I want to make one narrow point about the aftermath of the massacre in Odessa.

[Stinky The Clown]

The police chose not to name the perp.

That, in my view, is a good thing. It tracks with the wishes of victims of previous similar events.

To be sure, the name will get out very quickly. If nothing else, search warrants and legal papers get quickly into the public sphere.

I would be very happy if bottom feeders like TMZ, Heavy, and others would voluntarily do the same.

Let us know the shooter was a white guy. Let us know he was in his thirties. But don't give his name any play at all.

[elleng]

1. His name is out, was out within a couple hours of the police ID.

I agree, it (and others') should NOT be.

Yes, in his thirties (I think,) and employment story is also out.

[hlthe2b]

2. His social media was scrubbed last night hours before his name was released this morning...

Does that not make you a little bit concerned? It should.

Not naming them does nothing but feed conspiracy theory and timing when/how to name them such that no one in the media can research their background stinks of manipulation.

We shouldn't give excessive coverage to the killer, but we DO need to know the truth--who, why, and HOW?


Seriously, think of the consequences and how readily those in power can manipulate public perception if we never identify WHO was behind these incidents--OR-- as in this incident, there appears to have been an intentional delay to take down his social media before doing so?


To argue against the pubic having the TRUTH is so undemocratic to me, I'm shocked you would propose it.

[lunatica]

5. Yeah, it's really necessary to know who it is.

I don’t understand why people think giving out names is going to make things worse. It can’t get worse than it already is.

[cwydro]

24. How do you know his social media was scrubbed?

I’ve only seen that theory here.

[hlthe2b]

26. One need only look outside DU... even ignoring questionable sources, countless people were

searching once the name leaked--using both free and paid internet search vehicles.

And no, I won't get into a debate or argument with you as to whether or not YOU should believe it. That is up to you. Whether or not you do makes not a damned bit of difference as to the point of why names need to be released because to NOT do so encourages and enables the narrative to be created by others. That is anything but the transparency we should demand in this country.

[cwydro]

27. Maybe he had none.

I don’t do twitter and rarely look at FB.

The other mass shooters social media trail was available.

You can’t “scrub” what’s been on the internet anyway. Silliness.

[hlthe2b]

28. Facebook and twitter accounts most certainly can be taken down/scrubbed.

Your expertise on these matters is lacking and it shows.

[cwydro]

29. Oooh. I guess you told me.

So you have no proof, amirite?

[hlthe2b]

30. Just responding to your pattern of snide posts. Bye

I really don't give a damn what you think.

[cwydro]

31. So. No proof.

Lmao.

[hlthe2b]

32. I'm not your employee nor your monkey. Go do some research of your own.

It is immaterial to me and to the point I was making.

[cwydro]

33. It's simply not true.

But by all means, believe what you want to believe.

[hlthe2b]

34. PROVE IT!

Oh, yeah. YOU CAN'T.

Ahh, DU is so much nicer now that I add certain people that just want to disrupt to my ignore list--kudos to the admins for this feature.

[cwydro]

35. Can't prove a negative dear.

You’re the one claiming an actual thing took place.

But you have nothing to back that up. Do you?
‘

[brush]

36. The name shouldn't be hidden. Too many doubts will be raised as to the reason for hiding it.

[brush]

3. Ok, but if the shooter was black, brown or muslim the name would be the first thing mentioned.

And if they had a photo that would be plastered everywhere too.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. To your point . . . .

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212429321

[GulfCoast66]

6. Hell no! Because we now see what they are doing.

Those in power know immediately who he is.

Read his social media shit and find out he is a red hat dude. And it gives them time to scrub out his social media shit. It will eventually come out, but by then we will have another mass killing. They went to school after the El Paso killer. Keep the ideology of the shooter out of the press till the next story comes along.

Had this guy been an Isis inspired guy, or an an Antifa guy(which is laughable since they don’t kill people) do you think his identity, ideology, and social media would have been hidden?

[virgogal]

7. The name has been out since this AM.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. A white male.

I don't really think I need to know anything else.

All white males should be considered potential mass shooters. Because they are the vast majority of them. 90 percent? 99 percent? Remind me how many men of color or how many women have done mass shootings.

Yeah, I know that's profiling but sometimes profiling is useful. So if we take away all guns from white males, I'm going to guess that mass shootings will decline precipitously. Just a guess.

[robbob]

18. Wow, that's some messed up logic

Basically it’s like saying:
“All mass murderers lately are white males, therefore;
All white males are potential mass murderers.”

This is exactly like saying many terrorist attacks are the work of fundamental Islamic groups, therefore all members of the Islamic faith are potential terrorists.

Which is exactly the kind of racist bullshit tRump and his idiot followers are trying to promote.

Don’t be like tRump and his idiot racist followers.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. The racist bullshit

being promoted by Trump, et al, is that men and women of color are dangerous and need to be shot more or less on sight.

Given that it's almost exclusively white men who do the mass shootings, it's far more logical to be highly suspicious of white men.

[Paladin]

23. Want to be suspicious of me because I'm a white male? Be my guest.

In addition to not being a mass shooter, I'm not a Nazi, I'm not a racist, I don't own a single article of MAGA attire, and I don't watch re-runs of "Friends" or "The Lawrence Welk Show."

I trust that I've adequately fucked with your mind.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

42. Ohh, I get it that not all white men are mass murderers.

Unfortunately, way too many Trumpistas think that all persons of color are mass murderers.

But my main point is that virtually every single one of the mass shootings is done by, are you ready for this? a white male. How bizarre is that. So again, why shouldn't we profile white men?

[robbob]

39. Look, I get what you're saying,

But the blanket condemnation of ANY ethnic group because of the actions of a few in that group is wrong, IMHO. I know it’s a knee jerk reaction to tRumps vile racism to say “look at the latest shootings, it’s WHITE males who we need to fear”, but I think fear, divisiveness, and hatred of the other are exactly the seeds the GOP is trying to sow, and I refuse to play that game.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

43. Do not lose sight of the fact that

the Trump supporters is happy to profile persons of color.

And if even some of the mass shootings were done by people who weren't white males I wouldn't have bothered with this thread. The reality is, it's white men doing this.

[SCVDem]

9. I disagree with the op.

In a free and open society, you don't have the right to classify that knowledge.

These people forget who they work for.

You inform and WE decide!

Who remembers the names of most any of these mass shooters.

Who shot up the Garlic Fest? Las Vegas? Oak Creek Mosque?

I rest my case!

[Mosby]

13. +1

[eggplant]

10. #NoNotoriety

Thank you, Stinky.

[FakeNoose]

11. He made himself the national news when he shot and killed people

No privacy for this guy, no hiding that he's a ChumpHumping gun nut who just got fired.
His name is news, and the police have no right to hide it.

People who want to keep their privacy don't go around shooting innocent citizens.

[Caliman73]

40. He doesn't want privacy. Shooters usually want notoriety.

Which is the purpose of keeping the name out of the spotlight. People who are copy cats or are lonely and desperate will see the attention given a shooter and be more motivated to gain that type of recognition. It is a hypothesis that social scientists have promoted regarding shootings.

It doesn't have anything to do with the shooter's privacy, it has to do with denying them the publicity and impact they are looking for by having their names and images all over the news.

[Akacia]

12. i think that the word, Coward, should be used along with names.

Never say their names without the word coward, like the coward insert name. was arrested. Or some other word not to glorify them in anyway.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

14. Not naming the shooter means more people are kept in the darl

People who knew him after the fact realized there were red flags all over the place.

It might not be able to stop that shooting but could help others stop other potential shootings.

[BobTheSubgenius]

15. I don't know how many of these psychopaths this applies to, but...

....I'm sure the number is not zero, or anywhere close to it. How many of them do it for a deranged idea of a legacy? Having people remember then name?

If they knew few would ever hear their name, it might make a difference, Their lives must be a complete mess.

[GulfCoast66]

16. It makes no difference. Name them or not.

In my opinion we are seeing the unexpected result of white males, which I very much am, reacting to their perceived loss at the top of the food chain.

And Evangelicals losing their unchecked ability to oppress those that disagree with their twisted view of the world.

Never saw it coming but it was predictable to a smarter man than me. In my 53 years in and out of the rural south I have come into countless contact with poor whites living in crappy trailers, driving beater trucks and flying the confederate flag. But always they could feel they were better than, well, you know.

No longer. And not just President Obama, although that touched it off. All the media, music, politic well, everything they see it is obvious people of color are often superior to them. And they are super pissed. Most wont kill, but a good many will.

I may get beat up here but it is true. Some I know are family members. They live in an eternal state of anger and trump has poured gasoline on them.

That said, I’m optimistic. The are pissed because they are losers at life. Because they made bad choices. They hate education because it shines a light on their ignorance. We will win over them. But there will be some ugly moments.

[JI7]

17. what if it they were Muslim black Hispanic Jewish gay etc ?

[oldsoftie]

19. I'm amazed at how many DUers actually think authorities are "scrubbing social media".

Do you even know what that would entail? And the fruitlessness of the effort? How does anyone here even know what "social media" this idiot HAD? I dont have twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, etc. Only DU & FB.
Any acquaintances of his would have history anyway. You cant "scrub" what I have on you.

[cwydro]

25. Thank you.

DU loves a good conspiracy theory though.

[oldsoftie]

38. Oh hell yes.

[cwydro]

41. Though they can never provide proof.

Funny, that.

[brush]

37. Of course it's impossible to delete everything (and it's never deleted from servers somewhere...

but easily accessed info can be deleted/scribbed. That's all that means. Whole accounts can be deleted, but as I said, the info still exists somewhere, it's just harder to find.

[yardwork]

20. I disagree. In a democracy we need to know who the police are accusing and killing.

The man was shot by police and killed. It is unacceptable that authorities be allowed to keep his identity secret.