"So I highlighted that, searched Google, and the son of a bitch really did do that," Colin said. "That was what made me call the FBI."
Colin said he was hesitant to call the FBI or 911, thinking it might just be a troll — common on 8chan — or false alarm and authorities would just brush him off. Still, he called, and said they "took it really seriously."
“The FBI was great. When I got her on the line, it’s not like talking to a 911 dispatcher," he said. "She was familiar with 4chan and 8chan...and when I told her about the Escondido thing, she opened up the letter. It was all in like four and a half or five minutes."
Still, there simply wasn't enough time. The shooting began just minutes after he got off the phone with the FBI.
“[The shooter] posted at 11:00, and I called the FBI 1-800 number at exactly 11:15. I was on hold for like three and a half minutes, and then 8chan, the website, they deleted the post at like 11:20," Colin said, and provided BuzzFeed News with a screengrab showing he made the call. "So the damn thing was only up for 20 minutes before the administrators of the site took it down, while I was on the phone with the FBI, and then I knew for sure it must be legit.”
8chan has denied responsibility for their association with the shooter, instead trying to pivot the blame to the "fake-news media."
"The Poway shooter's post on 8chan was taken down NINE minutes after creation. There are only screencaps available and no archives exist since the post was deleted so quickly," the site tweeted the morning after the attack. "The loudest groups publicizing this crime and giving attention to this CRIMINAL are the fake-news media."
Colin thinks it's no coincidence that the post was up for such a short time.
"I guarantee the shooter didn’t post that until he was already in his car on his way down there," he said. "They know it’s too small of a window — that’s why he used his real name. It didn’t matter, they weren’t going to get to him.”
Now, Colin said he's rethinking his views on the First Amendment as it applies to the internet. “I used to think the First Amendment applied entirely to the internet," he said. "And now, I realize that the First Amendment is about the government putting you in a cage or killing you for what you say."
"I think these websites should be more heavily regulated," he added. "There should be a real-time way for the government to get your information."
"Once you have attack after attack after attack, how much are you going to put up with?” he said.
It was only his second time ever on the site, he told BuzzFeed News.Sure! I believe that!
Someone close to him is a QAnon believer, and after hearing them spout "some really crazy sh*t," Colin went on the site out of curiosity.
Uh huh! And also I swear that I never smoked weed before this time you just caught me, sir!
Such a convenient set of claims, statemnents and facts from this witness! It's amazing! Q, white supremacists, 8chan bad, Trump supporters.. too bad that somehow they couldn't have worked in him getting the gun from 8chan as 3D printer downloads or something. I'm surprised that they missed that angle?
Yes, 8chan is a creepy place, but then there is Buzzfeed to remind us there are worse sites on the web.
The close, naturally, calls for internet monitoring and censorship.
“I used to think the First Amendment applied entirely to the internet," he said. "And now, I realize that the First Amendment is about the government putting you in a cage or killing"I think these websites should be more heavily regulated," he added. "There should be a real-time way for the government to get your information."
"Once you have attack after attack after attack, how much are you going to put up with?” he said.
It was only his second time ever on the site, he told BuzzFeed News.Sure! I believe that!
Someone close to him is a QAnon believer, and after hearing them spout "some really crazy sh*t," Colin went on the site out of curiosity.
Uh huh! And also I swear that I never smoked weed before this time you just caught me, sir!
Such a convenient set of claims, statemnents and facts from this witness! It's amazing! Q, white supremacists, 8chan bad, Trump supporters.. too bad that somehow they couldn't have worked in him getting the gun from 8chan as 3D printer downloads or something. I'm surprised that they missed that angle?
Yes, 8chan is a creepy place, but then there is Buzzfeed to remind us there are worse sites on the web.
The close, naturally, calls for internet monitoring and censorship.
“I used to think the First Amendment applied entirely to the internet," he said. "And now, I realize that the First Amendment is about the government putting you in a cage or killing"I think these websites should be more heavily regulated," he added. "There should be a real-time way for the government to get your information."
"Once you have attack after attack after attack, how much are you going to put up with?” he said.
Now, Colin said he’s rethinking his views on the First Amendment as it applies to the internet. “I used to think the First Amendment applied entirely to the internet,” he said. “And now, I realize that the First Amendment is about the government putting you in a cage or killing you for what you say.”
“I think these websites should be more heavily regulated,” he added. “There should be a real-time way for the government to get your information.”
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... and there’e the real pitch of this article, to limit the 1st Amendment... as if this would have prevented this shooting.
Right. That would have stopped the shooting.