You know, after someone tried to assassinate the leader of "MAGA" and actually killed one of them, I don't know if "MAGA just won't allow for the rhetoric to be toned down" is an intelligent take...you do you though.
So here is what we do know about the shooter, according to classmates/friends. He was bullied in school,for among other things wearing hunting/military camoflage.One fellow student described him as such a bad shot that he was kicked off the rifle team because the other team members feared for their lives whenever he shot.
He registered as a Republican in Sept 2021, and voted in the 2022 midterms. His Dad who bought the gun is a registered Republican and his Mom is a Dem. He was 19 yrs old at the time with no criminal record, so up until yesterday it was legal for him to own/operate a firearm. I'm sure more will be coming out on that front...
He could be to the right or left of Trump politically, we just don't know. Something caused his to register as a Republican roughly 9 months before the 2022 GOP primary. Trump wasn't even on the ballot or an announced 2024 candidate.Based on his apparent love for Miltary unis and weaponry, I'll say he may have registered GOP as a negative reaction to the Afghanistan withdrawal, but again we don't know his motivation. We do know that the PA GOP stepped up their recruiting efforts in that time frame, so he might have been swept up in the hype.
I do personally think that makes a lot more sense than the idea put forth by some that an 18 yr old kid was secretly a leftist who registered incognito as a Pub in order to ??? I can't even speculate because imho the concept is so ludicrous.I mean which GOP candidate was he secretly trying to sabotage? A retired former officer like Mastriano? Hell maybe he was a true believer that blamed Trump for Mastriano's loss or for a horrible candidate like OZ. Maybe like the protaganist of Thr River, he was brought up to do "like your Daddy done".
Coincidentally enough,PA is a state I think of when I contemplate the possible story/plotline behind The River...lots of valleys, rivers, steel mills, coal mines etc.. in PA...