Not the first time they go against each other, this is just the most high profile target so far. Remember that redditor who murdered his own father because he thought he's some sort of liberal? Or when they tried to hang Mike Pence? There's quite a few such cases, just typically not the former president / current presidential candidate. Who knows what went on in this guys head, he was likely kinda deranged like many of the other perps were. Maybe something about Trump made him think he wronged him in some way or the recent reveals actually opened his eyes and made him feel betrayed. Or he was just conservative but anti-Trump and saw him as dangerous enough to make use of his right to squash a fascist uprising. There's so many potential scenarios.
A former classmate of the 20-year-old man who tried unsuccessfully to kill former President [and convicted felon] Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday recalled him being staunchly to the right of the political spectrum. “He definitely was conservative,” Max R. Smith told The Philadelphia Inquirer of Thomas Crooks. “It makes me wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on the conservative candidate.” Smith shared an American history class with Crooks, and remembered a mock debate where their teacher made students stand on one side of the classroom or another to signal their allegiance. “The majority of the class were on the liberal side, but Tom, no matter what, always stood his ground on the conservative side,” Smith said. “That’s still the picture I have of him. Just standing alone on one side while the rest of the class was on the other.” Crooks died in the assassination attempt. Trump, who suffered a minor injury to the ear, was “fine” Sunday after being treated at a local medical facility, his campaign said. One audience member was killed and two others critically injured amid the gunfire.
That's kind of fucked up, asking kids to tell their political allegiance... In debates we were assigned an opinion and had to defend it no matter what our personal opinion was to make us understand how to build arguments...
When I was in 8th grade, at a Catholic private school.... I was the only person who preferred liberal. During the debates we had, I won over a majority of my classmates with my arguments in favor of doing things how Jesus would behave. I won the debate but the teacher didn't recognize my success. It was actually very illuminating at the time and has stayed with me all my life. Hardcore conservatives will choose reactionary ideas over their religion.
I get that Lemmy is super liberal, but this kind of mentality is toxic. It results in a generation that is unwilling to question their beliefs, leans into mob mentality, and doesn't see the need to understand and articulate political beliefs you support.
Smith shared an American history class with Crooks, and remembered a mock debate where their teacher made students stand on one side of the classroom or another to signal their allegiance.
In college it's assigned and you're expected to defend the assigned position. You also get switched in subsequent issues modules so you don't get pigeonholed and nobody can just stay on the side they like.
Maybe Trump wasn't extremist enough for him. Or maybe he recognized that Trump and the Republican party have ceased being "conservative" a long time ago. Or maybe he recognized Trump as the danger to America.
My personal suspicion (not based on any hard data, just a guess) is that he was a right-wing accelerationist who thought that killing Trump and/or his supporters would encourage others to "fight back" against the liberals and start the war the right has been itching to fight for decades. I've seen that same thing before in the boogaloo boys.
Pure speculation but, given his age, there is a good chance he saw Trump and American Conservativism as the Nazi cover operation it is and wanted to fight his own WW2 against overwhelming evil. College is about the time we learn the world doesn't run like a small town and massive things can exist like human rights abuses and amoral politics. He probably felt Tlthat shock and frustration that the world continues to be ruthless because and in spite of us.
Then he saw a figurehead for the alt right and decided to be the change he wanted to see in the world.
As a Georgia native I am eternally sorry to everyone for unleashing Newt on the world, I couldn’t vote until well after he arose but I still feel bad about it
No, it's a solid red district. Bethel Park is in House District 40, which is a +30 R district. They have voted R for congress ever since 1969, the first election listed.
Smith shared an American history class with Crooks, and remembered a mock debate where their teacher made students stand on one side of the classroom or another to signal their allegiance. “The majority of the class were on the liberal side, but Tom, no matter what, always stood his ground on the conservative side,”
Conservatism isn't mutually exclusive with liberalism.
By definition conservatism and liberalism are opposite. However, modern Conservatives in America are largely Neoliberals in terms of most policies except stuff like religion, sex, and race.
When Crooks was 17 he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote.
"In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks,"