'Free Palestine' written on gun in shooting at Lakewood Church, but motive a mystery: Sources

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

That kind of sounds like a motive to me.

Unfortunately, stochastic terrorism in America being fomented on both sides when it comes to who is being supported in this war is only going to lead to more of the same.

I sympathize with this woman’s politics when it comes to Palestine, but this did not come out of nowhere and I would not at all be surprised if someone who supported Israel does something similar somewhere else in the U.S.

We desperately need media regulation.

SpaceNoodle , 5 months ago

Ah yes, both sides.

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

Yes. Both sides. People supporting Israel and people supporting Palestinians. Are you denying there are two sides being supported in this war?

SpaceNoodle , 5 months ago

Stop being obtuse.

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

In what way am I being obtuse? By explaining what I was talking about to you?

JustZ , 5 months ago

I see at least two more sides.

America’s side, which is to de facto support Israel against Hamas as a proxy of Iran so as to avoid a larger war with Iran that would kill tens of millions of people.

There’s also Iran’s side, which is to radicalize and arm militants in and around Israel so that it can someday murder all Jews in the “holy land” and solidify Tehran as the seat of a new Islamic Caliphate, free from western interference.

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

Okay, that’s fair, but in this particular case, I’m talking about the stochastic terrorism the American media and political groups are fomenting, which involves either supporting Israel or supporting Palestine.

And, unfortunately, it is, in this case, a ‘both sides’ problem.

I 100% support Palestinians against Israeli genocide, but if you do not recognize that various groups supporting either Israelis or Palestinians are trying to encourage violence in the United States, you’re just being blind to reality.

Regulating the media wouldn’t stop that, but it would go a long way.

Gradually_Adjusting , 5 months ago

Good nuance in there. This isn’t whataboutism, just pointing out various factors.

LibertyLizard , 5 months ago

Maybe but what’s the connection to this specific church? Why bring a child? Lots of details in this story that are hard to make sense of.

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

Probably nothing. She’s a crazy lady. But that’s what stochastic terrorism does- gets crazy people to commit violent acts.

LibertyLizard , 5 months ago

I guess my question is: who has been advocating for violence against this church or churches like it? I’m not seeing the connection there. Stochastic terrorism is a very nebulous term that could include lots of relatively harmless behavior, so I think it’s only meaningful to criticize it if we can point to specific pro-violence statements aimed at specific groups. Maybe there is some narrative out there that connects the Palestinian liberation movement to this attack but if so I haven’t seen that connection.

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

Who advocated for a standoff at the Hoover Dam? No one. Because once you get your message out there, you can’t control what the crazy people who resonate with it will end up doing.

LibertyLizard , 5 months ago

Sure, but is that really a good example of stochastic terrorism? The guy blocked a road on a dam. What statements by public figures caused him to do this? And even if they did, blocking a road, though illegal, is a valid form of protest and civil disobedience. I don’t think it qualifies as terrorism—though I have not previously heard of this case so I only know what was in that article.

I’m wary of using this term overly broadly. Any criticism, no matter how mild or constructive could motivate a violent, unhinged person to behave in a violent or unhinged manner. I don’t want to see it spun around and used to silence legitimate criticisms of those in power. So I think it should be restricted to specific criticisms of specific statements. If you want to argue that this event was caused by stochastic terrorism, then I still would like to see which statements by which people you think caused it.

FlyingSquid , 5 months ago

Are you really that unfamiliar with QAnon? That’s what drove him to do it. QAnon is all about getting crazy people to do violent things.

FireTower , 5 months ago

Maybe but what’s the connection to this specific church?

My guess is it’s a big church that televises services so it would make headlines.

middlemanSI , 5 months ago

Free Palestine!

SeaJ , 5 months ago

Police said the suspect has “a mental health history that is documented through us and through interviews with family.” Police said she was put under an emergency detention order by Houston police in 2016.

Well it’s a good thing they did not take away her guns. /s

agent_flounder , 5 months ago

And we passed a red flag law here a few years ago. Argh!

lennybird , 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago)

I don’t appreciate the intersection of my supporting Palestinian civilians with antisemitic neo-nazis having a convenient excuse for justifying their bigotry.