Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial identified as ‘researcher’ who posted conspiracy-laden manifesto moments earlier - eviltoast
  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    The manifesto doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Trump, but I’m betting the usual right-wing pundits will turn this guy into a martyr for their cause anyway.

    • DocMcStuffin@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The first thing everyone heard was “Trump trial” and “man sets self on fire”. The news media was mostly covering the trial in a live stream format which didn’t help get the whole story out. Now that’s its been a few hours, a more complete picture is forming.

      Mental illness is a hell of a thing. Especially when it leads to self-harm.

  • hperrin@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    It’s very sad that he wasn’t able to get whatever help he needed before doing this. Reading his posts, he was very clearly unwell.

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPM
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      7 months ago

      Definitely. I only read part of the one post (the “manifesto” or whatever we’re calling it) and he talks about how friends and family don’t believe him. They could’ve seen the warning signs. No idea if they tried anything or what they tried. It’s hard to force people to get care.

      • Woozythebear@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Getting care also isn’t free in this country and completely unaffordable to almost 50 million Americans.

    • CptEnder@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It happened right in front of a CNN reporter while she was on air, basically telegraphing his death live. Felt real bad for her, could tell she was pretty shaken. She’s a legal reporter not a war correspondent, probably hasn’t seen something like that before.

  • dezmd@lemmy.worldM
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    7 months ago

    His ramblings are batshit conspiracy nut nonsense, but I bet you can find some nuggets of reality hidden among the crazy. He’s entirely overly falling back on his focus on cryptocurrency itself as the master tool to destroy the world, when really cryptocurrency is just another system that can be used for good or evil, no different than any other monetary or political system from the eyes of someone with no ethical or moral concerns about criminality.

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPM
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      7 months ago

      If you throw a thousand darts, one has to hit.

      Maybe it’s true that all the Harvard Simpsons writers are mob bosses? I hope it’s that one.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
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      7 months ago

      Calls himself a researcher, doesn’t provide any of his research.

      I no longer have my original research files from the crypto rabbit hole. If you want to see them, you’ll have to get my laptop back from the government. Ask them how they got it - it’s a very fun story.

      Oh yeah, “the government” has all his research. Which government? Oh you know, the government. Because apparently this super genius researcher was unfamiliar with the concept of “backups”.

        • Jaytreeman@kbin.social
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          7 months ago

          The guys unhinged. He puts Matt groening orbiting the center of some great conspiracy while at the same time his main point is correct.

          I’ve seen people fall down these rabbit holes and have them trigger something that drives them away from sanity. It’s sad af

          • dezmd@lemmy.worldM
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            7 months ago

            It would be pretty funny if he hadn’t set himself on fire over it. It’s distressing that he fell that far in and had no one in his life that was able to pull him back from the edge.

    • NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      So I asked myself the question: If The Simpsons served the interests of organized crime, how would it do so?

      I’m just saying, there is a very thin line between genius and insanity…

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, this thing vacillates wildly between insightful and utter nonsense more than perhaps anything else I’ve ever read.

        I thought this line was impressive:

        …fascism, which is perhaps best understood as kleptocracy at the barrel of a gun.

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      7 months ago

      He is now at Manhattan’s Weill Cornell Medicine Burn Center in critical condition, police said.

      Based on that, I’d say less the former category and more the latter category.