It didn’t take long after the horrific shootings at Club Q in Colorado Springs before the media, politicians and the public focused on the motive of the killer. Was it a hate crime, or just some random attack? Papers were at pains to say that the club and the community deemed it a hate crime, even while withholding judgment and waiting for authorities to issue more information on the background of the murderer. Fox News, true to form, ran a
I wish this piece could be an LTE in every newspaper in America, Jay. More people need to understand, or be reminded if they somehow forgot, that dehumanizing entire groups of people has deadly consequences and endangers each and every one of us. And how easy it is to do, if you have a significant media platform.
I am currently enjoying a Facebook Vacation because I suggested that Gov. DeSantis probably sees trump as an impediment to the Gov., himself, running for president. I wondered if one of the possible solutions would be for DeSantis to invite trump over for dinner and poison him. e.g. "Et tu, Brute?" As a result I can not post on Facebook for about a month.
That saddens me because I think you're spot on and would love to share your words here with my FB friends.
I'm old enough to remember that once upon a time, politicians would have condemned any violence such as mass shootings regardless of motive. Now, we have many politicians who not only revel in the violence, but actively call for it.
It sickens me to my core that it's gotten this extreme.
My heart goes out to all affected by these tragedies. 😔💔
I have a Trans 'adopted' daughter who is part of a Support group - & my 'biological' daughter just told me that one of the other women in that Support group knew all 5 (!) of the people who were killed in the Club Q massacre ... my Heart goes out to my 2nd 'daughter' & all her women-friends as they absorb this latest tragedy & try to find some way to continue going forward in their own 'endangered' lives ... So, Bless you, Jay for writing about so beautifully & succinctly ... & I hope all caring people will come to understand what "stochastic terrorism" is & what we can do to combat it .
You are right putting the blame on our politicians for stoking the violence. I am stunned that anyone would be so vicious knowing that there are people willing to do the murders.
This is a super article and I will be sharing it widely. I particularly appreciate your naming and explaining the phenomenon of “stochastic terrorism.” It’s defined as “the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.” This kind of terrorism isn’t covered under any criminal laws in the United States because we give it a pass under freedom of speech. But that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t seek to limit it where we can, especially on big, private social media platforms.” Stochastic terrorism is particularly lethal in the US where there is ready access to mass killing weapons.
I hate the truth of your observation while being grateful for your articulate voice on the subtle and caustic nature of stochastic terrorism. Even here in this group a poster is complaining about being on a Facebook Vacation after engaging in stochastic terrorism. Any call to violence is counter productive to the cause, not just the ones from the right.
I hadn’t heard that term stochastic terrorism, it’s so helpful. Thanks for writing this and clarifying for me what needs to happen to try and end this horrible violence.
In Victoria, Australia, we're currently going through our State parliament elections and it's evident that the right-wing here is taking lessons from the US right-wingers. Over the weekend, one candidate gave a speech stating that she wanted to turn Dan Andrews (our current State Premier) into a red mist and literally compared that to the sniper term of a "pink mist". She then made a call to action for army personnel on this. Fortunately, Victoria Police are investigating this. In Australia, we don't have a constitutional Freedom of Speech to hide behind, although a lot of the dumb-arses over here seem to think that the US Constitution applies to them.
The shizznod in Colorado Springs was nothing but a tool. He was a loaded gun, that had been primed, cocked and aimed... all that it took was a trigger.
To paraphrase one of the tired old talking points of the GOP whenever there is a mass shooting: "Don't blame the gun, blame the shooter." Well, in this case the perpetrator WAS the gun, and the people who are culpable and responsible are the ones who riled him up, pointed him at the LGBTQ+ community, and then lit the fuse...
The alleged perpetrator of this mass shooting has now been charged with hate crimes over and above the actual gun violence. Targets of hate crimes may be persons, property, or society, the last of which more abstract and difficult to prove. My understanding is that there is also within the same law a category of "hate incident," which do not rise to the level of crime presumably because they are not directly associated with proven felonies. For statistical purposes - to track the level and incidence of hate - it is important to keep records of such actions, e.g., in order to better allocate resources to develop, train, and implement appropriate responses to these types of behavior, as well as learn how and why perpetrators do what they do for the purpose of treatment, punishment, and prevention. But the consideration of stochastic terrorism looks more to the root causes and how those may be exploited by malefactors who hide behind First Amendment protections. It seems to me that our legislators should be taking a bolder approach to stemming these activities, probably through expansion and refinement of hate crime statutes, or perhaps through libel laws.
You chide both extremes for prejudging the attack motives and then proceed in your article to prejudge the motives. Why don't you all wait for more evidence?
Could not agree more. Carlson is as much a terrorist as the person who pulled the trigger.
I wish this piece could be an LTE in every newspaper in America, Jay. More people need to understand, or be reminded if they somehow forgot, that dehumanizing entire groups of people has deadly consequences and endangers each and every one of us. And how easy it is to do, if you have a significant media platform.
I am currently enjoying a Facebook Vacation because I suggested that Gov. DeSantis probably sees trump as an impediment to the Gov., himself, running for president. I wondered if one of the possible solutions would be for DeSantis to invite trump over for dinner and poison him. e.g. "Et tu, Brute?" As a result I can not post on Facebook for about a month.
That saddens me because I think you're spot on and would love to share your words here with my FB friends.
I'm old enough to remember that once upon a time, politicians would have condemned any violence such as mass shootings regardless of motive. Now, we have many politicians who not only revel in the violence, but actively call for it.
It sickens me to my core that it's gotten this extreme.
My heart goes out to all affected by these tragedies. 😔💔
I have a Trans 'adopted' daughter who is part of a Support group - & my 'biological' daughter just told me that one of the other women in that Support group knew all 5 (!) of the people who were killed in the Club Q massacre ... my Heart goes out to my 2nd 'daughter' & all her women-friends as they absorb this latest tragedy & try to find some way to continue going forward in their own 'endangered' lives ... So, Bless you, Jay for writing about so beautifully & succinctly ... & I hope all caring people will come to understand what "stochastic terrorism" is & what we can do to combat it .
Thanks Jay, as always. As you say, TC & Co 'know generally' what they provoke and incite, justified--somehow--under 1st Amendment protection.
Europe in the 1930's keeps coming to mind, with a hyper media to propagandize far more easily.
You are right putting the blame on our politicians for stoking the violence. I am stunned that anyone would be so vicious knowing that there are people willing to do the murders.
"especially on big private [anti] social media ..." Thank you Jay for more than a little bit of clarity. 🕯
truth
This is a super article and I will be sharing it widely. I particularly appreciate your naming and explaining the phenomenon of “stochastic terrorism.” It’s defined as “the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.” This kind of terrorism isn’t covered under any criminal laws in the United States because we give it a pass under freedom of speech. But that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t seek to limit it where we can, especially on big, private social media platforms.” Stochastic terrorism is particularly lethal in the US where there is ready access to mass killing weapons.
I hate the truth of your observation while being grateful for your articulate voice on the subtle and caustic nature of stochastic terrorism. Even here in this group a poster is complaining about being on a Facebook Vacation after engaging in stochastic terrorism. Any call to violence is counter productive to the cause, not just the ones from the right.
I hadn’t heard that term stochastic terrorism, it’s so helpful. Thanks for writing this and clarifying for me what needs to happen to try and end this horrible violence.
In Victoria, Australia, we're currently going through our State parliament elections and it's evident that the right-wing here is taking lessons from the US right-wingers. Over the weekend, one candidate gave a speech stating that she wanted to turn Dan Andrews (our current State Premier) into a red mist and literally compared that to the sniper term of a "pink mist". She then made a call to action for army personnel on this. Fortunately, Victoria Police are investigating this. In Australia, we don't have a constitutional Freedom of Speech to hide behind, although a lot of the dumb-arses over here seem to think that the US Constitution applies to them.
The shizznod in Colorado Springs was nothing but a tool. He was a loaded gun, that had been primed, cocked and aimed... all that it took was a trigger.
To paraphrase one of the tired old talking points of the GOP whenever there is a mass shooting: "Don't blame the gun, blame the shooter." Well, in this case the perpetrator WAS the gun, and the people who are culpable and responsible are the ones who riled him up, pointed him at the LGBTQ+ community, and then lit the fuse...
The alleged perpetrator of this mass shooting has now been charged with hate crimes over and above the actual gun violence. Targets of hate crimes may be persons, property, or society, the last of which more abstract and difficult to prove. My understanding is that there is also within the same law a category of "hate incident," which do not rise to the level of crime presumably because they are not directly associated with proven felonies. For statistical purposes - to track the level and incidence of hate - it is important to keep records of such actions, e.g., in order to better allocate resources to develop, train, and implement appropriate responses to these types of behavior, as well as learn how and why perpetrators do what they do for the purpose of treatment, punishment, and prevention. But the consideration of stochastic terrorism looks more to the root causes and how those may be exploited by malefactors who hide behind First Amendment protections. It seems to me that our legislators should be taking a bolder approach to stemming these activities, probably through expansion and refinement of hate crime statutes, or perhaps through libel laws.
You chide both extremes for prejudging the attack motives and then proceed in your article to prejudge the motives. Why don't you all wait for more evidence?