(June 19, 2015 at 11:53 am)Dystopia Wrote:(June 18, 2015 at 7:09 am)Brian37 Wrote: I am not ready to call this a racist act. I'd have to know if this murderer said anything while shooting. But it could be simply a mentally disturbed individual just like the Newton shooter. If it was racist you could certainly say outside influences lead that sick fuck to that target, but I'd say mental illness regardless is going to come into play.
Even with that theater shooter, I don't like the legal standard of not guilty by reason of mental defect. I think outside a courtroom in psychology, you can know right from wrong, and be mentally ill at the same time. I think you can be guilty and mentally ill at the same time.
I think even with cases of religious violence, you are still talking about delusion and disenfranchisement combined to create acts of desperation.
This is most certainly racially motivated - It's all over the news, the guy was known for making racist comments and had pictures with white supremacist signs.
I don't think being a bigot qualifies as mental illness. If I beat my girlfriend because I'm sexist can I claim I'm mentally ill just because I'm an idiot?
Correction - The more mentally ill you are, the less guilty. Someone who is fully mentally ill and has no way of reasoning what they're doing is not guilty. They belong in a proper medical facility, not prison. Prison is for those who can be rehabilitated.
Brian posted this almost as soon as the news broke. At the time, no one knew the shooter's motivations.
