that baby from the arms of his Grandmother and then plastered on the smarmy smiles for the photo-op.

[ReRe]

37. Creeps! Smiles were totally uncalled for in that situation.

They don't have an ounce of empathy or sympathy in their souls.

[SKKY]

10. I'm actually kinda surprised this hasn't happened more...

...I'm glad, but surprised nonetheless.

[kkmarie]

11. Insane

When we hear the deranged demented madman who can't complete sentences or even words. Some people hear go out and kill for me.
We're never going to recover from this if 30% believe Comrade Krasnov.

[Justice matters.]

54. Faux noise (murdoch) makes huge profits from these brainwashed. nt

[djacq]

12. 1000 Percent Radicalized

[purr-rat beauty]

13. And that's....

....how STOCHASTIC TERRORISM works

[IronLionZion]

14. That proves he has no political agenda, and will get the mental illness excuse

since all Trump supporters are mentally ill.

[BoRaGard]

15. Satanic

[soldierant]

42. Karoline Leavitt

apparently remarked that this is "spiritual warfare." She is 100% right - and 100% on the wrong side of it.

[AllaN01Bear]

16. snork

[SCantiGOP]

17. So what's worse

Killing humans, or scratching Teslas.
Civil disobedience is becoming a necessity.

[stopdiggin]

22. neither is OK

and this is precisely the kind of non-sequitur and fuzzy logic that leads the dim bulbs out there into a moral and ethical wasteland.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Cirsium]

25. Not a non-sequitur nor fuzzy logic

Republicans are calling damaging Teslas "terrorism" but not mass shootings by people inspired by Trump.

Pointing that out is not leading any "dim bulbs out there into a moral and ethical wasteland."

[stopdiggin]

29. The poster was not 'pointing out' the moral ambiguity of the right

but gives every appearance of advocating and encouraging violence and criminal action as the 'lesser of two evils' and necessary measure.
(at least that is the way I read it)

"Civil disobedience is becoming a necessity."

And, yes - I will continue to label the advocacy of violence - especially when it is justified (and tried to offset) by pointing toward 'other' measures of violence - as misguided, and a degradation of any moral path or guidance. These two actions bear almost no relation to one another - and trying to equate them, or make some kind of fulcrum of justice and action of them - is the essence of 'fuzzy logic'. Neither is OK. And it is very clearly an example of both unethical and 'fuzzy' thinking.

But I kind of knew somebody would be willing to step forward in defense of the anarchists ..
Nice to meet you again, C !

[Cirsium]

32. Civil disobedience

Civil disobedience does not necessarily mean violence.

The poster did not equate mass shootings to vandalism. Ironically, though, you have attempted to do just that.

[GenThePerservering]

28. Good grief

you completely missed the point.

[stopdiggin]

30. I don't think there WAS much of a point there

The poster appeared to think that vandalizing and destruction of property (oftentimes belonging to people that have not the slightest of connection to any kind of issue) .... As, OK, (perhaps necessary? ) because ... guns! Or something ....

And, no - both the argument and the logic or justification ... Are just crappy on the face of it.

[SCantiGOP]

31. I disagree

Was the Boston Tea Party domestic terrorism, or an act of civil disobedience by an oppressed people?
It all depends on your point of view.
Damaging property is not in the same moral sphere as harming/killing people by destroying the social safety net.

[stopdiggin]

52. you are SO correct

the 'Boston Tea Party' was the actions of a gang of (most likely drunken) loutish thugs - was generally seen so at the times - and was only later polished up and papered over with the shiny veneer of 'glorious revolution'.

And, again - you reach into the bag for, 'one thing not AS bad as the other' to provide moral justification and cover. While I am saying neither is okay. And it is precisely that kind of 'fuzzy' moral dualism - that ultimately results in us justifying (read rationalizing) actions that are well outside the bounds of ethical or moral.

But, again, you're so right - torching and burning things (damaging property), certainly takes on an entirely different complexion - when the mob is moving down your street - and nearing your house.

[Cirsium]

33. No

That is not anything like what they posted.

"So what's worse, killing humans, or scratching Teslas?"

Obviously killing humans is worse. Did that need to be spelled out for you? The poster is not equating the two, as you claimed.

"Civil disobedience is becoming a necessity."

Not sure why you have a problem with that, nor why you connect it to guns, or mass shootings. But you are the one trying to connect them.

[stopdiggin]

55. the post is quite clearly (IMO) justifying the one

'civil disobedience is becoming justified' (while offering up an example in back and white, i.e. vandalizing vehicles)
by pointing to another, and greater, moral failure.

And I don't think I'm misreading what the post is trying to say.

[Cinnamonspice]

49. While I have no empathy for Elon Musk, I don't think vandalism is okay.

[TommyT139]

53. Waste of time with Teslas

...since they're falling apart so rapidly on their own.

[OLDMDDEM]

18. Once he is found guilty, he needs to sit in prison for the rest of his life. He should not be put to death. That lets

him off too easy.

[Wednesdays]

19. "I'll handle them, Mr. President"

[republianmushroom]

20. He was fulfilling trump's wishes.

[Emile]

23. Bondi seeking death penalty for this one too?

[keep_left]

24. There's a photo of this nutcase that has made him the poster child...

...for the 8chan incel neckbeards, particularly on the hard-left sites where it's used in countless memes. It's not a mugshot, though it looks like one. I think the photo is from LinkedIn, believe it or not.

?quality=75&strip=all

[Passages]

26. America is a sad and dangerous place to live.

Leadership matters, we see how people absorb ugly rhetoric, how it infiltrates the psychie of vulnerable people and or people who are already prone to violence.

America needs a rescue from itself.

[LiberalLovinLug]

56. What happened to the peace and love sixties hippie generation?

[Passages]

58. Reaganites and neoliberalism seems to have been major contributing factors.

The false belief that the government was the enemy was used for nefarious reasons.

We need to undo so much damage, I find it troubling. I think we can do it, but it feels overwhelming.

How Neoliberalism Failed, and What a Better Society Could Look Like
August 7, 2024

By Joseph Stiglitz
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/how-neoliberalism-failed/

[EdmondDantes_]

27. Is that what he actually believes or is it an attempt to get a reduced sentence

Not that Trump should be speaking the way he does, but I don't know that this is sufficient evidence that he is inciting violence because one person committed violence given the high standards around free speech. The klan advocates violence but the ACLU still defends their free speech. Where's the line between that and the group that incited violence against a family in Idaho where the family won the property of what Christian nationalist group was targeting them? From what I understand their has to be a direct link targeting a specific person, and I don't see that this meets that standard.

[4catsmom]

35. Charge Trump for inciting murder!

that confession is enough

[BurnDoubt]

38. I HEAR PARDON!!!!!!...

"Don Pardon, tell our contestant what he's won!"

[lame54]

39. Son of Sham

[ReRe]

40. Our society is full of these people

including the one's who incite them. They're in our families, in our neighborhoods. We do nothing about our truly mentally ill. Then something happens. They hurt themselves or someone else. Then we shame ourselves for not having done something before the tragedy happened. We figured out how to fly to the moon and back, how to clone animals & fertilize babies in a petri dish, but we can't seem to do anything about the sociopaths/psychopaths among us who wreak havoc in so many lives. It beats the hell out of me.

[Clouds Passing]

41. MegaCult

[ffr]

43. You have to figure that there are millions like him who cannot discern between reality and RW propaganda

Just look at the hate being spewed on Fox Entertainment both up front and in subtle messaging in their movie channels (Tubi). They see themselves as heroes with a righteous cause and everyone else as vermin, to be mastered and ruled over. They cannot think for themselves, because for them, that's difficult. What excites their minds is accepting what someone else says and belonging.

If it's a cult by definition, it doesn't matter to them, because that's not what they're told they belong to. It's not fascism if they don't believe it is or if they see it being projected it onto others on Fox television.

And you'll know them, by how they speak. They all use the same words, have the same words that trigger them, repeat the talking points for that day, just as you would expect a loyal cult member to do.

[LymphocyteLover]

46. Yep. Trump is a terrorist leader

[Johnny2X2X]

47. This should be headline news for weeks

Why won’t it be?

[Cinnamonspice]

48. He realizes it's El Paso and not The Step, right?

It has a hispanic name for a reason. That's the history. He probably shot third or fourth generation Americans. Ugh.

[Marcuse]

51. Said defense attorney Joe Spencer:

[ck4829]

57. White nationalist terrorism