Jared Loughner

[[File:Jared Loughner USMS.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Looks totally not crazy]]{{Conspiracynav}}
'''Jared Lee Loughner''' is an [[United States|American]] spree killer who killed six and injured 14 more on 8 January 2011 by opening fire with a pistol on a meet-the-constituents event hosted by U.S. [[Representative]] Gabrielle Giffords {{rep|D|AZ}} in Tucson, Arizona.

==Beliefs and delusions==

Loughner's friends described him as apolitical, an [[atheist]], and a [[nihilism|nihilist]]. He lived a pretty normal childhood, but then dropped out of high school. After this, he began to mentally unravel, and started abusing hallucinogens and other drugs. Later, he attended a local community college, but was kicked out for mental health reasons when he suggested in a YouTube video that the place was a "scam" and a "torture facility". He [[crank magnetism|also subscribed]] to many other [[conspiracy theories]]: he believed in the [[New World Order]], the [[2012 apocalypse]], and the [[moon landing hoax]], and was also a [[truther]]. He also had the idea that [[Neurolinguistic programming|grammar was being used for mind control]], which for some reason or other was derided as a deranged fantasy, rather than the [[Bullshit|Absolutely Correct Scientific Theory]] that it is.

Tax and insurance expert J.J. MacNab, writing on her blog "Death and Taxes," describes Loughner as being more or less a textbook [[sovereign citizen]] activist.<ref>http://www.deathandtaxes.com/?p=8</ref>  His list of favorite authors included [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Ayn Rand]] and [[Karl Marx]], the extremes of every corner of the [[political spectrum]].

===Loughner at [[Above Top Secret]]===
{{cquote|If the air supply supports the NASA Space Shuttle mission for the time in orbit then the crew is able to breathe with the correct amount of oxygen for the time in orbit.
The crew is not able to breathe with the correct amount of oxygen for the time in orbit.
Consequently, the air supply doesn’t support the NASA Space Shuttle mission for the time in orbit.|||one of erad3's weird [[syllogism]]s about the Shuttle<ref>[http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread593100/pg1 All aboard with the empty NASA Space Shuttles!], ATS, 13 June 2010</ref>}}
Soon after the shooting, details about Loughner's Internet activities began to surface. A Reddit user searched around using information gleaned from Loughner's [[YouTube]] videos and found out that a poster at the [[Above Top Secret]] forums had used the same ideas and tortured logic.<ref>[http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/eyqt8/looks_like_jared_laughner_giffords_shooter_was_no/ Looks like Jared Laughner (Giffords' shooter) was no stranger to the ATS forums.], reddit, 8 January 2011</ref> The user name "erad3" can be read as an anagram of "Jared", with "3" instead of "J". ATSers noticed the connection and opened a discussion.<ref>[http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread648608/pg1 Is this Gabriel Gifford's Shooter's ATS post??? (Updated)], ATS, 8 January 2011</ref> The moderators agreed that this was most likely Loughner, banned the account and created a thread serving as a gateway to "erad3"'s posts at ATS.<ref>[http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread649091/pg1 A look inside the mind of erad3 (most-likely Jared Loughner)], ATS, 10 January 2011</ref> erad3 was not a regular at the forum and the threads he started had been met mostly with "WTF?"s. Apparently the suggestion that the [[Mars]] rovers and the Space Shuttle are fake was too much even for ATS.<ref group=note>When the ''ATS crowd'' are responding to you with "wtf?", you have truly transcended mundane insanity, and are well along the rarefied path of Batshit Satori. Many are called, but few are chosen.</ref>  Given the fact that Rep. Gifford's husband is Shuttle pilot/commander and 2020 Arizona Senate candidate Mark Kelly, erad3's posts come across as extra creepy.

==Media blamefest==

After the shooting, the talking heads and political pundits in US media decided that, after decades of backbiting and polarization, it was finally time to change the way they operated. Setting aside their long-standing grudges and points of contention, they promptly started aggressively roaring and blaming each other for the shooting. Right-wingers blamed Loughner's atheism and nihilism, as well as video games, public schools, and [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] talking heads, throwing in [[Barack Obama]] and health-care reform for good measure.<ref group=note>See, for example, [[cp:Jared Loughner|Jared Loughner]] on [[Conservapedia]].</ref><ref>http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2011/01/21/special-mega-edition-media-mash-tackles-bill-maher-obamacare-ron-reaga</ref> Left-wingers blamed American culture, as well as video games, public schools, and [[Republican Party|Republican]] talking heads, throwing in [[capitalism]] and welfare reform for good measure.<ref group=note>See, for example, [http://www.truth-out.org/henry-a-giroux-americas-culture-cruelty67049 this].</ref> When this inevitably faded from relevance, they needed something to keep the readers' attention, so they switched their blame to Loughner's ex-girlfriend, Kelsey Hawkes, who had dumped him about the same time that his mental troubles started.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576080122008486168.html</ref>
==Notes==
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==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Loughner, Jared}}
[[Category:9/11 truthers]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Civilian gun massacres]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Crank magnetism]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]

Categories: 9/11 truthers, Atheists, Civilian gun massacres, Conspiracy theorists, Crank magnetism, Criminals, Internet kooks, Living people, Terrorists