The perpetrator in Saturday’s mass shooting in Allen, Texas, appears to have written that one of his posts to the Russian social media platform Odnoklassniki, or OK.RU, was “inspired by Libs of TikTok.”
Mauricio Garcia, 33, shot and killed at least eight people at Allen Premium Outlets, including more than one child. Several people ages 5 to 61 were injured. Authorities identified Garcia on Sunday. The gunman was shot and killed by a police officer.
The Allen shooting was the 201st mass shooting this year in the U.S.
Local law enforcement officials said that Garcia seemed to have supported white supremacy, according to The New York Times. One official said Garcia wore a patch that read “RWDS,” which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad.”
The gunman seems to have made repeated references to violence against women, celebrating rape, and using language from the incels throughout his OK.RU profile. Aric Toler of the investigative outlet Bellingcat posted photos and screenshots of purported entries of Garcia’s OK.RU profile.
In one entry posted by Toler, Garcia allegedly praised the shooter at a private school in Nashville, but mocked the shooter’s transgender identity, calling the shooter a tr***y and referring to the shooter as a “vagina haver.” Authorities in Tennessee say the person who shot and killed several schoolchildren was trans.
Garcia appears to have written an anti-Semitic post in February about a former teacher who he wrote promoted “politically correct crap,” according to screenshots shared online by Brian Nguyen of the Human Rights Center of the University of California, Berkeley.
He seems to have begun that entry on OK.RU with “This post was inspired by Libs of TikTok,” according to one of the images that Nguyen shared on Twitter.
Libs of TikTok is the far-right social media account of Chaya Raichik. The account often posts anti-LGBTQ+ content targeting transgender people and drag show events. The Washington Post described the account as posting content “often including incendiary framing designed to generate outrage.” It’s been accused by security experts of engaging in stochastic terrorism, a form of terrorism that inspires viewers to act violently in the name of something they perceive as wrong from messages they receive that are designed to inspire such action.
The OK.RU user said he provoked the teacher by doing the Nazi salute and made comments in support of Adolf Hitler. He ended the post with “[Hitler] was one of histories most powerful men. What’s not to like” (sic).
The shooter also said that there wouldn’t be “convert your children drag queen story hour” under “Hitlers watch” (sic).
