Residential bombings in Austin edit: Bomber dead

[Jaskalas]

This feel really weird: no ugly social media posts, no history of resentment or violence, no letter, no obvious connection to any of the victims. What. The. Fuck.

Some people's souls are crushed quietly. BTW, isn't it a little early to proclaim there was no "ugly social media posts"?

 

[Blackjack200]

Some people's souls are crushed quietly. BTW, isn't it a little early to proclaim there was no "ugly social media posts"?

His SM accounts went dark before the bombings began, and older stuff was benign. It's possible something could surface, but online stuff usually gets discovered pretty quick.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

This feel really weird: no ugly social media posts, no history of resentment or violence, no letter, no obvious connection to any of the victims. What. The. Fuck.

There are some out there. Whether or not they are truly him or not I don't know. Most are related to anti gay, anti abortion etc... and from reading the actual blog they date back to 2012 when he would have just been 17. They weren't exactly explosive or nasty.

This just might well end up being a case where his motivation was he just wanted to cause mayhem. Everyone might have to wait until the next one to blame it on a group they hate. Sadly it won't be long...

 

[JockoJohnson]

Not sure how this couldn't be classified as terrorism. He was literally terrorizing the entire city of Austin. No one knew where he would strike next and contrary to some on here, you didn't know if it would be white, black, Hispanic...whatever. Anyone could have been a target in the city.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

I'm glad this episode is over and the guy offed himself. Saves us all a few dollars.

 

[Jaskalas]

His SM accounts went dark before the bombings began, and older stuff was benign. It's possible something could surface, but online stuff usually gets discovered pretty quick.

If it's under the person's real name, sure, but police would have to tell us if they found an aliased account on the computer.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Not sure how this couldn't be classified as terrorism. He was literally terrorizing the entire city of Austin. No one knew where he would strike next and contrary to some on here, you didn't know if it would be white, black, Hispanic...whatever. Anyone could have been a target in the city.

It's kind of splitting hairs but terrorism requires a specific motivation of a political nature. But the other side is of course this terrorized everyone in the area.

 

[IronWing]

BULLSHIT, everyone knows Ted Cruz is the Zodiac killer.

He's seeing stars now!

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Not sure how this couldn't be classified as terrorism. He was literally terrorizing the entire city of Austin. No one knew where he would strike next and contrary to some on here, you didn't know if it would be white, black, Hispanic...whatever. Anyone could have been a target in the city.

It isn't terrorism because people are terrified. It's terrorism when there is an ideological component. If this guy represented an organization with a goal of causing death for that purpose then this would be terrorism. One doesn't get to change the meaning of established definitions because of the usage of words in common.

It's not terrorism even if someone was terrified.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The victims were disproportionately black. If a black man was bombing victims that were disproportionately white, how would that get spun?

I'm not crazy about speculating on motives when so few facts are in, but as far as speculation goes, racial resentment is as valid as any possible motive.

Thats a huge reach. When would it not be racist, when one more white person was killed, two hispanics?

At this point there's no apparent reason and that killings weren't in strictly by demographics says nothing.

 

[allisolm]

The victims were disproportionately black.

Huh?

2 black
1 Hispanic
2 white

 

[Blackjack200]

It isn't terrorism because people are terrified. It's terrorism when there is an ideological component. If this guy represented an organization with a goal of causing death for that purpose then this would be terrorism. One doesn't get to change the meaning of established definitions because of the usage of words in common.

It's not terrorism even if someone was terrified.

"There's an ideological component" is such an absurdly loose definition it's pretty funny that you're getting mad about the precise meaning of the word.

 

[Blackjack200]

Thats a huge reach. When would it not be racist, when one more white person was killed, two hispanics?

At this point there's no apparent reason and that killings weren't in strictly by demographics says nothing.

I didn't say it was racist, I said that given the facts we have, speculating a racial motive is as valid as any other.

Huh?

2 black
1 Hispanic
2 white

You're either being deliberately obtuse or are so incurious that you believe your simple breakdown does not require any context. Either way I have not interest in arguing this any further.

 

[herm0016]

I didn't say it was racist, I said that given the facts we have, speculating a racial motive is as valid as any other.

You're either being deliberately obtuse or are so incurious that you believe your simple breakdown does not require any context. Either way I have not interest in arguing this any further.

your facts don't fit my reality... therefore I will block you from my mind!

(sarcasam)

 

[Triloby]

Anyone else finds it interesting how this one asshole was able to terrorize an entire city without having to fire a single bullet?

*Braces for another flame war*

 

[Commodus]

Ugh, sorry for forgetting that there were a pair of white victims. I was going on the earlier reports. That doesn't rule out terrorism, but it makes the pattern harder to discern based on the targets.

 

[soundforbjt]

Ugh, sorry for forgetting that there were a pair of white victims. I was going on the earlier reports. That doesn't rule out terrorism, but it makes the pattern harder to discern based on the targets.

Iirc, they were injured by a trip wire bomb. No way to target with that.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Of course you're not interested in arguing any further. You have no leg to stand on at this point to back up your liberal wet dream of being able to blame this on some 'right wing' fanatic. Poor boy. So sad that you can't shoehorn something into your warped hate-filled view of the world.

As for the people of Austin, I'm glad this guy is gone and hope there are no more incidents.

I didn't say it was racist, I said that given the facts we have, speculating a racial motive is as valid as any other.

You're either being deliberately obtuse or are so incurious that you believe your simple breakdown does not require any context. Either way I have not interest in arguing this any further.

 

[OutHouse]

You're either being deliberately obtuse or are so incurious that you believe your simple breakdown does not require any context. Either way I have not interest in arguing this any further.

Whats to argue? you are just wrong.

 

[Blackjack200]

Whats to argue? you are just wrong.

Great.

 

[realibrad]

Great.

How does 2 blacks, 2 whites, 1 hispanic fit your speculation? Are you saying that because the numbers dont disprove that it fits?

 

[Fern]

I didn't say it was racist, I said that given the facts we have, speculating a racial motive is as valid as any other.
-snip-

I disagree.

Based on the facts we have now I'd say it was "indiscriminate".

Placing a package on steps or porch? You don't know who's going to pick it up. I think it highly doutbfull he even knew who lived in the house. He didn't even live in that city (Austin), much less in that neighborhood.

Trip wires? You wouldn't know who's going to trigger that.

Heck, go into into a nice mid-to-upper middle class neighborhood or a lower middle class neighborhood and there's no way to be certain what 'race' you're likely to victimize. (You can't be certain either if it's a wealthy neighborhood, but you're not likely to have access since they are often gated and typically have a strong police presence.)

I'm also not buying the 'anti-abortion' stuff either. He didn't bomb any clinics etc.

I'm curious to hear how he chose the names on the FedEx packages. Are they just random names out of a phone book?

At this point it looks entirely random to me.

Fern

 

[Blackjack200]

How does 2 blacks, 2 whites, 1 hispanic fit your speculation? Are you saying that because the numbers dont disprove that it fits?

Again, that's not my speculation. I'm pointing out that it's not unreasonable.

The first 3 bombs (black, black, & Hispanic) were sent to houses. The rest, i.e. the ones that victimized white people were not sent to houses. They were left at a road side or exploded/discovered at Fed-Ex facilities.

Finally, all I said is that the victims were disproportionately black. Austin is 8% black, so saying that the victims were disproportionately black when they were 40% of the victims is basic math.

It's insanely asinine to argue any of this. And I include myself in that, I'm ashamed to allow myself to be drawn into this fucking Fox News type shit.

 

[SMOGZINN]

It isn't terrorism because people are terrified. It's terrorism when there is an ideological component. If this guy represented an organization with a goal of causing death for that purpose then this would be terrorism. One doesn't get to change the meaning of established definitions because of the usage of words in common.

It's not terrorism even if someone was terrified.

Apparently all the White House needed to know to know that it was not Terrorism is that he was white. It would seem that being brown is the most important aspect of terrorism.

Anyone else finds it interesting how this one asshole was able to terrorize an entire city without having to fire a single bullet?

*Braces for another flame war*

That is interesting. I wonder if that was part of his motivation, to give ammo (heh) to the 2A people in the gun control debate.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Apparently home schooled (high school years), didn't like gays or abortion and a self described conservative.

"The Austin American-Statesman newspaper reports that he was homeschooled by his mother during his high school years. His parent's home is now being searched by authorities, according to the newspaper.

"I officially graduated Mark from High School," his mother wrote on Facebook in a 2013 post showing her son.

"He's thinking of taking some time to figure out what he wants to do...maybe a [religious] mission trip," his mother wrote."

...

"US media have uncovered a 2012 blog which was written under the suspect's name and appeared to be for a university course that he attended.

In the blog called "Defining my Stance", he purportedly describes beliefs that "gay marriage should be illegal", opposition to abortion and why the sex offender registry should be eliminated.

In the blog, he defines himself as "a conservative".

"But I don't think I have enough information to defend my stance as well as it should be defended," he says, adding that he is taking the course "because I want to understand the US government, and I hope that it will help me clarify my stance".


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43490247