In the vast majority of mass shootings, the perpetrator is autistic. While it hasn’t been confirmed in this case, the shooter was trans, and I’ve found a strong connection between autism and transgenderism. The main reason is that autistic people are relentlessly bullied and marginalized. They don’t have friends and are treated like a monster where ever they go. They are rejected and isolated. So when an authority figure comes along and says, “Your problem is your gender. The solution is simple: just switch. You’ll get lots of attention and care from professionals, and when you are in your new body, people will like you. You’ll be popular and get dates.” They jump at the chance. That’s likely what happened in this case.
The promises never came true, and after a few years he realized it was all a lie. He was betrayed by the people he trusted, he got very depressed and angry. He blamed the world for destroying his life. (If he had sex change medications or surgery, he would be even more aggrieved, but this has not been reported.) Other than his ‘safe’ acquaintances, people still treated him like a 3 headed monster. And when people treat you like a monster, you start to act like one. He was reported to give “Heil Hitler” salutes in elementary school. This kind of acting out will only worsen if the core issue isn’t addressed: autism and the resulting lack of social skills and accumulation of bad habits that alienate others.
I don’t know if he did any autism programs or treatments, but they all worsen the problem. For example, they teach, “There is something different about your brain, and you will never have normal peer relationships. But we can teach you some simple tricks to help you appear more normal” – which of course only stigmatize them more. “The world will be cruel to you, but they’re unenlightened goons. Don’t let it get to you.” And, “Not everyone will like you – that’s true for everyone.” Or they scold, “What is your proof that anyone is insulting you?” This is of course cruel gaslighting that inevitably leads the person to ‘snap’.
I’ve encountered many such people online on reddit in the various autism and trans subs. They are crying out for help and companionship. I offer to talk to them and be their friend, but they universally reject me: “Nevermind, I’m feeling better now” or “You sound like a creep”. They are often happy to type with me for hours and days on end. There is a tiny chance of a voice call. But never will they do a video call or god forbid – meet me. As a result, I was unable to diagnose or treat their social deficits. The best I could do was to encourage them to practice eye contact with someone they trust. (They would usually say their eye contact was fine, but of course it was denial, a common trait of the autistic.)
So nothing works and all the frustration and humiliation comes to a head, and they act out and go on a shooting spree (school, church, walmart, etc). It’s part revenge for all the abuse and alienation they’ve endured. But the more important component is that when people treat you like an ugly, repulsive monster, you start to act like one. The reason for that is subtle but also perfectly comprehensible if you soften your heart for just a moment to let the truth sink in: it’s better to be despised for an act like killing children than for being a monster. In other words, these outbursts are an unconscious, automatic defense mechanism to protect the brain from having to accept that they are physically repulsive.
All the extremist ideologies the autistic kids spew in their manifestos: racism, sexism, misogyny, antisemitism, etc. – they are just artificial, fabricated pretexts to make people hate them. They are deflections from the truth: “I am instantly identified as weird and repulsive. I’d rather it be for my beliefs than my appearance.” This is not conscious intellection. This is simply a universal psychological defense mechanism. And it’s the most important (and most underappreciated) human psychological dynamic. Again, if you soften your heart for just a moment, you can begin to recognize the obvious motivation of these incomprehensible atrocities.
- But autism is not an excuse for killing children!
- Most autistic people are gentle and your words will incite a genocide against them!
- Autistic people can’t do eye contact! You’re ableist!
Stop hyperventilating. It’s not healthy.
Obscene Hypocrisy
Many will weep for the poor, dead children and demand gun control to prevent such attacks. However, a European style assault weapons ban will cost trillions of dollars and require a police state and will eventually lead to a civil war costing millions of lives. Instead, the solution is just to stop bullying autistic and trans kids. Then they won’t feel so rejected and angry. The main problem is that bullying such outcasts is a deeply entrenched, automatic and universal instinct, and operates at both the individual and group level.

Even people who claim to be allies are guilty. For example, they may be overly friendly and sensitive to the autistic person, but it’s really fake, and when others see this display, they laugh with contempt. (This unconscious but pervasive conspiracy to insult and humiliate autistic people is the second most important, and underappreciated, trait of human nature, and is responsible for the majority of mental illness, drug addiction and crime in our society.)
The solution to mass shootings is simply to stop bullying autistic people and leave them alone. Better yet, if you really care about kids like you claim, then be their friend. I found many autistic people online (on reddit) crying out of frustration and loneliness, on the verge of suicide. I offer to be their friend, but they universally reject me. (Autistic people reject their kind because they are loathe to see their own cringy traits in others.)
So instead I found needy people online begging for help (disabled, homeless, mentally ill, drug addicts, etc) and offered them $20 for a half hour video call. That population was far more responsive to my overtures. Amazingly, I found that these people were either autistic themselves, or had close family that were. I concluded that most of the severe cases of poverty in this country were the indirect result of autism. More specifically, their poor social skills prevent them from making friends, getting jobs, and finding housing.
However, most needy people are in denial of their skills deficits and blame ‘capitalism’ or ‘racism’ or ‘xtians’ for their misfortune. They are generally able to get just enough charity and public benefits to survive and keep people like me at arms-length. I am effectively their slave, funding their lifestyle and medical care through taxes. Working people are their slaves, as they are to old people on social security and medicare.
The solution to mass shootings is simple: instead of a war on guns, just be nice to autistic and trans people. Be their friend. Hang out with them. Teach them social skills. This blog will give you lots of ideas. It’s actually easy and fun. And it’s completely free.
The truth is, the people who advocate gun control know all this. Autistic kids kill a few dozen each year. And yes that’s awful. But to prevent that, we rally to launch witch hunts against autistic people (e.g. “March for Our Lives”) and a war on owners of automatic rifles, which will kill millions. Why? Because war is fun and making fun of autistic people is our national pastime. Everyone’s a total hypocrite.