As a lefty I just drink and get depressed when the GOP continuously assaulted our freedoms and dares climate change to wipe us out. Maybe I should be picking up a flag?
Witnesses told police they saw a man, identified as Clinton Collins, “charge at the victim and stab him with the flagpole through his head,” the release said. “That’s what he gets,” Collins said, witnesses told police. “He deserved it.” Collins was taken into custody immediately, police said. It took longer to help the victim, whose injuries put firefighters in a delicate predicament, according to police. “The pole entered the victim’s head beneath his jaw and exited the other side of his head near his right temple area,” the release said. “The American Flag was still attached (to) the pole at the time.” Due to the size of the pole, firefighters had to cut part of it off for the victim to fit into an ambulance, police said.
KOKI also identified a woman who told the station that she recognized Collins after seeing him exhibit similarly disturbing behavior about a week prior to the incident at the Sonic.
“We saw him start to charge at this person who was just sitting on the ground in front of the McDonald’s,” she told the station in an interview. “He charged at him with the flagpole and started doing like a stabbing motion with it.”
Mental illness may be at play, but the systematic problem is that mental healthcare is difficult and expensive - even with insurance - and that's if they even take insurance.
Without a combination of Obama care and a mother who had the means to not only try to get me help, but continued over the course of my life to try to help ..
I'm bipolar. It took a long time (27 years of age) and lots of money to get to being an otherwise fairly normal functional person.
Mental health needs to be a priority, it needs to be socialized (like all medical care) so people don't have to pick between the rent (always rising) and seeing a doctor.
Mental health also carries a stigma still, which is why I'm open about mental health and my struggles. Because when I'm on my meds, on your average day, I'm just your average civillian. Without meds I don't sleep for days, get into a manic paranoid spiral, then crash into a depression... Before I found the right meds, that depression lasted two years and getting out of bed was a major victory.
Not violent but certainly not functional. Proper screening and checkups that don't make you pick between meals and mental health would go a long way to spotting the folks with violent impulses. Get them on some meds,some talk therapy, work through it.
Not impale a stranger through the head with a makeshift spear.
Or maybe he writes in Ronald Reagan each election, muttering how if Carter gets into office, he's going to let those Nazi commies take over the country and everyone will end up speaking Danish and forced to work in the sand mines so the European nudy beaches will stay nice, which he supports but is embarrassed about so he overcompensates.
At least in this case, it looks like the man was already deeply mentally ill and his target selection could have random or illogical (like "that man has stolen my face").
But that's the dirty secret with the "fuckers" you're talking about -- most of them were already mentally ill (or heading there) and the far-right used that vulnerability to radicalise them.
It's part of why the waters get muddy so quickly when someone covers themselves in swastikas and kills as many people as he can with his super-cool, legally-owned guns.
The left says "Another far-right, racist piece of shit murdering people" and the right screams "No! He was mentally ill. You must be if you murder someone. After all, I know plenty of far-right, racist pieces of shit and none of them have killed anybody".
And while you definitely don't need to be mentally ill to kill people (unless you want to claim everyone in the military is mentally ill and the military taught them how), a lot of these shooters are clearly unwell.
Which is how the trick is done. The far-right seeks out the mentally ill, encourages them to commit acts of violence and tells them who to commit that violence against.
What group has the most depressed young men? Gamers (and oh look they've been infiltrated by the far-right)
What group has the most untreated paranoid schizophrenics? Conspiracy theorists (and oh look they've been infiltrated by the far right).
What hobby appeals to violent men with blood-lust? Guns (and oh look they've been infiltrated by the far right).
If you know someone who is vulnerable, reach out to them before a neo-nazi does.
“The pole entered the victim’s head beneath his jaw and exited the other side of his head near his right temple area,” the release said.
“The American Flag was still attached (to) the pole at the time.” Due to the size of the pole, firefighters had to cut part of it off for the victim to fit into an ambulance, police said.
“Miraculously, we’re told the victim will survive his injuries, but will likely lose an eye,” the release said.
Amazing the guy lived. I hope he doesn't have too severe of a traumatic brain injury tho... TBIs can change people's personalities, make them more aggressive, or can be severe enough that they can no longer care for themselves/speak/have motor control.
That's why it's always important to wear a helmet and say fuck the haters. Just takes one wrong fall. Also, obligatory I love helmets!
From the mugshot this dude looks like a mentally ill homeless person. I'm all about blaming the right people but I'll need to know more before I pass judgement.