HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT
Chilling example. Killers expressing themselves at length is not a new phenomenon. In 1995, The Washington Post and The New York Times published a 35,000-word screed from Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, who said he would quit terrorism if “Industrial Society and Its Future” was published. The publication helped lead to his capture after Kaczynski’s brother found the words familiar. But the modern form took off with Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who left behind a 1,500-page manifesto railing against “the Islamization of Europe” after killing 77 people in two July 2011 attacks. Since then, explaining oneself has become a trend for killers with similar motives. To accompany his attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March, shooter Brenton Tarrant posted his own screed; not only did he decry the supposed invasion of immigrants, but he also named Breivik as an inspiration. “On far-right forums,” wrote one New York Times op-ed author, “the term ‘going Breivik’ means a full commitment to the cause.” That pattern appears to be continuing.
Channeling hate. Tarrant kicked off a chilling trend of his own: posting his manifesto on web forum 8chan, known for its wildly radical content. The El Paso attack, before which Crusius published his own hateful 2,300-word manifesto, was the third this year in which the suspect is believed to have left a written testimony on the site. A month after Tarrant’s attack, the 19-year-old named John Earnest who opened fire at a San Diego synagogue, killing one, reportedly published on the site shortly before he began his attack. In that post — as in the El Paso manifesto — the author cited Tarrant as an inspiration.
… and competing for it. Radical White supremacists, whether they’re deadly or not, aren’t just supporting one another and building a digital pantheon for these horrific deeds. They’re also “gamifying” the terror committed in the name of racially motivated hate. For example, online sleuths have uncovered posts questioning Crusius’ body count in El Paso and vowing to break Tarrant’s “high score.” The fact that Tarrant’s Christchurch attack was livestreamed, analysts say, is evidence enough that these mass attacks have been taken to a grotesque, if more modern, new level. Meanwhile, although each killer’s manifesto has been laced with similar hateful fears over immigrant-led “invasions,” analysts say there are ways to stand out: Tarrant sprinkled his with inside jokes and pop culture references to “infect the discourse” around the attack.
Day-to-day. Whether rooted in White supremacy or seemingly random, the recent attacks — and, more specifically, the diverse locations where they’ve occurred — have forced Americans to face an increasingly realistic dilemma: Simply being out in public can be dangerous. While the chances of dying in a mass shooting remain microscopic, ordinary people are making rationalizations that earlier may have seemed unnecessary or even absurd. Consider the Virginia preschool teacher who’s afraid of going out alone, but adds, “You can’t just not go.”
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