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RWDS: A Massacre in Texas and a Warning to Us All (Jay Kuo)
Another horrific mass shooting in Texas over the weekend added to the grim tally of some 200 nationwide so far this year. As with other massacres, the shooter wielded an AR-15 and gunned down people in a public place, this time an outlet shopping mall in the town of Allen outside of Dallas.
Something about this attack, however, caught my eye and deserves our full attention. The gunman bore a patch on his chest with the letters RWDS—which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad.”
It’s a chilling four letters. It has appeared lately emblazoned on the attire of members of extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and other white supremacist groups.
The killer’s patch is part of a larger backdrop that has investigators scouring for more evidence of his dangerous and violent views. Investigators have discovered that he had a general fascination with white supremacist and neo-Nazi beliefs, leading them to view the attack as a possible hate crime. More broadly, the attack may be part of a larger domestic terrorist movement involving heavily armed, right-wing militias.
With RWDS showing up at the violent insurrection of January 6 and now the mass shooting in Texas, we need to know more about these letters and what they represent, beyond the obvious call to arms and threat to life. Let’s wade in.
Something about this attack, however, caught my eye and deserves our full attention. The gunman bore a patch on his chest with the letters RWDS—which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad.”
It’s a chilling four letters. It has appeared lately emblazoned on the attire of members of extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and other white supremacist groups.
The killer’s patch is part of a larger backdrop that has investigators scouring for more evidence of his dangerous and violent views. Investigators have discovered that he had a general fascination with white supremacist and neo-Nazi beliefs, leading them to view the attack as a possible hate crime. More broadly, the attack may be part of a larger domestic terrorist movement involving heavily armed, right-wing militias.
With RWDS showing up at the violent insurrection of January 6 and now the mass shooting in Texas, we need to know more about these letters and what they represent, beyond the obvious call to arms and threat to life. Let’s wade in.
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/rwds-a-massacre-in-texas-and-a-warning?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=283462&post_id=120060461&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email