As Twitchy told you, recently, Alt-Right, white nationalist provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos wrote in a text message to the Observer:
“I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight.”
Following today’s deadly shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, many on the Left are citing that message as evidence that the shooter was an admirer of Yiannopoulos:
https://twitter.com/SNFaizalKhamisa/status/1012422866673938432
Horrific.
Just two days after Milo Yiannopoulos called for “vigilante squads” to shoot journalists. https://t.co/sQiyoP6Ql2
— Joshua Holland ? (@JoshuaHol) June 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/1012429823103459332
This was two days ago. https://t.co/vQiYi0bKys
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) June 28, 2018
Milo Yiannopoulos said reporters should be 'gunned down on sight' shortly before Annapolis newsroom shooting https://t.co/988fYiMbNn
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 28, 2018
The shooter is reportedly in custody but the motive is still unclear at this time. For what it’s worth, Yiannopoulos himself has weighed in on it — with his characteristic sensitivity:
#BREAKING: Milo Yiannopoulos, who yesterday called for “vigilante squads” to kill journalists, responds to today’s mass shooting at a newspaper office in Maryland pic.twitter.com/OXCvanKR6s
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) June 28, 2018
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Milo Yiannopoulos says Daily Beast, New York Observer took “joke” about shooting journalists out of context: "I made a private, offhand troll to two hostile reporters, who breathlessly publicized it.” https://t.co/PQlEAHuLNJ
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) June 28, 2018
Until we know the shooter’s motives, it’s premature to blame Yiannopoulos — or anyone, of any political persuasion — for what happened. Milo’s demented “joke” may very well have had zero influence on the shooter. But Yiannopoulos getting out in front of things by pinning it on the Daily Beast or the Observer is decidedly not helpful. None of this crap is helpful. For anyone.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional text.