The YouTube shooting on Tuesday in San Bruno, Calif., that wounded four people before the shooter turned the gun on themselves, while tragic, is a classic case of lies traveling halfway around the world before the truth can put its shoes on.
There was wide speculation all over the Internet, which, in times of crisis, is often the worst place to get accurate information. Some suggested the shooter was a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf to immediately connect the shooting to radical Islamic terrorism.
“White woman” shoots “boyfriend” at YouTube Headquarters
Just turned into “Iranian Muslim Vegan bizarro vlogger activist” engaged in mass shooting-
Real fast
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) April 4, 2018
Youtube HQ shooter is believed to be a woman wearing a “head scarf”, per multiple sources
— Jacob Wohl (@JacobAWohl) April 3, 2018
Others speculated that supporters of the National Rifle Association were behind the attack given they recently began censoring video content that featured firearms.
In light of the shooting in San Bruno at YouTube, will the @NRA apologize for this disgusting tweet in which it calls on its members to “rise up” against the company’s decision to take down how-to gun videos? https://t.co/5RgvFf02wT
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) April 3, 2018
Some thought it was a case of domestic violence that spilled over into the workplace.
Shooting at YouTube, presumed to be a tale of a scorned lover. I’m assuming since California has the strictest gun laws in the union, leftists will instead be marching for the government to regulate their dating lives.
Oh, and abusive relationships will be the fault of the @NRA.— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 3, 2018
Turns out, none of these narratives are true. The suspected shooter was identified by police as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, a 39-year-old Baha’i Iranian American woman from San Diego, who alleged YouTube “discriminated and filtered” her over videos she posted that focused on veganism and animal rights. She didn’t carry out her attack because of a domestic dispute and she certainly wasn’t there to “rise up” against gun censorship.
Aghdam allegedly protested against animal testing with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Contrary to what was said about her being a Muslim, Aghdam was actually a practicing Baha’i, a Persian minority religion where its adherents have been persecuted and marginalized by the Iranian regime.
When the media talks about mentally disturbed individuals carrying out attacks such as these, our minds go directly to a white male who couldn’t get his life together and decided that taking out his frustration on a group of innocent civilians would give him purpose in life. In reality, however, Aghdam represents a more complicated picture of what being mentally disturbed looks like and, if anything, raises questions on how she managed to get her hands on a semi-automatic weapon in a state with very strict gun laws.
Social media has become a dumpster fire for playing up false narratives and blaming the other side for mass shootings and other acts of violence when the facts aren’t out yet. It’s important to always speak the truth, even if it’s damaging to your own side.
