Anyone watching 20/20?

[bab]

They are telling the story of that crazy fuck shooter from VA. What a piece of shit!!!!

[sailorgray]

Yes

[sailorgray]

My H was a TV camerman which has made him really interested in this story. It's so heartbreaking.

[bab]

This story is just so upsetting

[sailorgray]

That guy was crazy. He accused Alison of being racist bc she said her friend lived on Cotton Hill Rd., an actual street in their town. Another ime he saw a watermelon left on a cooler in a random hall and he considered that racist. Baffling. How about his fridge with selfies?

[sporklemotion]

Aug 28, 2015 23:25:47 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Aug 28, 2015 22:25:52 GMT -5 sailorgray said:

That guy was crazy. He accused Alison of being racist bc she said her friend lived on Cotton Hill Rd., an actual street in their town. Another ime he saw a watermelon left on a cooler in a random hall and he considered that racist. Baffling. How about his fridge with selfies?

Why is this baffling? How do you know that it's impossible that these were anything more than just innocent actions? If the climate of the office had been that that some of them told bad racist jokes and it frequently made him uncomfortable, then of course these examples he gave could have been overt examples of racism.

They could have been, but the way the story presented them, they were not aimed at the shooter or otherwise linked to race in any way.  They didn't give much context, but the story presented it as a case in which the shooter once heard Alison mention that she had a friend who lived on Cotton Hill Road.  Not that she was talking to him, not that she snickered or made comments about the race of people who lived there, etc. 

It's not impossible that these were racial slurs, and it's certainly not impossible that there was a racially intolerant atmosphere, but if these are the strongest examples, it's hard to see.

Thus could be media spin and CYA, but it seems more like a case of paranoid delusions.

[sailorgray]

Aug 28, 2015 23:25:47 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Aug 28, 2015 22:25:52 GMT -5 sailorgray said:

That guy was crazy. He accused Alison of being racist bc she said her friend lived on Cotton Hill Rd., an actual street in their town. Another ime he saw a watermelon left on a cooler in a random hall and he considered that racist. Baffling. How about his fridge with selfies?

Why is this baffling? How do you know that it's impossible that these were anything more than just innocent actions? If the climate of the office had been that that some of them told bad racist jokes and it frequently made him uncomfortable, then of course these examples he gave could have been overt examples of racism.

I was talking to someone on here who was also watching the show. I am pretty sure that most people watching 20/20 would have been like WTH.  There were lots of examples where the shooter proved to be unstable and, as reported, a "professional victim." One thing that i had wondered was what had happened that he considered Alison racist. To learn that it was because he overheard her telling someone else where her friend lived was the baffling part.  There were several people saying that he would easily go off the handle (obviously), get in people's faces, etc. for minor things. 

A portion of the show was also spent talking about background checks and how former employers are worried about being sued, so they never say negative info about potential employers. Some think this could have been prevented had past employers spoken up about the mentality of the shooter.