That’s the guy’s house? Wow! Man I love my life in this tiny 2000sqft house. Like how do you end up doing dumb shit when you’re living the dream in a big ass garage shed like that?
He lived with his parents
In 2016 the Trump campaign built a database profiling millions of voters in key battleground states – including the family of Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Crooks.
It found that both the parents of Thomas Crooks were very likely to be gun owners and shared other gun-related lifestyle indicators.
They left out the part where his classmates used to refer to him as “the school shooter.”
From the details that have come out about him already I would be surprised if he wasn’t referred as that before. It is actually a pretty common “nickname” for kids that don’t fit in even when they don’t have hunting as a main personality trait already.
I used to get called the Columbine kid all the time for being goth back in my day, among other bullying
His classmates said he was a loner, but because he was a bully, not because he was the quiet kid.
The headline is about the guns but the article section on Data is really interesting, especially if you don’t know how they score potential voters for targeted messages.
As part of their investigation into what could have motivated Thomas Crooks to carry out the shooting, the FBI accessed his cellphone — but a preliminary analysis found the information was not helpful for investigators, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said.
The thing is, we legitimately can’t believe them.
It may just be after the Vegas shooter they stopped saying they found motive if they’re not gonna release the motive.
My guess is that the motive is the same as every school shooting, except that shooting at schools became too normie now.
And if there has to be shootings, I personally wouldn’t mind replacing the usual targets to politicians instead of school kids.
Thoughts and prayers?..nah, this was a poohLahteetian! We need legislation pronto!
Is that a lot? Kind of sounds like a lot.
Not really, a collection of 1 isn’t really a collection is it?
What were they expecting to find? A pile of Blåhaj? The Communist Manifesto?
*hoping to find, yes.
Yeah. His family was conservative and pro-2A. Whatever the narrative is here, it isn’t a left-wing thing. The way the right has a fetish for guns, no one is surprised.
I’m not saying this guy is definitely a lefty, I don’t think they have enough information to say anything with a lot of confidence yet. He had a one time donation to Act Blue, which doesn’t mean a lot, and he was a registered Republican, which also doesn’t mean a ton either.
There are plenty of 2A lefties that own guns too, a couple of my friends are darn near progressive (US progressive, not EU progressive) and own a decent number of rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Owning a gun or multiple guns does not automatically make you a right winger, at least not in America.
I don’t pretend to know what this guy was thinking though. Just saying it’s still early and we don’t know a ton.
He had a one time donation to Act Blue
That wasn’t him. That was a 70 year old guy from a different suburb with the same name. Stop spreading this misinformation.
Apparently there’s also information that the donation address matches the shooter’s, so it’s not misinformation.
Yeah so what if he registered Republican and his classmates talk at length about how conservative he was? He’s probably a communist because he supposedly gave $15 once to act blue /s
His political alignment should not and does not make others of that alignment guilty. As in if he was a left or right winger, his actions do not represent a large part of the population.
Having said that, your political alignment might not make you guilty, but it could create the environment that entourages bad actions.
As in, his actions does not make gun nuts guilty but it should be a warning that those views make it easier to be a terrible person.
I haven’t read any reports on what his classmates are saying. I’m not jumping to conclusions. I’m just saying it’s early and there is a ton of misinformation and owning a gun or multiple guns doesn’t automatically make him a right winger, it’s just one data point.
They are all over the news being interviewed. Especially here in PA
What ton of misinformation are you reading? Other than dipshits trying to spin it as a conspiracy to raise his polling numbers.
If anything, making a donation in his name to a left leaning organisation seems like a middle finger pointed at him.
Owning a gun or multiple guns does not automatically make you a right winger, at least not in America.
Louder for those in the back.
You know the fun thing about using nuance? It doesn’t matter one red penny if Republicans aren’t doing it too.
The pursuit of truth is righteous. Other people being willfully ignorant does nothing to diminish that.
This is an election. Being snobby about “ignorant people” helps lose them.
Has nothing to do with being snobby toward other people. It has everything to do with holding yourself to a standard.
If Adlai Stevenson had a marketing problem that’s something else entirely. Learning lessons from his faults itself seems like a pursuit of truth.
Good luck winning elections by holding yourself to a standard. I’ve yet to see that work, but I’m sure this time…
We’re talking past each other here. I presume I’m no less invested in keeping fascists out of office than you are. That doesn’t provide any excuse not to fully inform myself, or to pretend that something is anything other than what it really is.
You’re talking in context of the upcoming election. I’m talking in context of not abandoning reality. Discarding nuance because other people are irrational doesn’t serve you well in the broader scheme. Let them be confidently wrong. They aren’t going to care what your argument is regardless of what you say, so serve yourself better by giving things their due consideration.
Oh imagine the surprise! People with an unhealthy gun fetish have other mental issues, too!
Shrug… I always assume gun enthusiasts have a dozen or more. If you’re going to have one or two, you may as well have a dozen. You can only pop one at a time anyway.
I know many folks don’t like guns but since guns are allowed, it’s worth understanding that collecting them and learning about them is a hobby just like any other.
All gun enthusiasts I know have many. And if I could be arsed going through the necessary paperwork of getting ownership permits (Not murican), I would as well.
Guns are like tattoos. If you’re into them, you probably have a bunch.
I dunno, a friend of mine has a couple mp5s and you can definitely akimbo them. It’s absurdly fun too
I’m not what you’d call an “enthusiast”, I just hunt. And between friends and relatives, you just kinda end up with extra shotguns and rifles. I give some to new hunters but it seems like the old relatives all get out of it and if they know you hunt, you end up with them
I read these stories about “lunatic gunman had a dozen firearms” and cue up look-away-meme.
What other kinds of guns were found? I mean specifics. Handguns? Shotguns? Rifles?
Nerf guns
Wasn’t what I had in mind. Why did the Crooks choose the AR15?
My Googlefu says you can get a cheap rifle for $500, maybe because it’s the cheapest rifle with a magazine?
I don’t know I’m in the UK
It’s a very cheap rifle to build and cheap to buy as well. Poverty ponies is a thing.
Poverty ponies
I just tried googling this and found nothing useful. I did find some gatekeeping on ar15.com though.
It’s not an actual rifle brand or anything, its just a nickname for cheap ass ARs. Basically like a PSA lower kit and a cheap upper. I’ve built a few with couch change.
Young, retarded, gun collector, can’t actually shoot accurately. Colour me surprised
Breaking News: Man who used gun owns more than one gun.
This is super, SUPER normal for this area. Seriously. This is like announcing the shooter had a dog and propane grill in the back yard.
This is super, SUPER normal for this area.
I mean, “more than a dozen” covers a lot of ground. Does that mean 15? Sure, that’s probably normal. 50? That’s weird.
Does that mean 15? Sure, that’s probably normal.
…
Americans are weird.
To this American, yes, 15 is a weird number of guns to have. But some types of folk, especially in rural areas, are just different.
50 is not weird, it’s just like any other hobby, and you can’t shoot really more than 1 at a time accurately anyways.
No, it’s weird.
I mean it’s really not. The is nothing wrong with liking mechanical things. Is it weird to have a collection of anything?
Oh but you know NBC would say DOZENS! if there were 50.
Propane?! Clearly they are a terrorist of some flavor
/s
“Bomb-making materials”
Probably has a spare high capacity propane tank, too
A clear and present danger if I ever heard one
Taste the meat not the heat.
Why are they still saying “suspected” shooter?
How much evidence does one need before they can definitely say something?
He was never convicted in a court of law. They are always “suspected ______” until they are “convicted _____”. Since we don’t try people posthumously (yet), they will never be convicted.
Colloquially, people will just stop saying that detail. But it’s still there.
Yeah, I imagine once the investigation is closed, they’ll stop using “suspected”.
Fair point, makes sense. Thanks!
Worth keeping in mind the dude is 20 and lives with his parents. The vast majority of them probably aren’t his. The economy isn’t that good.
