Salon writer Paul Rosenberg's article, Accused Annapolis shooter Jarrod Ramos had dark links to the alt-right, offers clear ties between shooter Ramos and right-wing hate, American white male terrorism.
I would argue that Donald Trump's attacks on journalists and the media unleashed Ramos hate and anger to a level he'd restrained himself from reaching before Trump.
The article documents how Capital Gazette shooter Jarrod Ramos' disturbing Twitter history, shows far-right connections and hints of violence against journalists, going back at least four years, when he resonated with the Charlie Hebdo attacks. But he didn't act, didn't hurt anybody.
That's important, because Trump's #MAGA supporters have been trying to argue that Trump's hate and attacks on the media had nothing to do with the attack. Even mainstream media anchors, like CNN's John King have argued that this was not politically motivated or related to Trump's attacks on journalists.
Rosenberg's article makes it clear that Jarrod Ramos's hate and anger were there for a long time. I would argue that he held them in check until Donald Trump spent 18 months spewing hate, encouraging abuse, even violence towards his critics. Trump's spewings eroded the humanity, the restraints that Ramos had, which prevented him from acting on his rage.
With this new information, Trump supporters must face the fact that it is very reasonable to argue Trump played an essential role in this shooting, changing Ramos from an angry person acting with restraint to become a right-wing terrorist mass shooter.
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