# Talk:2017 Aztec High School shooting

To be added:

the lengthy police report notes that after the shootings, law enforcement agents discovered several vehicles with swastikas and other hate speech visible on cars in the school parking lot, but decided to ignore and disregard it as having nothing to do with the case
a follow-up by the SPLC notes that local law enforcement twice denied concerns about a possible connection or motive with white supremacists, alt-right, and other right wing terrorism implications, before the results of the autopsy were released indicating white supremacist and far-right symbols on the body of the shooter, and after both the Daily Beast and the SPLC had uncovered the online posting history of the shooter and his deep connection to far-right terrorists in Germany.
at least one civil rights organization in New Mexico informed the SPLC that one of the sheriffs in San Juan County is a "pro-gun supporter of Trump’s hardline on border issues."
the claim pertaining to the shooter picking the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack makes little sense, and in the original context of the police report itself, makes even less sense.
Thanks. Viriditas (talk) 02:09, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
Update: User:Doomslaiyer wishes to add the following:
When Atchison was 11 years old, he discovered the Encyclopedia Dramatica website, and eventually became a sysop for the website, where he would write and edit many School Shooting articles the site had to offer. He used his power to upload pictures of White Supremacist propaganda. Several ED admins went to the site's forums to complain but no action was presumably taken.
No source was offered for this proposed addition, but if memory serves, a small part of this is supported by Zadrozny & Collins 2017.  I didn't add it originally because it was too inside baseball, but I think Doomslaiyer is correct in that the most verifiable parts of it should be added.  I'm just objecting to adding the parts that can't be verified, which is why I reverted. Viriditas (talk) 23:24, 2 October 2022 (UTC)

"He used his power to upload pictures of White Supremacist propaganda." tone needs to be more neutral. 2D Is Better Than 3D (talk) 00:33, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
Mate you're talking about a proposed edition to this page that wasn't even done that way. PARAKANYAA (talk) 04:51, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
dont care 2D Is Better Than 3D (talk) 12:41, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

Atchinson was also interested in Jeff Weise, the perpetrator of the 2005 Red Lake shootings.
Moved to talk.  Unsourced. Viriditas (talk) 08:00, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

What source are people even gonna find? The media only reports on certain types of shooters 2D Is Better Than 3D (talk) 12:49, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
Well then it doesn't need to be in the page. PARAKANYAA (talk) 12:56, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
Wish it were, keep sourcing your corporate slop then. 2D Is Better Than 3D (talk) 02:33, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

Atchison's online activity included writing pro-Hitler and pro-Trump posts on Internet forums
User:Mercur70 has repeatedly removed the mention of Atchison’s pro-Trump posts because the user believes this equates Trump with Hitler.  I don’t see how that’s a valid rationale for removal, as white supremacists like Atchison were called "very fine people" by Trump, who held problematic racial views just like his father.  Fred Trump was arrested and detained at a Klan rally in 1927 for refusing to leave.  This could explain why former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke was one of Trump’s earliest endorsers in 2016.  
The point I’m making is that we don’t need to equate Trump with Hitler, he has lived a life making the equation for himself, and white supremacists like Atchison were drawn to Trump as a result.  That Atchison was both pro-Hitler and pro-Trump makes perfect sense in this context and in the community of online white supremacist that Atchison supported. Of course, I haven’t even mentioned, that according to his ex-wife, Trump used to read the collected works of Hitler’s speeches before he went to bed at night, and it was one of the only books he ever used to read. 
None of that matters, but I offer it as background for the user in question. What does matter is that the sources support the material. The sources tell us that Atchison posted pro-Trump and pro-Hitler messages online.  Not just one source, many sources.  Noting this doesn’t equate Trump with Hitler.  If we wanted to equate Trump with Hitler in the article, we would have to show how a Trump slogan or idea was related to Hitler and the Nazis.  For example, I could show how Hitler used to use the phrase "Make Germany Great Again" in a speech from 1940.  Perhaps this phrase was also in a book Trump kept by his bed and read at night, giving him the idea to use MAGA. That would be an attempt to equate Trump with Hitler.  Nobody is doing that here.
Is there any doubt that Atchison was posting pro-Trump and pro-Hitler comments online? No.  Journalists, researchers, and law enforcement investigators have confirmed it, and these things have been published.  Atchison was drawn to Trump just as much as he was to Hitler, and it’s not up to us to equate them or explain the connection in this article on the shooting, and we haven’t. That information is easy to find elsewhere, as I have demonstrated up above. Viriditas (talk) 20:29, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

I understand your point and I will stop reverting. Mercur70 (talk) 23:04, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

People keep changing the motive from "unknown" to "Encyclopedia Dramatica".  This isn't supported by the sources that I've seen, but if there are new ones, feel free to add them.  The police reports (and sources covering them) maintain that the motive is unknown.  Initially, I was skeptical, and I read about the role Encyclopedia Dramatica played in the attacks.  But after reading all of the available sources, it becomes clear that there's no way to assign a motive to the perpetrator based on the known evidence. Viriditas (talk) 00:45, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

You don't think ED is the one changing them? Think Viriditas, think. 2D Is Better Than 3D (talk) 22:18, 12 August 2024 (UTC)
@2D Is Better Than 3D ? PARAKANYAA (talk) 22:18, 12 August 2024 (UTC)