In his outstanding book, “Columbine,” journalist Dave Cullen showed “how legends become truths through continual citation.” A similar dynamic appears to be at work in the wake of Elliot Rodger’s brutal murder of six people Friday night in Isla Vista, Calif.
Myth: Rodger’s killing spree was motivated exclusively by his desire to harm women.
https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/470384133206966272
https://twitter.com/feministabulous/status/470418540906807296
Sta Barbara shooting was hate crime vs women; @feministabulous explains how misogyny endangers everyone http://t.co/tFmuOSggbo #YesAllWomen
— Indira Lakshmanan (@Indira_L) May 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/Dissoluted/status/470470695902670848
Related myth: All six of the people killed by Rodger were female.
https://twitter.com/tinarina24/status/470402453633265664
https://twitter.com/MonicaFoster/status/470496974542602240
https://twitter.com/stfukailey/status/470348223731617792
https://twitter.com/marinapuke/status/470464874410037248
https://twitter.com/Kayyydoll/status/470334315016884224
Santa Barbara Shooter Elliot Rodger Killed 6 Sorority Girls In Massacre — Video http://t.co/Fh8vLRnE6i
— yenaldlooshi (@Yenaldlooshi) May 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/arialeaaa/status/470331709737562112
https://twitter.com/tierneymichele/status/470424576498102272
22 year old virgin kills 6 sorority girls bc he was upset he couldn't get any
— lemon (@lemonposting) May 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/crisecardiaques/status/470264410976428032
wait Elliot Rodger killed six sorority girls because he was a virgin and made creepy YouTube videos in his BMW listening to Cyndi Lauper wow
— ernest baker (@ernestbaker) May 24, 2014
https://twitter.com/lilbritnuggs/status/470245793861881856
Fact: Rodger was an ultra-misogynist, but he also detested men, including his roommates and even his younger brother. Four of the six people he killed were male:
- three yet-to-be-named men stabbed to death in Rodger’s apartment,
- two sorority sisters (Veronika Weiss and Katie Cooper) shot and killed, and
- one male clerk (Christopher Michael-Martinez) shot and killed at deli.
Rodger said he hated, and promised to kill, all sexually-active men. His issue wasn't misogyny. It was far broader than that. #YesAllWomen
— Sampson (@jonathansampson) May 25, 2014
Some say Rodger hated men only insofar as they presented competition for affection from women:
Elliot Rodger only hated other men because he saw them as competition unworthy of having sex with women he believed he was entitled to.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 25, 2014
That theory, however, doesn’t explain Rodger’s utter contempt for his “geeky” male roommates, who likely were among those murdered in Rodger’s apartment.
* * *
Myth: Rodger used a gun to kill all of his victims.
https://twitter.com/jmags_/status/470440695078326272
Wtf at that guy who shot 6 girls cause he felt lonely
— ヒロ (@JConcepcion7) May 25, 2014
https://twitter.com/elsie4b/status/470421478681636865
https://twitter.com/midlifecriSOS/status/470419741237338112
https://twitter.com/s_arahmoore/status/470414257340026880
https://twitter.com/MitchyRounds/status/470252098831933442
Disgusted to hear that a man shot 6 people largely because he was "friendzoned". This mentality is a danger to women's lives! #YesAllWomen
— Levifold (@Levifold29) May 25, 2014
Elliott Rodger, son of Assistant director of the Hunger Games shot and killed 6 and then presumably shot himself. http://t.co/Kiw3gFBJ7L
— PATRICIA (@defnotpatt) May 24, 2014
Fact: Rodger stabbed to death half of his six murder victims.
https://twitter.com/jrsalzman/status/470409362910216192
* * *
Myth: Rodger was politically conservative.
https://twitter.com/BRios82/status/470464121972854784
https://twitter.com/Charchita/status/470217746555228160
Elliot Rodger was close to the entire rightwing package. – quickhits: A whiny one percenter with a massive… http://t.co/DgmKzpd63Y
— The Last Surviving WWI Tanker (@AnCom_Dave) May 24, 2014
Fact: Rodger subscribed to The Young Turks, a liberal YouTube channel. Imagine the outcry from the Left if Rodger had been a fan of Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck.
[Update]
Curiously, some Twitter users are claiming that Rodger was white:
https://twitter.com/feministabulous/status/470402764737351681
https://twitter.com/mashrodionova/status/470517984113737728
https://twitter.com/endless__sea/status/470448835463217152
https://twitter.com/Official_Lov/status/470388008726691840
https://twitter.com/Sttbs73/status/470373100430032896
Elliot Rodger was straight, white, male, and wealthy…at the top of the class system and you're mad because certain women don't want you?
— Girl… I am GROWN. (@dykecon) May 24, 2014
If Elliot Rodger was a brown-skinned Muslim, his actions would be described as terrorism. But he's a white misogynist, so he's a loner.
— Chris Nicholson (@EraseThisTweet) May 24, 2014
Rodger was in fact half white, half Chinese descent.
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