Charleston shooter's manifesto apparently discovered

[Adrift]

There are those who hold to the opinion that the people who go on these mass shootings should, to the greatest extent possible, have their motives, indeed, their very names, kept out of our public consciousness. These shooters do what they do because they want mass media attention for themselves and whatever deranged fantasy they've invented about the world, so, if we don't want to give them exactly what they want, we shouldn't give them any more attention than we have to.

Personally, I'm sympathetic to that opinion.

Yep. I watched a documentary, I think it was Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal, where media attention of the early incidences of postal shootings helped encourage people in other places to enact killing sprees. It spread from post offices to factories to the office environment to schools, and so on, and the major contributing factor was the media glorification that had a hand in contributing to each new spree. While at the gym the other day, watching the media attention to this case, the glee at being able to report every tiny detail of this case by the news media seemed almost palpable. There's a sort of insulated disconnect by the news media as they parade in their experts and opinionists about how these things go down that kinda digs at the soul of the mainstream public. While ultimately the shooter ought to be held responsible for his actions, the news media delights in the chaos that they help contribute to. Ironically, if you've ever watched the film Network or Nightcrawler you get a sense of the media's implicitly in all of this.

[Adrift]

On the other hand, I have a sort of peacefulness about all of this. The church's response, their sense of forgiveness, and love in the midst of the hatred and fear that this demonic situation was attempting to produce is encouraging. God's love conquers all.

[Darth Executor]

Yep. I watched a documentary, I think it was Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal, where media attention of the early incidences of postal shootings helped encourage people in other places to enact killing sprees. It spread from post offices to factories to the office environment to schools, and so on, and the major contributing factor was the media glorification that had a hand in contributing to each new spree. While at the gym the other day, watching the media attention to this case, the glee at being able to report every tiny detail of this case by the news media seemed almost palpable. There's a sort of insulated disconnect by the news media as they parade in their experts and opinionists about how these things go down that kinda digs at the soul of the mainstream public. While ultimately the shooter ought to be held responsible for his actions, the news media delights in the chaos that they help contribute to. Ironically, if you've ever watched the film Network or Nightcrawler you get a sense of the media's implicitly in all of this.

News media is in pretty bad shape, especially with the Internet around, so a big part of that glee is financial. A massacre is like Christmas for them.

[fm93]

Would anyone care to comment seriously on the questions that I raised?

[Adrift]

Would anyone care to comment seriously on the questions that I raised?

I thought that was what we were doing. Did you have anything specific in mind?

[rogue06]

There are those who hold to the opinion that the people who go on these mass shootings should, to the greatest extent possible, have their motives, indeed, their very names, kept out of our public consciousness. These shooters do what they do because they want mass media attention for themselves and whatever deranged fantasy they've invented about the world, so, if we don't want to give them exactly what they want, we shouldn't give them any more attention than we have to.

Personally, I'm sympathetic to that opinion.

I've been saying something similar since Columbine when the media spent weeks wringing their hands anguishing over the murderers motive. All that did was encouraged others of that ilk to go out and do likewise if they felt misunderstood and ignored and wanted people to pay attention to them and their insane/evil-filled message.

[fm93]

I thought that was what we were doing.

Sorry. That was directed at the rapidly devolving exchange between Jim and Darth.

Did you have anything specific in mind?

I've been...captivated by a number of things in the manifesto:

1. There are some parts that, taken out of context, seem to be perfectly innocuous and even straightforward--but his mind somehow twists it into the exact opposite conclusion that I came to. For instance:

Black people are racially aware almost from birth, but White people on average dont think about race in their daily lives. And this is our problem. We need to and have to.

Say you were to witness a dog being beat by a man. You are almost surely going to feel very sorry for that dog. But then say you were to witness a dog biting a man. You will most likely not feel the same pity you felt for the dog for the man. Why? Because dogs are lower than men.

This same analogy applies to black and White relations. Even today, blacks are subconsciously viewed by White people are lower beings. They are held to a lower standard in general. This is why they are able to get away with things like obnoxious behavior in public. Because it is expected of them.

Modern history classes instill a subconscious White superiority complex in Whites and an inferiority complex in blacks. This White superiority complex that comes from learning of how we dominated other peoples is also part of the problem I have just mentioned.

Observations like these are what inspire many people to try to heal broken race relations and usher in peace, justice and equality. This shooter used those same observations to justify attempted genocide. How in the world do the machinations of his mind lead to that? It's like the Internet skeptic who tried to twist the Golden Rule into a justification for masochists to abuse other people.

2. Perhaps more disturbingly, some of the hateful, negative parts of his manifesto seem eerily similar to sentiments that I've seen on this very forum and daily life. Acting like white people are somehow the ones who face persecution and oppression in America. Thinking that "blacks are the real racists." Complaining about black people viewing things in racial terms. Perpetuating the myth of the happy slave. To borrow a direct quote, he says "Integration has done nothing but bring Whites down to level of brute animals. The best example of this is obviously our school system." That sounds like an extreme version of the common rhetoric that policies such as, say, affirmative action involve dragging white people down and constitute "reverse racism."

I don't know. I'm motivated to do anything I can to help prevent something like this from ever happening again. And reading what he apparently wrote, it seems like he heard common rhetoric from multiple political views and misinterpreted some, while taking others to extremes. Somehow, I got the impression that he formed his own ideas of concepts that people don't talk about, and sensed that they didn't talk about it because of some fear, and saw himself as a heroic figure doing what everyone else was to scared to address.

[seanD]

Sorry. That was directed at the rapidly devolving exchange between Jim and Darth.


I've been...captivated by a number of things in the manifesto:

1. There are some parts that, taken out of context, seem to be perfectly innocuous and even straightforward--but his mind somehow twists it into the exact opposite conclusion that I came to. For instance:

Black people are racially aware almost from birth, but White people on average dont think about race in their daily lives. And this is our problem. We need to and have to.

Say you were to witness a dog being beat by a man. You are almost surely going to feel very sorry for that dog. But then say you were to witness a dog biting a man. You will most likely not feel the same pity you felt for the dog for the man. Why? Because dogs are lower than men.

This same analogy applies to black and White relations. Even today, blacks are subconsciously viewed by White people are lower beings. They are held to a lower standard in general. This is why they are able to get away with things like obnoxious behavior in public. Because it is expected of them.

Modern history classes instill a subconscious White superiority complex in Whites and an inferiority complex in blacks. This White superiority complex that comes from learning of how we dominated other peoples is also part of the problem I have just mentioned.

Observations like these are what inspire many people to try to heal broken race relations and usher in peace, justice and equality. This shooter used those same observations to justify attempted genocide. How in the world do the machinations of his mind lead to that? It's like the Internet skeptic who tried to twist the Golden Rule into a justification for masochists to abuse other people.

2. Perhaps more disturbingly, some of the hateful, negative parts of his manifesto seem eerily similar to sentiments that I've seen on this very forum and daily life. Acting like white people are somehow the ones who face persecution and oppression in America. Thinking that "blacks are the real racists." Complaining about black people viewing things in racial terms. Perpetuating the myth of the happy slave. To borrow a direct quote, he says "Integration has done nothing but bring Whites down to level of brute animals. The best example of this is obviously our school system." That sounds like an extreme version of the common rhetoric that policies such as, say, affirmative action involve dragging white people down and constitute "reverse racism."

I don't know. I'm motivated to do anything I can to help prevent something like this from ever happening again. And reading what he apparently wrote, it seems like he heard common rhetoric from multiple political views and misinterpreted some, while taking others to extremes. Somehow, I got the impression that he formed his own ideas of concepts that people don't talk about, and sensed that they didn't talk about it because of some fear, and saw himself as a heroic figure doing what everyone else was to scared to address.

The dude was on Suboxone. And who knows what other possible psychotropic concoctions he may have been taking.

[Adrift]

His views sound, to me, like those that come from a fringe racist element. Thoughts born, mostly, from online white power garbage that reinforces racial stereotypes. He watched films like American History X, and took the wrong message from it. He seems to have bought hook line and sinker from websites like Stormfront. He sounds like a confused child who, by demonic influence, took the lives of people who wanted nothing more than to love him. It is easier to hate than love. Love takes temperance, and patiences and self-control. He lacked all of these things.

[Cerealman]

Why do you say demonic influence? The kid was mentally unstable and then some,but why do you think demons were involved?

[Abigail]

Would anyone care to comment seriously on the questions that I raised?

Yes, I think things like this need to be discussed and I don't think a lot of the stuff he has come up with would stand in the light of day. It is when we ignore these ideas that they go unchallenged and then people who do support them are able to peddle them to the drifters coming by. This guy had obviously not seen a lot of the world and has a very blinkered view of white people. If you think there is corruption in business and government in Africa look at some of the Eastern European countries for equivalents.

I think this guy's life could have been a whole lot different if he had had more guidance. His family life doesn't seem to have been very good and it looks like his schools haven't been the least interested in the guy.

The people he shot were the exact evidence he needed to disprove his case about black people needing to be segregated. Those were fine people who most sane people would love to have in a community and live next door to and go to school with and marry their kids to. That was the evidence he needed to make him re-evaluate his case and yet he ultimately didn't understand that evidence in the greater scheme of things, or if he did, chose to ignore it. Reminds me of the people who cut verses out the Bible.


There has been racism in the past and there still is racism about today and it is something we all need to be aware of. What I think is really doing more harm than good is black affirmative action at state levels (obviously what people do with their own personal money is up to them). This is normally implemented by white progressives who are rich and are feeling guilty and while it may be helping some black people it is creating a new class of discriminated against young white people who had no part in the atrocities of the past, who end up feeling wrongly persecuted and angry. So the cycle of abuse is just being continued. If we are to be truly colour blind then colour should not come into anything. We should rather look at people as rich or poor, dealing with everyone individually and helping according to need.

[Abigail]

His views sound, to me, like those that come from a fringe racist element. Thoughts born, mostly, from online white power garbage that reinforces racial stereotypes.

It is mostly stereotypes he uses in his 'manifesto', so very superficial thinking.

It is easier to hate than love. Love takes temperance, and patiences and self-control. He lacked all of these things.

Yes.

[nickcopernicus]

[...stuff deleted...]
Anyway, it's a pretty short story:

Smart naive kid with no guidance because he's surrounded by dumb trashy people discovers leftists are slimy evil scumballs who fed him a heavily distorted view of reality all his life
Smart naive kid takes to the Internet for research
Smart naive kid is suddenly exposed to a high concentration of disturbing material that in a sane world he would have been exposed to over a much longer period of time
Smart naive kid's brain cannot process high concentration of disturbing material, concludes he's in an immediate existential crisis and acts accordingly. Hilarity does not ensue.

Nick:
Emphasis mine. I'm curious. Which part of this manifesto lead you to believe that this kid was "smart?" Perhaps this little nugget?

Negroes have lower Iqs, lower impulse control, and higher testosterone levels in generals.[sic]

In "generals?" Et sur is heard havin a loer iq then this smert wite superemesist. Its hard bean a nergero.

[Darth Executor]

Nick:
Emphasis mine. I'm curious. Which part of this manifesto lead you to believe that this kid was "smart?" Perhaps this little nugget?

Negroes have lower Iqs, lower impulse control, and higher testosterone levels in generals.[sic]

In "generals?" Et sur is heard havin a loer iq then this smert wite superemesist. Its hard bean a nergero.

Thanks for asking, I was wondering why nobody had complained about that. The reality is that fun as it may be to make fun of someone's typing, typos don't say much about your intelligence, particularly when you rush to write an unedited draft so you're not late to your planned massacre.

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/wuwt-typos/

For example:

"Which part of this manifesto lead you to believe that this kid was "smart?""

should be

"Which part of this manifesto led you to believe that this kid was "smart?""

Lead is a metal. The word you were looking for is "led". I don't think that making spelling errors while mocking someone else's spelling makes you stupid (though it's definitely funny), even if you're not in a rush to attend the 9 o'clock slaughter. I actually think you're one of the smarter people here, fwiw.

The reason why I think the kid is smart is because he quickly processed a large amount of information and within the framework of his progressive indoctrination arrived at the appropriate conclusion, then used said intellect to override his non-violent instincts to carry out his plan. He just did what progressives tell blacks implicitly that they should do under progressive standards of racial discrimination.

[Darth Executor]

2. Perhaps more disturbingly, some of the hateful, negative parts of his manifesto seem eerily similar to sentiments that I've seen on this very forum and daily life. Acting like white people are somehow the ones who face persecution and oppression in America.

Nobody is facing persecution and oppression in America. That is, under the standards of normal, sane people. Under the standards of progressives white people are heavily persecuted and black people heavily favored. To reverse it in public opinion, progressives just hide a lot of bad incidents involving black people (especially if they're racial black on white violence) and trumpet dubious white on black violence as racial and unjustified (Zimmerman, Michael Brown). This guy just happened to find all the stuff liberals sweep under the couch, heavily concentrated for him by some white supremacist web site, and, following the logic of liberal instigation of black revolution adjusted to his newfound data, just did what liberals have been trying to get mentally unstable black people to do for the last few years: started shooting.

Thinking that "blacks are the real racists."

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ...ites_hispanics

On average, everybody thinks blacks are more racist than whites... including blacks:

Among black Americans, 31% think most blacks are racist, while 24% consider most whites racist and 15% view most Hispanics that way.

Among white adults, 10% think most white Americans are racist; 38% believe most blacks are racist, and 17% say most Hispanics are racist.

Complaining about black people viewing things in racial terms.

You just praised him for his observation that black people view things in racial terms and white people ignore race. Where do you think he learned this from? Just because you're ok with being disingenuous from paragraph to paragraph doesn't mean a naive observer stumbling onto your post will.

Perpetuating the myth of the happy slave.

Are you saying no slave was happy? According to him he read accounts of slaves and most of them seemed happy. I dunno if he's right or not but from my experience the average liberal is so ignorant of slavery that they don't even know most slaves were bought from other Africans. They think white people got most of the slaves riding around a post-apocalyptic Africa throwing bolas and wielding tridents, like some 70s cartoon. I can't possibly imagine you actually went through an archive of slave accounts.

To borrow a direct quote, he says "Integration has done nothing but bring Whites down to level of brute animals. The best example of this is obviously our school system." That sounds like an extreme version of the common rhetoric that policies such as, say, affirmative action involve dragging white people down and constitute "reverse racism."

Of course it does (except the reverse racism part, it's just plain racism). If an organization was rejecting talented black people to make room for white people because they're white you'd be screaming from the rooftops about institutional racism. This kid, being more of a rational thinking, saw no need to accept an irrational double standard.