Jared Lee Loughner is a self-described ‘conscience dreamer’ who shot and killed 6 people and shot and injured another 12 – all at a public meeting in Tuscon, Arizona at which one of the injured, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was on the stump. Police, the FBI, and the local Sheriff are looking for another individual possibly involved in the shootings who is described as ‘a person of interest.’
Jared attempted to join the US Army in December, 2008 but was found unqualified and rejected as a recruit for failing a test for undisclosed reasons. Prior to his rejection by the military Jared had 2 brushes with law – both involved illegal drug misdemeanors and were dealt with by Jared’s successful completion of ‘drug diversion’ programs.
Jared is a high school graduate who has some college education and a favorite book list on ‘my space’ (now disabled by authorities) that includes 2 items not on every book lover’s list of favorites – ‘Mein Kampf’ by Adolf Hitler and ‘The Communist Manifesto’ by Karl Marx and Fredriech Engels otherwise his selections are rather conventional.
An examination of his 4 posted u-tube videos shows an unidentified person burning a US Flag but also gives us some clues into the disordered mind of Jared Lee, maybe. Jared appears to be obsessed with his unfounded and poorly explained vision of Kafkaesque state control. A major fear/concern of Jared’s is his perceived ability of the state to establish and control the nomenclature of time, grammar, and general discourse. He claims that as the putative final survivor in his apocalyptic conception of the future he will establish his own will – whether on the Government, fellow citizens, or on himself, is not terribly clear.
Jared Lee comes across as a bit of a rebel – a definite outsider, totally alienated – with anger and resentment towards the US Army and US Government. But more than that, his on-line postings convey a sense of poorly understood concepts and a general confusion of issues. He displays no grasp of a coherent philosophical system – in fact his thought processes seem scattered and poorly formed.
One thing he was able to do was arm himself and go out and kill and injure people in an act with no possible relationship to any of his ‘ideas.’ Its a wonder and a tragedy that this vicious deranged coward was not noticed and stopped before he ruined so many lives.