Shooter allegedly was bullied "As soon as I saw his face I knew he was bullied"

[Ayesha Erotica 1,924]

Hi,

according to former classmates of the shooter, he was bullied at school.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/07/14/us-news/trump-shooter-thomas-matthew-crooks-was-bullied-loner-classmate/

However, it is not known how exactly he was bullied and how his classmates define "bullying". When asked how he was bullied, the classmate just says "he was lonely and a loner", not saying deeper details. According to a psychological definition of bullying, social exlusion does not qualify as bullying because bullying is defined as repeated systematic harassment of someone over a period of time; avoiding someone is not bullying. It is bad, too, but not everything bad equalys bullying. Nevertheless, he could have been truly bullied and the classmate perhaps didn't tell the whole story.

I must tell you something:

When I saw yesterday for the first time the picture of the suspected shooter, and yesterday it wasn't known by the media that he was bullied, I had a thought and it was "I somehow have the feeling he was bullied", and I got this feeling judging by his looks. His face looks like the prototype of someone bullied, don't you think so, too?

Then, today, I read an online user's comment (in the same source as linked) and Cicero Grimes there wrote "As soon as I saw this kid's face I knew he was bullied. The problem here is he needed to go after the bullies. But they never do. Its always the innocent."

And his comment struck me because I had exactly the same impression, even though I didn't know the background story. I don't call him kid anymore because he is an adult, so I put "his face" instead of "kid's face" in the topic title.

I am curious what you were thinking, so I am asking you now:

What did you think when you first saw the picture of the shooter, before media stories emerged describing him as having been bullied?

 

[bionic 50,111]

I assume anyone who tries to assassinate a politician hasn't had a great life.

[PartySick 172,545]

I mean. Monsters are created, not born.

[Modern Ecstasy2 2,202]

Sadly it is not surprising. A common thread amongst these young men who commit these atrocities is that they are described as isolated and having been bullied, seeking revenge.

[LilMonst3r 5,681]

Having so much De Ja Vu yall literally have made posts like this about past mass shooters. 

[DelusionalGaga 29,717]

14 minutes ago, Okinawa said:

And his comment struck me because I had exactly the same impression, even though I didn't know the background story. I don't call him kid anymore because he is an adult, so I put "his face" instead of "kid's face" in the topic title.

We don't really have to know a person to know that we likely share some of the same experiences in life, as we grow up in the same society. There's no way to tell whether he was bullied but it's clear that he's not attractive according to conventional beauty standards. We see a scrawny kid with glasses and acne and assume he must have been bullied (because that's what happens to many people like that), and then we see a pretty blonde girl and automatically think she must have had a pretty successful and easy life. 

[StrawberryBlond 15,568]

Life circumstances should have no relevance to doing misdeeds. There is never any justification for shooting someone and endangering the lives of others into the bargain. I was bullied, as were many other people I know. We've never even thought about shooting up a bunch of people as a response. You have to be pre-disposed to this stuff. Any attempts at justification only make the problem worse, we need to increase mental health awareness and treatment to really make a difference. If guns can't be banned, they should at least be controlled to the highest degree. Instead of focusing on whether the shooter was bullied or not, perhaps we should focus on how growing up in a country where guns are legal, normalised, glamorised and easy to acquire helps the public to see them as no big deal and fuels a troubled mind to make rash decisions with fatal consequences.

For anyone who says "guns don't kill people, people kill people," guns used to be legal in Australia, then, after one mass shooting, they banned them and they've never had a mass shooting since. Think about that.

[Bonkiii 585]

Tbh the answers in the thread are so weird. You could have also given the answer "As soon as I saw this kid's face I knew he played shooter games". 

[bionic 50,111]

Just now, Bonkiii said:

Tbh the answers in the thread are so weird. You could have also given the answer "As soon as I saw this kid's face I knew he played shooter games". 

u mean u couldnt look at his face and confidently diagnose his granddad with diabetes like i could?? 

[PartySick 172,545]

5 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Life circumstances should have no relevance to doing misdeeds. There is never any justification for shooting someone and endangering the lives of others into the bargain. I was bullied, as were many other people I know. We've never even thought about shooting up a bunch of people as a response. You have to be pre-disposed to this stuff. Any attempts at justification only make the problem worse, we need to increase mental health awareness and treatment to really make a difference. If guns can't be banned, they should at least be controlled to the highest degree. Instead of focusing on whether the shooter was bullied or not, perhaps we should focus on how growing up in a country where guns are legal, normalised, glamorised and easy to acquire helps the public to see them as no big deal and fuels a troubled mind to make rash decisions with fatal consequences.

For anyone who says "guns don't kill people, people kill people," guns used to be legal in Australia, then, after one mass shooting, they banned them and they've never had a mass shooting since. Think about that.

Nobody's justifying it

Explanations aren't excuses

Yes, you likely do either have to be born with the tendency to be violent or unable to understand consequences or you experience something so traumatic that it damages your psyche to that same point

Usually both

This dude probably had both too

I'd say political radicalization creating a victim mentality within an already violent alt-right is plenty traumatizing and could have easily pushed him past the point of doing something like this

When you feel the world is out to get you, your leaders are all conspiring against you, and your "savior" has abandoned you in favor of the people you hate, then that's a recipe for violence

[River 127,490]

33 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I mean. Monsters are created, not born.

Are u sure? 

[PartySick 172,545]

Just now, River said:

Are u sure? 

yes?

I don't believe in evil, people are pushed to breaking points, they aren't born villains

[River 127,490]

He has a face of another psycho american person. 

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,115]

6 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Nobody's justifying it

Explanations aren't excuses

Yes, you likely do either have to be born with the tendency to be violent or unable to understand consequences or you experience something so traumatic that it damages your psyche to that same point

Usually both

This dude probably had both too

I'd say political radicalization creating a victim mentality within an already violent alt-right is plenty traumatizing and could have easily pushed him past the point of doing something like this

When you feel the world is out to get you, your leaders are all conspiring against you, and your "savior" has abandoned you in favor of the people you hate, then that's a recipe for violence

100%. Empathy isn’t an endorsement. 

[Bonkiii 585]

2 minutes ago, River said:

Are u sure? 

Don't convince him. He will hide everything. Maybe never heard of medical disposition.