shooters
Top News Expand Your Mind... Health Military Propaganda Social Engineering

Nobody Wants To Talk About What Many Mass Shooters Have In Common

In the aftermath of yet another mass shooting in the United States, the internet and broadcast news alike are inundated with commentary about why this keeps happening in America. Some blame guns, others blame mental health, and still others confidently blame false flag events and crisis actors.

But one commonality among numerous mass killings in the United States remains absent from these conversations. It is always reported when details of the shooter are published, but the widespread connection is rarely acknowledged: A mounting number of mass shooters have ties to the military, including Nikolas Cruz, who was a member of his school’s military prep organization, JROTC (Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps).

The United States has indulged in a culture of ‘patriotic’ militarism for decades, glorifying this institutionalized violence as a sign of strength and morality. As Anti-Media observed last week shortly after the Florida shooting, “We memorialize those who commit violence for the government and hold them in the highest esteem — throwing tantrums when others express dissenting opinions or fail to bow to the people who serve these institutions.”

 

Indeed, this glorification of violence bleeds over into the United States’ unique problem of individuals committing acts of mass violence. Here is a brief sampling of perpetrators of some of the most high-profile mass shootings in recent years. Many were either members of the military at some point, were rejected by the military (but clearly wanted to join), or came from a military family:

  • Chris Harper Mercer, who shot up a school in Oregon, was kicked out of the army and often wore military fatigue pants as a regular outfit. He was described as “militant.”
  • The Navy Yard shooter, Aaron Alexis, was a Navy reservist before he became a contractor and conducted his rampage on military grounds.
  • Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood shooter, was a psychiatrist in the military and committed his shooting on military grounds.
  • Wade Michael Page, who opened fire on a Sikh temple, was kicked out of the military.
  • Devin Patrick Kelly, who killed 26 people in a chapel in Texas last year, was also kicked out of the military.
  • Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, who shot up the Ft. Lauderdale airport, was a member of the National Guard.
  • Chris Dorner, who notoriously began murdering police officers over deeply-rooted frustrations over racism and injustice within the Los Angeles Police Department, was a Marine before he became a cop.
  • Micah Javier Johnson, who went on a cop-killing spree in Dallas in 2016, was a member of the Army Reserves and fought in Afghanistan.
  • At least one member of a foiled plot to blow up a mosque in Kansas had served in the military and then continued in the National Guard.
  • Eric Frein, who ambushed Pennsylvania state troopers in 2014, came from a military family, reenacted military battles, and carried military gear and camouflage face paint. Police found an Army sniper handbook in his bedroom.
  • One of the infamous Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris, came from a military family and was rejected by the Marines over his use of antidepressants.
 

Other shooters, like Paul CianciaAdam Lanza, and James Holmes showed up to their shootings donning battle gear, and while this does not implicate a direct tie to the military, their decision to show up to a massacre of innocent people in tactical outfits (most commonly associated with the military and police) arguably demonstrates their mentality: one of battle, which is constantly glorified in American culture. Unsurprisingly, Cruz wore his JROTC shirt to shoot up Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

None of this is to claim that simply being a member of or supporting the military creates mass shooters (although admittedly, many members of the military are mass shooters, they just kill innocent foreigners abroad rather than those in the U.S.).

However, it is to say that the military is an inherently violent institution, and it should come as no surprise that individuals drawn to violent institutions believe using violence is acceptable.

As journalist Justin King wrote in a piece highlighting the experience of an average American teenage boy and how much violence pervades the fabric of our culture:

In homeroom, they watch the news. A bunch of brown kids in some far away land have been ripped in half by warheads from a drone. Oops. Just collateral damage. Life is cheap. He’ll watch the live footage of the dead kids as detached as any trained killer. He knows we’re ready to go to war in Syria and knows we should kill them, but neither he nor his parents could tell you why.

Despite outrage from many Americans over the consistent stream of mass shootings, a tiny fraction of the population makes so much as a peep about the relentless destruction of innocent life abroad — destruction they pay for and that seeps back into American society. This is no more evident than in the repeated tendency of mass shooters to revere or participate in the military machine (though some corners of the internet claim these events are “false flags,” the reality remains that even if that were the case, those “selected” to perpetrate them are still drawn to the characteristically violent military).

While an inability to contain anger and mental health problems and the use of psychiatric drugs are certainly linked to horrific violence the difference between this phenomenon and that of military connections among shooters is simple: taking antidepressants is not inherently violent, and those who take them are not inherently endorsing a violent activity. The military, on the other hand, is intrinsically violent and would cease to exist without the “moral” authority to use this violence.

As Americans continue to rage at each other over solutions to gun violence, some insisting the government confiscate guns and others insisting the government ramp up the militarization of schools, it is clear that nothing will change until the American people confront the deeply-rooted foundation of violent militarism that continues to plague the United States and the world.

 

Source: www.theantimedia.org

Carey Wedler
Carey Wedler
Carey Wedler is the lead editor for The Last American Vagabond. Carey previously ran one of the most important and impactful independent media websites in the field, The Anti-Media, until it became one of the earliest examples of coordinated censorship, which eventually brought the site to an end. Carey has since continued producing written and video/audio content, and remains one of the most important voices in the truly non-partisan independent media. 
http://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com

6 Replies to “Nobody Wants To Talk About What Many Mass Shooters Have In Common

  1. Nice, I am a veteran. My motive was to go and just serve out a term, get some experience that employers value and eventually get enough capital to start my own business. I succeeded. The military is violent and you blaming veterans for all this doesn’t help. Many young people join for college incentives and feel trapped in a society that has degraded humanity. They don’t feel valued. Many employers treat their employees like shit instead of a valuable investment as well, even if they are dedicated workers. The wars are b.s. and it is the veterans who are usually the most vocal about it. They get out with mental issues and are treated like shit by the government and its politicians. Trust me, politicians laugh their ass off in private. Americans are unwilling to stop electing and confront the militant warfare state. Why don’t we go on a national strike? No more work until they end their wars….most people would starve as they are addicted to debt. I am glad I got the hell out of there as they sent me to third world hell holes to do the bidding of a Zionist elite banking system that is willing to dehumanize anyone that is a “goy.” In the end, follow the money and you will find this shitty enslavement system behind every evil.

    1. Joe, I agree with everything you said here, and in your following comment, except that I don’t think she is blaming veterans, only pointing out a commonality that is not discussed in MSM.

  2. It may be, as the author states, that military background of some sort is the commonality of mass shooters. But there are more commonalities that are far more significant. One is that some, if not all of theses shooters are on psychotropic drugs, prescribed for mental illness. So, is the more important of these that the shooter is mentally ill, or that the shooter is on legal medications that may actually exacerbate any violent tendencies? Furthermore, the vast majority of these mass shooters are registered Democrats. Perhaps it is the liberal mindset that the end justifies any means that leads these people to commit atrocities.

    1. “Furthermore, the vast majority of these mass shooters are registered Democrats.”

      Anyone that says “vast majority” without citing any non-biased sources, has an agenda, and is not trustworthy.

      Perhaps it is the liberal mindset that the end justifies any means that leads these people to commit atrocities.”

      If you seriously are even contemplating that this is true, you have to be an absolute idiot. First of all, what does “liberal mindset” even mean? I believe in the golden rule, does that mean I have a liberal mindset? Look at what you’re saying, and stop spreading the hate, and increasing the ridiculous divide that the US oligarchy and their media puppets use to quell the sheep (you), and spread blame around in order to keep the status quo (eg, you losing more rights, and them gaining more power).

  3. If we were in another country would it be legal to medicate as many citizens into mental illness and death as possible? Think opioid crisis. The hellish nightmare that this “free country” is reaping on its subjects is sick. There is no way in hell anyone who is honest with themselves can look in the mirror and call this a “free country” or land of the free. Debt slavery, medical mafia, military industrial complex forever wars, agro-fascism, big-pharma, civil asset forfeiture, police state, forced monopolies, war on drugs, welfare state, war on veterans, war on freedom, socialist schools, war on property rights, enviro-fascism, STATE WAR ON FAMILIES, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, etc.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *