Take the unhinged people seriously
When people say they're going to act violently, we should assume they'll follow through.
Years ago, in the old blogosphere days, I remember reading about a book of speeches by an aspiring Austrian landscape artist in which he set forth his plans for Europe. Genocide was involved.
The lesson was that, when people talk incessantly about doing something really, really bad, you should assume they’re actually going to do it should the opportunity arise. As we learn more about New York City subway shooter (and bomber?) Frank James, we see that he was planning a rampage in plain sight:
The prime suspect in one of the worst mass shootings in New York City history ranted about violence, race, and politics for years over YouTube.
Frank James, 62, posted angsty, straight-to-camera diatribes under multiple YouTube channels, including prophetoftruth88, in which he sometimes referred to himself as the “prophet of doom.” He glorified violence, criticized Black culture, rambled about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, held forth on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and declared that global warm…
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