Just yesterday, far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos called for vigilantes to “gun down” journalists “on sight”; two days ago, President Donald Trump described American media as "the enemy of the American people."
This is what it looks like. If you need any more examples of what the TGOP / tRump have in store for the USA, you’re not paying attention. We have to fight back, and not just at the polls.
I think it comes down to whether the harm is imminent. I would argue it was imminent due to the alt-right movement of the past year. Statements like his in such a politically heated environment are the definition of incitement, “joking” or not.
Agreed; let’s hope your DA feels the same, and acts on it.
If it turns out that the gunman took Milo’s “trolling” to heart, he should be held responsible for this, by the courts and by public opinion.
This is stochastic terrorism.
Milo has a history of siccing angry mobs on people, then backpedalling later as “only trolling.”
He knows what happened in the past, he’s even reveled in it even, so claiming ignorance is no excuse.
I have criticisms in my support for some “antifa style” tactics, siding with the protestors so as to not be a fence sitter, yet acknowledging I have some reservations, but people forget that the reason why he was being deplatformed was that, in his “speeches,” he would single out already vulnerable students, in one case a trans woman, in another an undocumented man, show their photo, name, and other personal information, and disparage them to the crowd that came to see him.
We should at the very least make sure he can never eat a meal or have a drink in public in peace ever again.
OK. I’m going to be that guy.
We know nothing about the fucker that did this apart from the fact that he (and it is a he), shot up a newsroom and murdered people, is alive, in custody and not answering questions.
If it turns out that he is a right wing nut job then Yannapukeolis and Trump will have to answer for it but at this stage there is no evidence.
Right wing personalities have waged a war against the media, attempting to both discredit and dehumanize them.
While, yes, this is speculative, it’s also a relatively safe speculation to make.
No doubt. Not contesting it. But assume makes an ass out of you and me. We are rationalists and believers in the rule of law, we don’t burn down peoples houses on hearesay. We are better than that.
I won’t take my torch out until there’s some proof, but it doesn’t mean that I also won’t talk about it before all the info is in.
A lot of the time, the only way to bring certain information to light is to not shut up about it.
Plus that horrible “assume” analogy.
Yeah. True that 
But plus what? Do you have another point to make you’re not telling me?
To be honest, I’ve been waiting for this since Trump got elected. It has felt inevitable. Milo deserves some share of the blame, but he’s just one voice of many calling for the deaths of journalists. When the president of the United States calls the press the “enemy of the people,” over and over again, it’s not going to end well. This event won’t be the last, either, I’m afraid.
Jesus. The newspaper was staffed by members of the Trump administration? Those are some serious contortions required to distract from the right-wing hate machine that’s been targeting the press, of which Trump is leader. I don’t think Sean’s ever going to be able to extricate himself from the pretzel shape he’s turned himself into, though.
It’s always a “joke,” until it isn’t. But “driving trollies”? He was deliberately making an inflammatory statement intended to provoke an angry response? Well, he succeeded, but I don’t see how that’s anything other than admitting culpability. The right has been engaging in “driving trollies” for so long, they don’t seem aware that it’s not actually a defense.
Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not going to take it seriously even now that people are dead.
It wouldn’t be the first time that a Milo fan shot anyone, either.
Even if this shooter turns out to have some completely different motivation it doesn’t change the fact that Yannapukeolis and Trump have been actively calling for exactly this kind of thing to happen. They don’t get to walk away from that.
So: white male, obscured his fingerprints to delay identity. That we know.
What’s telling is that police forces in other cities deployed people to local newspapers, “just in case”. They don’t do that, unless they have credible information that it’s more than a lone wolf. You don’t see cops being deployed to a school in Seattle when there’s a shooting in Texas. At the very least, there a lot of smoke. How big the fire is, remains to be seen.
I’m not suggesting anybody should ‘shut up’ about anything. I could be proved completely wrong here (and most likely will given the circumstances) I just believe you shouldn’t go off the deep end without proof.
Sounds like a half-ass plan deployed on the dark web by dim-witted racists.
Again, it is speculation, and it could be wrong, but if it’s a relatively safe speculation to make, it’s also not going “off the deep end.”
Milo made a “joke” about shooting journalists, and two days later, this happens.
You don’t need a cork board, push pins, and a mile of red string to tentatively connect the two occurrences.
You do if you wanna “gas light” this issue.
[note sadly the sarcasm]
I’m backing it in for the day folks. My head hurts, and my heart is sickened. I need a thirsty-six-ouncer of whiskey and my favorite chair.
