I’ll comment more on this later.
For the record: I generally consider myself a conspiracy skeptic.
The short answer to my question: a qualified no. However… Vox Day makes one very good point: False-flag ops aren’t unprecedented. King David used them against the Philistines; Nero used them against Christians; Hitler used them against Poland; the Joint Chiefs of Staff almost used them against the American people; and–if gun rights groups are correct–Obama tried one against the American people via Operation Fast and Furious.
I would also agree with Vox on the timing of this matter: it seems too convenient for the gun-grabbers. Zimmerman is on trial, Obama’s administration is on its heels with the fallout from Fast and Furious, a 71-year-old man successfully used his firearm to ward off an armed attack on a cafe. Then this…in Colorado of all places.
Aurora is not far from Columbine, and about two hours from Colorado Springs, where the YWAM/New Life shootings occurred in 2007. If you’re going to have a high-profile shooting like this, Colorado fits too well.
The conspiracy theorists–many of whom I consider kooks–aren’t without a rational basis this time.
Moreover, I have my own questions:
(a) How did Holmes manage to get into that theater with two pistols, an AR-15 with a 100-round drum magazine, and a Remington Model 870 12-gauge shotgun, one or more teargas canisters, and a full set of body armor?
(b) How much time elapsed from when the person–presumably Holmes–exited the theater, and when the shooter came in through that exit? Was there sufficient time for Holmes to have left the theater in plain clothes, clothed himself in extensive body armor that included a helmet, gas mask, leg and groin protection, throat protection, and a vest for his torso? There certainly has to be a security camera from the cinema that shows the events.
(c) Where did Holmes learn explosives? The teargas he used was not something you can buy at a gun store. His extensive booby traps are not indicative of novice-level work. While one can look up explosives information on the Internet, it is one thing to read about, and a totally different matter to execute.
(d) Why did it take the cops so long to respond? There were cops present at the theater; Holmes fired well over 70 rounds in the theater; he even exited the theater when he was done, and was apprehended in the parking lot. But why did the cops not make it into the theater when the shooting was going on?
(e) Why weren’t the exit doors watched? At best, the cinema is going to be facing some serious liabilities here.
He was no dummy: his undergrad degree was in neuroscience–summa cum laude–and he was enrolled in a PhD program in neuroscience. His chemistry–and electricity–knowledge, which is a huge part of neuroscience, could have given him some know-how for explosives, but–like I said–there is a big difference between reading about it and actually doing it. I’d love to know where he got his information, and where he did his practice.
As for his firearm skills, I’d say he was well-prepared. He shot 71 people. Most of his shooting was in the dark. His drum magazine on his AR-15 jammed. That, plus the fact that he didn’t have night-vision goggles, kept the death toll from being far worse.
But was this a false-flag operation? I dunno. I would lean against a conspiracy here. I’m thinking that Holmes got involved in some very bad things, probably got disillusioned in life–apparently he opened an account on a site that ostensibly promotes sexual hookups–and perhaps even went schizophrenic.
Could government have used someone like him in that kind of operation? Yes, but that would be a huge risk. Using a mentally unstable person for something like this can easily backfire.
Then again, if he mysteriously dies in prison, it would be hard not to come down on Vox’s side.
I think Vox has gone off the rails, here. He has used his vast knowledge and vocabulary to generate well articulated paranoia… This coming from a man who otherwise would not credit government with the ability to do something like build a bridge or road or adminsiter a public vaccine program, say.
I would tend to agree. My inclination is that this guy is an extraordinarily-intelligent schizophrenic who got involved in some very dark things.
From what I’ve heard about the timeline, I would tend to come down on the side that he did this alone, and that this is not a false-flag.
But I can’t blame conspiracy folks for getting antsy here. Sometimes, the evidence fits too well.
Still, conspiracies are very, very difficult. Especially today.
And as for government using them? While it is not unprecedented, the ability to do this without being caught is much tougher today than it would have been 50 years ago.
Secret conspiracies are much harder to pull off in real life than they are in the movies.
Yep. It’s like Gordon Liddy once said: the only way to keep a secret among three people is if two of them are dead.
As someone who knew a terrorist that was arrested for planning a suicide assault on an Australian military barracks I can tell you false flags come in different guises. Without external influence the guy would never had entertained the thought.
I’ll tell you how my friend was ‘turned’ into a terrorist.
The modus operendi seems to be to befriend a person with a susceptible personality ( poor social skills, previous drug habit, socially ostracized, idealist or nihilist, black and white thought patterns) and a preconcieved notion of some sort of injustice. The handlers forment this sense of injustice by introducing the target to a forum where ideas are discussed and then he is introduced to an inner elite membership where suggestions of actions are discussed.
When the target does the act the outside world is none the wiser that this person was a mule that was steered into a direction even before he knew it.
It will be interesting to know who Holmes worked with, if anyone. Intellectually, he’s pretty sharp. Could he have pulled this off himself? Yes. Tough to do, but doable.
That said, he probably consulted people about certain issues, such as explosives and teargas, the kind of things you can’t just buy at a gun store.
Who knew this guy, with whom he associated himself, what their connections were…those are going to be important here.