Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Omaha Steve

(99,059 posts)
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 12:54 PM Jun 2014

Man charged in Mounties' death obsessed with guns

Source: AP-Excite

By PATRICK WHITTLE and ROB GILLIES

MONCTON, New Brunswick (AP) — A chilling portrait of a man obsessed with guns and anti-government rhetoric began to emerge as people in this eastern Canadian city struggled to reconcile the knowledge that the person charged with murdering three Mounties was the same one who had seemingly lived quietly among them.

Justin Bourque, 24, was caught and charged with three murders and two attempted murders Friday, ending a 30-hour manhunt that closed schools, forced residents to hide inside their homes and paralyzed Moncton with fear. He appeared briefly in court Friday after he was charged in the second deadliest attack on the Royal Canadian Mountain Police nearly 130 years.

But as neighbors of his parents and others who knew Bourque spoke of a quiet man from a well-liked, religious Catholic family that home-schooled its children, recent posts on social networks told a very different tale — a litany of paranoid conspiracies that included statements on Russia being a threat to Canada and deep animosity toward authority figures.

A friend, Trever Finck, said he noticed changes in Bourque's behavior over the last year, particularly after he created a new Facebook page for himself in February and filled it with anti-police messages and conspiracy theories. His profile picture shows him standing in the woods with a friend, wearing camouflage gear and clutching a shotgun. What appear to be dozens of spent shell casings lie at their feet.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140607/cn-canada-shooting-5fbbf706ea.html





Shannon Hubley and her eight-year-old son Isiah display their emotion as they attend a candle light vigil in Moncton, New Brunswick Friday, June 6, 2014 to pay respect to the three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were killed and the two injured in a shooting spree on Wednesday. Justin Bourque, 24, is facing three charges of first-degree murder and two charges of attempted murder. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Andrew Vaughan)

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Man charged in Mounties' death obsessed with guns (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jun 2014 OP
Kicking... freshwest Jun 2014 #1
and kicking again niyad Jun 2014 #2
Sounds scarily similar to the freaks down here. geomon666 Jun 2014 #3
The anti-police sentement isn't exclusive to the right wing. Occupy says similar things about cops. Exultant Democracy Jun 2014 #4
Yes but how many anti police liberals would actually go shooting at police? athenasatanjesus Jun 2014 #11
Weather Underground... I would put the unibomber on the left too, but he used bombs not guns. Exultant Democracy Jun 2014 #16
You invoke Occupy then produce two examples from decades past? Chakab Jun 2014 #17
I'm just saying anti-policy feelings don't lead to shootings, crazy people do. It isn't a left right Exultant Democracy Jun 2014 #18
+1 FailureToCommunicate Jun 2014 #22
Many Second Amendment absolutists and billh58 Jun 2014 #5
And there are many people christx30 Jun 2014 #6
So you approve of billh58 Jun 2014 #7
I never said that. christx30 Jun 2014 #9
Pretty broad brush billh58 Jun 2014 #10
You started this sub thread christx30 Jun 2014 #12
My point is that Second Amendment absolutists billh58 Jun 2014 #14
I'd rather not be around armed christx30 Jun 2014 #15
Silly comparison quakerboy Jun 2014 #19
This message was self-deleted by its author billh58 Jun 2014 #21
Home schooling frequently makes for a lack of socialization and sometime lack of education. Bernardo de La Paz Jun 2014 #8
And a lack of diversity of views BrotherIvan Jun 2014 #20
I'd like to see this used to ban all semi auto carbines in Canada. AR15s, M1 copies and Monk06 Jun 2014 #13
more guns for the crazies leads to these types of tragedies samsingh Jun 2014 #23

Exultant Democracy

(6,594 posts)
4. The anti-police sentement isn't exclusive to the right wing. Occupy says similar things about cops.
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 02:01 PM
Jun 2014

I took a look at his Facebook and about 1 out of three post would have fit in right here.

When it really comes down to it he was a mentally disturbed person with access and training in guns. He could have just as easily have hated sorority girls like the guy two weeks ago or hated young liberals like that psycho from Norway.

athenasatanjesus

(859 posts)
11. Yes but how many anti police liberals would actually go shooting at police?
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 03:41 PM
Jun 2014

Anti police sentiment is common among the entire political spectrum,police should be viewed as neutral protectors of the establishment,anyone who has a problem with them should look more at the societal flaws than at them.

Exultant Democracy

(6,594 posts)
16. Weather Underground... I would put the unibomber on the left too, but he used bombs not guns.
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 04:27 PM
Jun 2014

Then again nothing is going to stop someone as smart as Ted Kaczynski from doing a ton of harm if he puts his mind to it. I would consider him an outlier among outliers.

 

Chakab

(1,727 posts)
17. You invoke Occupy then produce two examples from decades past?
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 05:07 PM
Jun 2014

There are dozens of cases of RW loons engaging in violent terrorist activity in recent years. Any claim that there's parity with them and the "radical" Left is completely and utterly fallacious.

Exultant Democracy

(6,594 posts)
18. I'm just saying anti-policy feelings don't lead to shootings, crazy people do. It isn't a left right
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 05:50 PM
Jun 2014

thing except for the fact that the right is in favor or gun laws that make it easier for people to do things like this.

Crazy people come in all stripes, lets just try to keep guns out of their hands.

billh58

(6,635 posts)
5. Many Second Amendment absolutists and
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 02:21 PM
Jun 2014

NRA apologists are very vocal about their distrust and hatred of police officers and other LEO agents. It seems that the two mindsets go hand-in-hand.

christx30

(6,241 posts)
6. And there are many people
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 02:53 PM
Jun 2014

that don't like the militarization of police that are not gun nuts. We'd rather see the police stop the crap like no knock raids for non life threatening things like pot. So it's not just an NRA thing to distrust police. It's good sense and self preservation.

christx30

(6,241 posts)
9. I never said that.
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 03:22 PM
Jun 2014

I said that a mistrust of the police is understandable. I prefer to regard police as one would a wounded animal. Steer clear. I'd rather get laws and reforms passed. I'd rather see cops held to account for their crimes. Many times they get away with serious abuse with no repercussions. And the so called "good cops" lie to protect their abusive coworkers from prosecution.

billh58

(6,635 posts)
10. Pretty broad brush
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 03:30 PM
Jun 2014

you've got there, and I have more of a mistrust of gun nuts than I do trained police officers.

This thread is about those who are obsessed with guns and use them to kill police officers, and I don't think that even cop haters would advocate that (unless you are a gun nut).

christx30

(6,241 posts)
12. You started this sub thread
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 04:01 PM
Jun 2014

with a broad brush, casting anyone that mistrusts police or other LEO as NRA gun nuts. I was pointing out that it's not as clear cut as you may think it is. Not everyone that mistrusts police is a right winger. Some of us lean heavily to the left, but have seen too many crimes commited by police to fully trust them. You may want to ask Oscar Grant about this. But you can't, because he was "accidently" executed by a BART cop. You can ask his murderer. He was released from prison after less than 2 years.
It's pretty much par for the course when dealing with bad cops.

billh58

(6,635 posts)
14. My point is that Second Amendment absolutists
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 04:11 PM
Jun 2014

and people obsessed with guns, use fear of the government in general to justify their obsession (water the tree of Liberty with blood). Your assertion that "all" police officers are to be feared is equally false, and just as absurd as the gun nuts claim of tyranny by government.

Do some police officers abuse their authority? Of course they do, just as some corporate managers do, just as some building inspectors do, and just as some do in almost any profession. I really don't see the difference between the Oscar Grant case, and the Trayvon Martin case, as the gunman in each situation over-reacted and caused the death of an innocent person.

Take care, and peace...

christx30

(6,241 posts)
15. I'd rather not be around armed
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 04:23 PM
Jun 2014

people like those jackhole Open Carry Texas people that want to bring AR-15s into Chili's for no reason. You don't know which is going to be a good, responsible gun owner (though if you are taking a rifle into Chipolte, that answers that question), and who is a crazy who is wanting to thin out the neighborhood. It's impossible to tell until the trigger is pulled.
I just feel the same way about the police as well. You don't know who is the Officer O'grady type that'll give you a warning and who is the Eric Cartman "respect my authoritah" type. Not until you are face down with a knee on the back of your neck. They can pretty much do whatever they want with hardly any repercussions.

quakerboy

(13,901 posts)
19. Silly comparison
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 07:00 PM
Jun 2014

At least as far as building inspectors goes. they can be held to account if they do their job incorrectly and kill someone

Corporate managers? maybe less so, but they do not have the direct connection to the killing that a police officer may have.

The difference with a police officer and a general gun nut is that police officers are extremely difficult to hold to account for their actions. And the problem we have is that they regularly cover for each other. Which means that while a very small number of them directly do terrible misdeeds, many more, perhaps even the majority have looked the other way or covered for their fellows who have done something wrong. In NYC, officer bologna did a bad thing, macing several civilians because he was irate. But the photos show a half dozen other officers directly in the vicinity, and more in visual distance. Not one of them attempted to stop him, and as far as I have been able to determine from the followup reporting, not one of them even attempted to restrain or arrest him for his unprovoked assault. I havn't even been able to find any indication that any testified against him. That situation extends to the vast majority of police misdeed incidents around the country. Subsequent police officers arriving on the scene of a police misdeed are more likely to intimidate or arrest a civilian filming the incident than they are to step in to prevent the incident from continuing.

And that's why I believe it is accurate to say that many, possibly most, police are corrupt. Even the generally well meaning ones.

Response to quakerboy (Reply #19)

Bernardo de La Paz

(48,775 posts)
8. Home schooling frequently makes for a lack of socialization and sometime lack of education.
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 03:16 PM
Jun 2014

I'm not saying it is a cause. It is not a root cause. I don't think it helped him and may have been a factor.

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
20. And a lack of diversity of views
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 08:25 PM
Jun 2014

For some, often religious people, homeschooling is a way to control the message so to speak. I know there are parents who have to homeschool because their kids are bullied, but many do it for different reasons. They should be monitored and very very few households are able to provide a level of education past third or fourth grade, 6th grade being generous.

Monk06

(7,675 posts)
13. I'd like to see this used to ban all semi auto carbines in Canada. AR15s, M1 copies and
Sat Jun 7, 2014, 04:08 PM
Jun 2014

home schooling. The social isolation of homeschooling is a breeding ground for this kind of paranoid shit.
Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Man charged in Mounties' ...