While the details and facts surrounding the reported shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) continue to shift, the establishment media’s dangerous but easily predictable narrative is already in full swing. In essence, it goes like this: Anyone and everyone who harbors “anti-government” views, expresses opposition to what global leaders refer to as the “New World Order,” or advocates for honest money, is a potential terrorist in waiting. The demonization of vast swaths of the American public is now accelerating, but in the process, the establishment press is exposing itself as clueless, out-of-touch, or deliberately deceptive at worst.
Originally, the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Paul Ciancia, was reported to be an off-duty Transportation Security Administration agent by CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, and other media outlets, all of which cited supposed “federal law enforcement” sources. Witnesses told local media outlets that the shooter was dressed in a TSA outfit, too. Within hours, though, “unnamed federal law enforcement” sources started claiming that the suspect was actually an unemployed motorcycle mechanic who despised the TSA and was generally “anti-government.”
At least one government employee with the TSA was reported killed, and several people were said to have been injured, before the alleged shooter was shot multiple times and wounded by police. A few media reports also claimed the suspected shooter asked people at the airport whether they were TSA to help identify his targets. However, the purpose of doing something like that was not immediately clear — especially since the agency’s employees wear uniforms and would be easy to identify. The suspect is reportedly in custody at a hospital and unable to speak with officials owing to gunshot wounds.
Based on a supposed “note” the alleged shooter was carrying, though, he now appears to have been almost the perfect caricature of the lunatic, anti-government killer that the media and certain federal bureaucracies have desperately been seeking after every tragedy. The supposed document, if it exists, has not been released for reasons that are not entirely clear. However, based on anonymous “sources” cited by the press, a picture is emerging of the alleged “manifesto” suggesting that Ciancia — like the vast majority of Americans — was deeply upset about government and political developments.
According to various media reports, the supposed note decried the Department of Homeland Security, “fiat money,” the privately owned Federal Reserve, the “NWO,” and more. The suspect also reportedly wrote that he wanted to kill TSA agents and “pigs” — a dehumanizing term used by some anti-law enforcement types, usually young leftists, to belittle police officers by comparing them to swine. Some press accounts have also suggested that the supposed note contained “homophobic” and racist remarks, though others said he specifically vowed to kill government employees of any race. Ciancia, whose family reportedly said he may have been suicidal, also allegedly described himself as a “pissed-off patriot” in the note.
Without having seen the document, certain statist “media” outlets are already irresponsibly invoking the names of alternative-media barons Alex Jones and Glenn Beck, attempting to associate them with the alleged deranged killer. Indirectly, the press has also been insinuating that suspicion of lawless government, the national outcry surrounding routine TSA violations of the Fourth Amendment, and opposition to tyranny could all be indicators of potential terrorism — a longtime narrative peddled by certain federal bureaucracies and fringe non-profits with deep ties to Washington.
Another agenda that has become apparent in the establishment-press narrative so far includes a push to resurrect the Obama administration’s attacks on the Second Amendment. Claiming that the shooting revived a “debate” on gun control, countless media reports have been subtly suggesting that if only Americans would submit to more infringements on their rights, everybody would be safer. Separately, numerous media outlets and officials have hinted that there may be an upcoming effort to arm TSA agents, though opposition to such a scheme remains almost as stiff as resistance to more gun control.
According to the largely discredited Southern Poverty Law Center, a group cited by a deranged would-be mass-murderer who tried to gun down staff at the conservative-leaning Family Research Council last year, a “knowledgeable source with ranking law enforcement contacts” gave them the inside scoop about the suspect’s alleged note. The virulently statist, anti-Christian extremist group claimed its “source” revealed that Ciancia’s supposed screed also referred to former Homeland Security boss Janet Napolitano as a “bull dyke.”
“Ciancia’s language and references seemed to put him squarely in the conspiracy-minded world of the antigovernment ‘Patriot’ movement,” claimed the SPLC’s Mark Potok, referring to one of his outfit’s favorite boogeymen, including such dangerous groups as the Granny Warriors. “Hatewatch has no records of Ciancia and he is not known to have joined or participated in the activities of any radical groups. Reporters talking to his neighbors have not yet found any evidence of such participation or radical statements.”
The outfit’s “Hatewatch” blog post — like most of the press reports that have mentioned the term — goes on to claim, falsely, that “New World Order” refers to a “longstanding conspiracy theory.” In reality, the term does not refer to either a conspiracy or a theory, but to a phrase used regularly by top American officials and other global leaders. President George H.W. Bush, for example, used the term on multiple occasions to describe a world order in which an empowered United Nations would reign supreme (video here). President Clinton used it, too (video here), praising the idea. Even the media use the term.
Most recently, the ruthless Communist regime ruling mainland China called for a “New World Order” last month through its propaganda organs. The dictatorship’s vision for the “New World Order,” as described in its “media” outlets, includes submission to “international law” by “all” nations. “Furthermore, the authority of the United Nations in handling global hotspot issues has to be recognized,” it continued, echoing recent calls by UN boss Ban Ki-moon and agreements signed by the regimes ruling over Brazil, China, Russia, India, and South Africa (the so-called BRICS). “That means no one has the right to wage any form of military action against others without a UN mandate.”
The error-riddled SPLC post goes on to claim that the “alleged conspiracy” is often traced to the 1913 creation of the privately owned Federal Reserve System, which granted a monopoly on the supply of dollars to a banking cartel. It was not immediately clear who allegedly believed that the “New World Order” “conspiracy theory” traced back to 1913. The post also points to “the adoption of fiat currency,” which the SPLC’s Potok, a self-styled expert on “conspiracy theories,” incorrectly defines as paper money that is not backed by gold. In reality, “fiat” currency simply refers to currency that has value by government decree rather than any inherently valuable attributes.
Based on virtually every media report that described the supposed contents of the alleged hand-written note carried by the suspect, the establishment press has also, presumably inadvertently, put its own ignorance — or deception — on full display for the world to see. Of course, the alleged screed, if it exists, has been blown wildly out of proportion. However, if the press is going to harp on the as-of-yet-unreleased note, it should at least be honest, rather than trying to play the American people for fools by claiming, for example, that the “New World Order” is a “conspiracy theory” instead of a term used regularly by world leaders and even the media for generations to describe their vision for the planet.
Meanwhile, it is a fact that unhinged people believe all sorts of things, and as The New American pointed out when the SPLC and Planned Parenthood were cited by the deranged shooter in Washington, D.C., last year, a killer’s actions can only be legitimately blamed on the individual who perpetrated the crime. To argue otherwise would be like claiming, for instance, that everyone who supports ObamaCare is a potential murderer ready to rain hellfire missiles down on civilians (including U.S. citizens) without due process just because Obama routinely does so. Obviously, that is ridiculous. It is just as absurd to deceptively try to associate everyday Americans with Ciancia simply because he may hold some popular beliefs or be aware of certain facts.
On top of that, the not-so-subtle bias displayed in countless articles about the LAX shooting has also revealed how out-of-touch the establishment media is from mainstream America. Recent polls show that more than two thirds of Americans all across the political spectrum say that the federal government is “out of control” — almost seven out of 10 people believe that to be the case, in fact. The press, however, is fiendishly trying to create the impression that the more than 210 million Americans who think the feds have gone wild may be on the verge of going berserk and killing innocent people. That, too, is patently ridiculous.
Instead of buying into the outrageous narrative peddled by establishment media outlets and discredited organizations like the SPLC, Americans should speak out against unconstitutional abuses even louder. Whenever an innocent life is taken, that is a tragedy. However, trying to exploit tragedies to demonize millions of Americans or convince them to give up their rights is a travesty, too. It should not be tolerated by anyone who believes in personal responsibility — much less the liberty-minded people of the United States.
Photo of police at the scene of the alleged shooting at Los Angeles International Airport: AP Images
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, politics, and more. He can be reached at [email protected].
Related articles:
Impeachment Support Soars as Voters Say Feds “Out of Control”
After D.C. Shooting, SPLC, Planned Parenthood, and the Feds Under Fire
With Dollar Demise in Focus, Beijing Pushes “New World Order”
Terror War Expanding, Shifting to the Right
Profiling and Criminalizing Political Dissent
Real or Imagined? A Critical Review of the SPLC’s List of Conspiracies
Protecting Rights: Loyal Americans Targeted by the SPLC
Justice Dept. Memo Argues Killing Americans Overseas is Justified
