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What a Killer Was Watching
Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo
Did a steady diet of right-wing radio and Glenn Beck influence Richard Poplawski, the man who allegedly murdered three Pittsburgh cops? Max Blumenthal reports.
On April 6, two days after the 22-year-old Richard Poplawski allegedly murdered three police officers in Pittsburgh, a radio host named Alex Jones settled in before a microphone in his studio in Austin, Texas, to do some damage control. “The mainstream media has certainly enjoyed tying me into this story,” Jones complained. “They’re attacking me and saying I’m delusional and there’s no New World Order… The Second Amendment, what the country’s founded on—it’s all my fault!”
Poplawski was a neo-Nazi wannabe who railed against blacks, Jews, “Zionists,” and gun control. And like many members of the far-right fringe, he allegedly visited Jones’ Web sites and posted alarming reports by Jones’ writers on Stormfront, a white-supremacist message board. (Poplawski’s posts are here, authored under the handle, “Braced For Fate.”) While Alex Jones generally avoids overt racism, he has found an eager audience on Stormfront by conjuring dark visions of an impending New World Order, claiming FEMA is secretly building a national concentration-camp network, and announcing that President Barack Obama has planned mass gun seizures on his way to establishing a leftist dictatorship. “Remember, the first step in establishing a dictatorship is to disarm the citizens,” warned a March 13 commentary on Jones’ Web site, Prison Planet.
The killer posted a YouTube clip to Stormfront of top-rated Fox News host Glenn Beck contemplating the existence of FEMA-managed concentration camps.
In the wake of Poplawski’s alleged murder spree, the killer’s friends and family members painted a portrait of a paranoid young man whose worldview was informed almost totally by the kind of conspiratorial themes entertained by Jones. Poplawski’s best friend, Edward Perkovic, who also spouted white-supremacist rhetoric, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that his friend “grew angry recently over fears Obama would outlaw guns.” Poplawski’s mother remarked to police investigators that her son targeted cops “because he believed that as a result of economic collapse, the police were no longer able to protect society.”
But hysterical warnings of government gun grabs and a socialist takeover of the U.S. are no longer the sole proprietary interest of fringe players like Jones. In the Obama era, Jones’ conspiracy theories have graduated to prime-time on Fox News. And radicals like Poplawski are tuning in. Indeed, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the alleged killer posted a YouTube clip to Stormfront of top-rated Fox News host Glenn Beck contemplating the existence of FEMA-managed concentration camps. (“He backed out,” Poplawski wrote cryptically beside the video.) Three weeks later, Poplawski posted another YouTube clip to Stormfront, this time of a video blogger advocating “Tea Parties,” or grassroots conservative protests organized by Beck and Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich (see here and here) against President Barack Obama’s bailout plan.
Jones has gradually come to be accepted by the right-wing media. In September 2007, Jones interrupted a live broadcast by Fox News host Geraldo Rivera (Rivera was reporting at the time on “the secret world of restroom gay sex”) by shouting into a megaphone, “9/11 was an inside job!” He was hauled away by NYPD officers soon after. On March 18, however, Jones became a guest of honor inside Fox studios, introduced as “the great Alex Jones” by Fox News contributor Judge Andrew Napolitano during a lengthy segment on the online show, The Strategy Room. Toward the end of his spot, Jones celebrated his sudden and dramatic influence on the conservative movement’s biggest media personalities.
“I’ve never seen an awakening this big. I’m seeing Glenn Beck talk about the New World Order on Fox, I’m seeing you talk about it,” Jones told Napolitano. “We’re seeing Lou Dobbs talk about it, we’re seeing mainline hosts—Limbaugh’s even talking about global government. Michael Savage is talking about how Obama may stage crises to bring in martial law. So all the things that I was talking about in the wilderness ten-plus years ago are now hitting mainstream, and it is great!”
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Benjamin Sarlin is a reporter for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
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This post is sad and hilarious. AMERICANS please wake up and realize these guys are goof balls. You're on the right track now.
"I just love my country." Tear tear, haha
You are exactly right: lunacy and conspiracy theories are limited to the Right as aided by the vast neo-fascist right-wing media network.
There were never any conspiracy theories espoused by the Left during the previous administration. Thank God there wasn't a growing left-wing community that brought up certain theories on the cause (and culpable parties) of the September 11th attacks. Thank God they didn't say that all the "terror alerts" were precludes to Bush running a police state. Thank God we have a journalist like the author who is willing to really probe the issues and "cut to the core" with in-depth fact-based reports such as this.
Finally, I would like the author to detail why a neo-nazi group is considered a part of the (albeit far) "Right." "National Socialism." Interesting. I don't see anyone saying that the name itself implies policies far more in line with the Left.
I think that the title of your book (see the bottom of the article) kind of gives away any clue on whether you would be impartial or objective in this article.
Note to paranoid gun nuts (and Michelle Bachmann): Obama cannot just say, 'Take their guns away.' That would require a constitutional amendment and legislation to accomplish this. Think about the actual act of confiscating guns. You'd have civil war. Obama could, however, introduce legislation which would preclude you from driving around with a howitzer hitched to your car. Also, how do you budget money to build secret indoctrination camps? How many people would be involved in building such camps? How many people would have to keep a secret? Seen any black helicopters lately?
Ah, come on! This is just a flat out lie. Do some research, this dude was a NEO-NAZI.
Why do liberals have to blame others? They should look closely at their liberals no matter who they are for blame.
shame. shame. this article is poorly written and promoted!
Ah, come on! This is just a flat out lie. Do some research, this dude was a NEO-NAZI.
Why do liberals have to blame others? They should look closely at their liberals no matter who they are for blame.
shame. shame. this article is poorly written and promoted!
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
Did a steady diet of right-wing radio and Glenn Beck influence Richard Poplawski ....?
It's entirely possible.
There is absolutely nothing funny about this.
Apparently the writer of this article is a full time fiction writer and is doing this as a part-time job - and failing at both. Any person who bothers to use the God given brain would know what a bag of crud his assumption is. Apparently it is easier to blame an easy liberal target than to take the time to research the situation and find out the truth and facts.
This is not a right versus left issue, this is evidence of the perversion that media saturation is imposing on modern psyches. All these talking heads are paid to spout and spout and spout their nonsense to keep ratings high and to keep viewers tuned in and the only way to insure this is to alarm people, to scare people to propose ideas of a more and more drastic and intense and insane nature to keep people fixated on your constant spouting. The fact of the matter is that we are killing each other by trying to manipulate and control the audience for the sake of ratings. Turn off your TV they are all mad as can be,
Well said Grundy! And I agree with you 100%
"Apparently the writer of this article is a full time fiction writer and is doing this as a part-time job - and failing at both. Any person who bothers to use the God given brain would know what a bag of crud his assumption is. Apparently it is easier to blame an easy liberal target than to take the time to research the situation and find out the truth and facts."
Liberals should ask themselves why they let their Obama attempt to rewrite our US CONSTITUTION instead of pitching these "smoke and mirrors" stories.
The problem, the way I see it, is these people are alienated, some simplistic watered down theory, that can fit into a small little space, that gives them excitement, and then add disempowerment, and then access to guns, Then he becomes a celebrity, and doesn't die an unknown.
This is what people have known for years. Give it about five more gun slayings, and on April 15th there will be some good old fashioned black-lynching. Then we can start to talk about how maybe Glenn Beck is a treasonous nut bag.
But this isn't knew. People have been sporting "The South Will Rise Again" bumper stickers for years. Now they have an excuse to go crazy! A black president? What is world coming to? Oh right civil war, and the right wingers are promoting it all the way.
VenusMuse is an idiot, and believes it is everyman's right to stockpile guns and kill cops. After all cops are socialist, they get paid by out taxes. And they have unions! Clearly nothing wrong here.
Right-wing tv and radio talk show hosts know exactly who they're appealing to and it is whack-jobs like Poplawski. The sad thing is, the talking heads know their idiot followers will do all the dirty work for them and then claim they are being unfairly blamed. In a way I'd like to employ some of their beliefs and lynch the whole lot of them: Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, Beck, Hannity, etc., and watch the world become a better place.
What could possibly be hilarious about:
-5 children losing their father
-3 families losing their men
-a neighborhood needing to forget the sounds of combat
-911 operator needing counseling to face her error
-an entire police force having to face the true danger of their job
-a city population rocked to its core with grief and humility
It is time we all start to be careful about our actions and indeed our words - especially those who are being paid to babble.
A list of sponsors to this world of hysteria based exciting talk would be most useful. Until I know who is funding all this - I will spend nothing.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
The word "influence" is a tricky word, not quite blaming someone, but is the implication of some kind of responsibility inferred?
( "Did a steady diet of right-wing radio and Glenn Beck influence Richard Poplawski" )
Does anyone in the FAR LEFT media "influence"
G20 protesters or anarchists, who occasionally assault police, and smash storefronts during anti-globalist rally's?
Unfortunately we now live in a pass the buck, blame someone else "he-or-she-MADE-me-do-it" culture.
Individuals are responsible for their own actions, PERIOD!
It's worth it to check out Becks 912 project. I don't think the comments will surprise anyone, but they might.
Didn't Gordon Brown just call for a "New World Order" at the G-20 summit? Wasn't this sick, Neo-Nazi, so violent that even the Marines had to throw him out of boot camp? Why no mention of what happened to the killer in boot camp? Or the fact that he learned how to kill from the military, not from internet news sites. Apparently the Daily Beast is no longer an independent news source, and is pushing along the same thoughtless, garbage you can catch on CNN. Great job Beast! you went from being my favorite site, to being removed from my toolbar in only a month. It's sad to see any website like this, help slander another. I'm Jewish and I read Alex Jones! I have certainly never read anything online and decided that the proper reaction would be to get a gun and start playing real life grand theft auto. Obviously the killer was insane before Obama got into office, because he was THROWN OUT OF THE MARINES FOR BEING TOO VIOLENT, way before Obama took office. How could any reporter leave that out and claim to be reporting? It's going to be hard to trust the news from the Daily Beast now, and even harder to respect the site as a legitimate news source. Even the NY times is trying to blame the internet, with no mention of the marines, in the killer's past. Could Alex Jones be stealing their audience? Is there any real news out there? I challenge anyone to find a racist remark at Infowars.com, because I looked and didn't see one thing that offended me as a jew, or anything offending African Americans. It seems Alex Jones and Glen Beck are being smeared for a reason? Could it be that Jones made a movie called the Obama Deception and Beck is advertising tea parties? Articles like this one, just make Jones and Beck seem like they are telling the truth. Keep trying to smear them and you will watch their audience grow and grow... You are supposed to be reporters, not children! Stop the smearing and start reporting...
Have people already forgotten Timothy McVeigh and the tragic deaths of men, women, children, and babies that occurred when he blew up the Federal Center in Oklahoma City? He was yet another one of these right-wing idealogues who killed in the name of freedom. All of these right-wing talk-show hosts have blood on their hands.
And I thought the Confederate Party worshipped God. I guess they only follow Jesus when it's convenient.
Personal responsibility only works if you're sane. Obviously Richard had a personality defect that ejected him from the Marines so he went home and unsupervised. He was enabled by his family and given freedom to roam the world via the media and internet to find like souls that delivered the message in a fashion that made him explode.
The ingrediants to this disaster are too readily available - what we all need to ask is where is the next Richard?
I have some major issues with this morons family for not having an intervention and having him committed for a mental examination and yes taking his guns away. It is clear that he was a danger to both himself and society. Roger Aisles you are truly an evil man for putting these ideologues on Fox "news". BTW are police officers who set up speed traps and dui check points part of this new world order?
Alex Jones is one crazy dude. But his craziness is now being broadcast by Fox News via the Glenn Beck show. Rupert Murdoch's son and heir apparent, Lachlan, is one of these extreme paranoid libertarians and is behind Fox's promoting of Alex Jone's insane world view.
Glenn Beck is just the front man. Notice how -- even though Beck was always stupid on CNN Headline News -- his personality has changed since he's been on Fox. It only appears that it's Obama's admin. that has pushed him over the edge. It really is Lachlan's agenda. Beck was hired to fulfill it. That's why so much of what he's saying now contradicts what he used to say.
Lachlan Murdoch has the blood of those three policemen on his hands.
If this country refuses to take away high-powered weapons from any and every crazy, then all police should be outfitted with total armor when answering the smallest 911 call.
Thank you.
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