The Tucson Police Department have identified Jared Lee Loughner as the shooter in custody in today's shooting of Rep. Giffords and Federal Judge Roll. I've posted a video above posted to YouTube last month by user "Classitup10", who identifies himself as Jared Lee Loughner, resident of Tucson, Arizona. Here's a screen shot of his YouTube profile:
Loughner spends a lot of words in his video talking about mind control and currency, which carries echoes of Glenn Beck's rhetoric, particularly with regard to currency and revolution.
The cable news stations, including MSNBC, are already trying to spin him as a "loner" who was surely not influenced by anything or anyone other than his own thought life. Yeah, right.
Meanwhile, ten victims are in the hospital, five in critical condition (including Rep. Giffords). There are six fatalities, including a nine-year old child and a Federal judge. If any "adult conversations" are to be had, I'd say they should center around the impact of a constant drumbeat of violent rhetoric on the airwaves, the halls of government, and the Internet.
I'll update this with more information as I find it.
Update #1: Here's a link to a backgrounder on Loughner. The more info that emerges, the more I'm convinced the real crime here is ignoring cries for help from people who do not appear to be living in reality. It certainly looks as though he was retreating into a world where most of us do not live.
