FLAGGING: Right-wing extremist argues that mass murderer probably wasn’t really a right-wing extremist

FLAGGING: Right-wing extremist argues that mass murderer probably wasn't really a right-wing extremist

Steven Crowder — the conservative influencer recently outed in a security video that shows him berating and verbally abusing his pregnant wife — says there’s no real evidence that the man who opened fire and murdered 8 people in a Texas mall was really attached to racist and hate-filled views, despite him literally wearing a patch representing those extremist views during the attack.

Officials say that Mauricio Garcia appears to have been a neo-Nazi sympathizer, and they’re investigating his social media where they say he “appeared to espouse white supremacist ideology.”

Garcia was shot by police as he carried out his rampage, and was found to be wearing a patch identified as supporting “RWDS” — or “Right Wing Death Squad.”

It’s with this that Crowder takes issue.

After all, openly declaring oneself to be a right-wing extremist, in fact, a member of a “death squad,” while carrying out a mass murder doesn’t necessarily mean that he really held right-wing beliefs, the influencer argues — he could have just been ‘trolling’ instead.

Crowder doesn’t seem to be acknowledging the rest of the shooter’s background, as described by law enforcement.

Instead, he’s writing the whole thing off as though the only evidence was a single patch with four letters, and as though it’s likely that the shooter went to his own death “trolling.”

“We have been able to find official statements from police chief saying we do not have a motive. That doesn’t stop CNN from saying Right Wing Death Squad. By the way, someone could also put that on there to troll,” Crowder said.

Notably, Crowder does not dispute that the Right-Wing Death Squad is a right-wing ideology, doesn’t address that the term is associated with Proud Boys extremists, and doesn’t suggest that the ideology is made up.

He’s just arguing that maybe the mass murderer didn’t actually identify with the “death squad” patch he was actively wearing during the mass murder.

Officials also say that Garcia’s social media contained white supremacist and other right-wing extremist views, including hateful posts about women and Black people, according to The New York Times.

Watch Crowder try to distance right-wing extremism from the murderer below.

Stephanie Bazzle

Steph Bazzle is a news writer who covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph. Sign up for all of her stories to be delivered to your inbox here: