The Southern Poverty Law Center is reporting that "a knowledgeable source with ranking law enforcement contacts" confirmed with their organization that LAX shooter, Paul Anthony Ciancia, had a one page manifesto tying him to the right wing Patriot Movement.
From the SPLC's exclusive article:
Paul Anthony Ciancia, who allegedly wounded three other TSA workers before being shot and critically wounded himself, also expressed antagonism toward the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its chief until she resigned in August, Janet Napolitano, the source said. Ciancia’s note called former Secretary Napolitano a “bull dyke” and contained the phrase “FU Janet Napolitano,” the source said.
Ciancia’s language and references seemed to put him squarely in the conspiracy-minded world of the antigovernment “Patriot” movement. The New World Order refers to a longstanding conspiracy theory that today, in its most popular iteration, claims that global elites are plotting to form a socialistic “one-world government” that would crush American freedoms. Often, the root of the alleged conspiracy is traced to the 1913 creation of the Federal Reserve and the adoption of fiat currency — paper money that is not backed by gold, as it was once was in the U.S.
So-called Patriots also increasingly see the DHS, which produces intelligence assessments of extremists that are distributed to other law enforcement agencies, as an enemy and even a collaborator in the New World Order conspiracy. Many believe DHS has targeted their movement and is somehow connected to the alleged construction of concentration camps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The purported camps are thought to be meant for those Americans who resist a coming national seizure of all weapons from U.S. citizens.
Given the increasingly amped-up, anti-government hate and conspiracy rhetoric being touted by the Tea Party and other crazy extremist conservatives, this certainly doesn't come as a complete surprise. After every shooting, the right wing starts tripping over themselves to deflect blame or pin it on the left. This time, the right wing noise machine is going to have a very difficult time denying that one of their own snapped and went on a rampage in the name of "patriotism."
What happened yesterday is very sad. A man lost his life, others were wounded and the country at large feels a bit less secure today. I do not relish placing blame on any group of people for the actions of one nut with a gun. However, the level of vitriol thrown out against what is deemed an illegitimate President while American Progressives are painted as bent on destroying our own country is going to have consequences. I'm convinced yesterday's attack is, in fact, one of those consequences.