Shooting suspect left unsettling artifacts online
Jared Lee Loughner, arrested in connection with shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, posted strange videos, disquieting photo.
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The suspected gunman in the shooting today of a U.S. Congresswoman posted disturbing artifacts on YouTube and MySpace, according to various reports, including a photo of a gun on top of a U.S. history book, and videos featuring strange, sometimes political ramblings.
Police arrested 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner in connection with the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that took place this morning during an appearance by Giffords at a supermarket in Tucson.
Giffords was shot once through the head and is in critical condition; 18 others were shot as well, with 6 dying, including a 9-year-old girl and John M. Roll, the chief judge for the United States District Court for Arizona, The New York Times reported.
Loughner's odd behavior at Pima Community College in Tucson, along with a disturbing Internet video, had caused officials at the school to suspend him in September, pending a mental health clearance, The Times said in another report.
"The rambling, disconnected writings and videos he has left on the Web are consistent with the delusions produced by a psychotic illness like schizophrenia, which develops most often in the teens or 20s," The Times reported.
Videos ostensibly posted by Loughner on YouTube contain bizarre screeds about the government.
"Reading the second United States Constitution, I can't trust the current government because of the ratifications," runs one remark. "The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar."
Another says:
You're a treasurer for a new currency, listener?
You create and distribute your new currency, listener?
You don't allow the government to control your grammar structure, listener?
And another says:
The majority of citizens in the United States of America have never read the United States of America's Constitution.
You don't have to accept the federalist laws.
Nonetheless, read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.
You're literate, listener?
All those remarks appear in a video titled "Introduction: Jared Loughner," which opens with the words, "My Final Thoughts: Jared Lee Loughner!" The YouTube page says the video was posted three weeks ago.
MySpace pages reportedly posted by Loughner featured a photo of a pistol on top of what looks like a book bearing the title "United States History." Web site Good reported that the pages had been taken down as of this afternoon, but Good showed a screen shot of a "My Photos" page with the described image.
A former classmate of Loughner's, Catie Parker, posted a series of statements to Twitter today, the Times reported, in which she said Loughner was "oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy" and had "met Giffords once before in '07, asked her a question & he told me she was 'stupid & unintelligent.'"
Loughner had tried to get into the Army but was rejected for reasons the Army said it could not disclose for privacy reasons, the Times reported, adding that police officials said the suspect had a criminal record of some sort, though they would not provide further information.
Police are reportedly searching for a second man in connection with the shooting.
Both Good and the Times said Loughner had posted a farewell message on MySpace this morning. It read, said Good, "Goodbye friends...Please don't be mad at me."
The Times reported that Loughner is refusing to cooperate with authorities and has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights.