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Gunman Described Himself as a 'Terrorist'
The Wall Street Journal ^ | JANUARY 9, 2011 | CHARLES FORELLE, ANN ZIMMERMAN and ALEXANDRA BERZON

Posted on 01/09/2011 2:32:42 AM PST by Scanian

TUCSON, Ariz.—In high school, Jared Lee Loughner was a scrawny kid with a bushy mop of curly hair under the hood of a gray sweatshirt, a saxophone player at football games who jammed with a friend's garage band.

More recently, in a series of videos he posted on YouTube, Mr. Loughner, now 22 years old, rages against the government and the constitution and refers to himself as a "terrorist."

Then, a few minutes after 10 a.m. Saturday morning, authorities say Mr. Loughner, armed with a semiautomatic pistol fitted with an extended magazine, shot 19 people, killing six, in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket a few miles from his parents' home just north of this desert city.

Among the severely wounded was his apparent target, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a 40-year-old Tucson Democrat in her third term.

Interviews with Mr. Loughner's friends and former classmates, as well as a review of his copious and bizarre online activity, describe a young man who fell into disturbing and erratic behavior.

In his freshman and sophomore years at Mountain View High School, Mr. Loughner flew under the radar. "All he did was play video games and play music," says Tommy Marriotti, a friend from those days.

Mr. Marriotti says much of his free time was devoted to the school band. He was not especially political, Mr. Marriotti said, though he expressed frustration with the Bush Administration.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: arizona; bush; clarencedupnik; gabriellegiffords; giffords; jaredloughner; loughner; youtube
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1 posted on 01/09/2011 2:32:45 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Scanian

When is Sarah Palin going to defend herself against Leftist scum like Krugman? She needs to speak out against these assaults on her reputation by liars on the Left. One of the traits we admire is her courage, so I hope we will see some from her in this situation. Conservatives need to show that they can’t be pushed around by the media.


2 posted on 01/09/2011 2:39:02 AM PST by kittymyrib
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To: Scanian
...a semiautomatic pistol fitted with an extended magazine, shot 19 people....

When Congress gets back in session next week, at least one new bill will be introduced amidst a roar of Democrat (probably a few RINOs, too) to ban extended magazines.

3 posted on 01/09/2011 2:39:58 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: Gaffer

I expect worse than that. It will be open season on the second amendment.

You know the left is going to do its damnedest to reap a political harvest from of Giffords’ shooting. Gun control, web IDs, and just cheap propaganda seem very predictable right now.


4 posted on 01/09/2011 2:47:50 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Scanian

Whorealdo is castigating a /Veteran for sending out Campaign material highlighting his military service.

The American People must not sitby and allow the media to use this tragedy for political gain.


5 posted on 01/09/2011 2:57:50 AM PST by Marty62 (Marty 60)
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To: Scanian
While I agree with you that would be their ultimate goal, you have to remember that liberals have learned well from the last 50 years that incrementalism is the key to their success. That, plus the fact they are not in 'full' control of the legislative process any more.

They realize that even with a national furor over this incident, the drastic step of full ban or national ID would be impossible. So, they'll opt for the incrementalism - ban on extended mags, then mags that protrude, mags more than 5 cartridges, then down to 3, etc.... If he recently purchased the weapon, you may see a simultaneous call for extended waiting periods, etc.......It is their way.

6 posted on 01/09/2011 2:59:36 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: Gaffer

That IS incremental, from my perspective.

What they’d really like to do is create a police state and try to collect all our guns.

I expect a big push to do something like create uniform gun laws in all 50 states; special training for all gun owners, etc., etc.


7 posted on 01/09/2011 3:21:09 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Marty62

He’s got to GO!

Let’s contact Roger Ailes and let him know what we think about that loser.


8 posted on 01/09/2011 3:22:19 AM PST by Scanian
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To: Gaffer

Should the Dems introduce legislation against extended magazines, the Pubbies should introduce legislation against Volvo’s.


9 posted on 01/09/2011 3:26:02 AM PST by Concho (-)
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To: Concho
These Communist AKA Socialist Marxist need to admit their views are pushing people over the edge.
10 posted on 01/09/2011 3:50:46 AM PST by scooby321
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To: Gaffer

“Congress......to ban extended magazines.”

A sure bet. They started composing the new bill 5 minutes after the shooting.


11 posted on 01/09/2011 4:00:10 AM PST by panaxanax (IMPEACH THE MUSLIM MARXIST....NOW!!!)
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To: Scanian

Don’t worry about a thing Mr. Loughner, YOUR LEFTIST BUDDIES will most likely give you an exulted lifetime tenured college professorship position in the years to come. Call Bill Ayers for confirmation and guidance.


12 posted on 01/09/2011 4:41:02 AM PST by MrDem (Founder: Democrats for Cheney/Palin 2012)
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To: Scanian

FROM THE ARTICLE:

Mr. Loughner had changed. He used drugs,...

he expressed frustration with the Bush Administration....

All he did was play video games ...

CONCLUDE:

Drugs, obviously a liberal, and played MARIO? (not)... played violent video games.

Sounds like a deadly combination.

Why are “they” not going after violent video games?


13 posted on 01/09/2011 4:45:53 AM PST by Reagan69 (Let me know when those health insurance premiums go down.)
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To: Concho

How about legislation against violent video games.?


14 posted on 01/09/2011 4:47:23 AM PST by Reagan69 (Let me know when those health insurance premiums go down.)
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To: panaxanax
A sure bet. They started composing the new bill 5 minutes after the shooting.

It's already composed, they just went to the filing cabinet.

15 posted on 01/09/2011 5:04:27 AM PST by CPOSharky
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To: panaxanax

Fortunately, with the GOP in control, it ain’t gonna happen.


16 posted on 01/09/2011 5:46:02 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: Scanian

“He was not especially political, Mr. Marriotti said, though he expressed frustration with the Bush Administration.”


17 posted on 01/09/2011 5:50:16 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: Scanian

“He attempted to enlist in the Army but was rejected for service,” an Army spokesman said. The spokesman said that in accordance with the Privacy Act he couldn’t discuss why Mr. Loughner was rejected.


18 posted on 01/09/2011 5:51:23 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: Marty62

In recent months, he appeared to get more active with his video posts, a month ago uploading a video entitled “This Student At Pima Community College; An Unconstitutional Crime,” in which he claims he is a victim of fraud for paying for an education he did not receive. In another video, he burns a flag and writes: “If there’s no flag in the constitution then the flag in the film is unknown.” He exhorts viewers to: “Burn your flag!”

In yet another video, he writes: “Current government officials are in power for their currency, but I’m informing you for your new currency!” He adds that his hope is for viewers to be “literate! The majority of people, who reside in District-8, are illiterate—hilarious. I don’t control your English grammar structure, but you control your English grammar structure.”

In a video called “How to: Mind Controller,” he proclaims: “I’m able to control every belief and religion by being the mind controller!”

In the last video, uploaded to the Website on Dec. 15 and titled “Final Thoughts,” Mr. Loughner calls himself a terrorist—”a person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.” The video’s rambling prose appears on the screen, while music plays in the background. He doesn’t appear in any of them.

“You don’t have to accept the Federalist laws,” one passage reads. “Nonetheless, read the United States of America’s Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.”

The video concludes: “The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar.”


19 posted on 01/09/2011 5:53:06 AM PST by Brilliant
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To: Scanian

20 posted on 01/09/2011 6:18:06 AM PST by jimbo123
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