Was Jeremy Joseph Christian A Bernie Sanders Or Jill Stein Supporter On Facebook?
After Jeremy Joseph Christian allegedly murdered two men and stabbed another while riding Portland public transport on Friday, the incident and his intentions behind it were immediately politicized. In the aftermath, the brutal act has been blamed on Jill Stein, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump alike.
On Tuesday, as the nation continued to react to Jeremy’s crime, left-leaning media outlets were still publishing articles about the Portland stabbing that linked the violence to the racial climate in “Trump’s America.” One piece from The Guardian linked Christian’s actions to two other racist attacks that took place over the Memorial Day weekend that got significantly less attention: the intentional running over of a member of the Quinault Indian Nation, who later died from the injuries, and a machete attack on a black man in Northern California. The headline: “Legitimized in Their Hatred: A Weekend of Violence in Trump’s America.”
In one of the first reports delving into Jeremy Joseph’s past, Willamette Week noted Jeremy had been spotted at multiple alt-right and “free speech” demonstrations in support of conservative speakers being shut down on American campuses. The author of the article, Corey Pein, had actually had actually come face-to-face with Christian himself several weeks prior, when he had witnessed the future attacker “chanting ‘n****r’, throwing fascist salutes [and] wearing an American Revolutionary War flag like a cape.” Before the march, the alleged attacker had published: “Shoot to kill POLICE if they ATTEMPT DISARM.”
It was far from the only call for violence that Jeremy Joseph ever posted to his Facebook. At other times, he spoke of wanting to kill both Trump and Clinton voters, as well as the Democratic candidate herself. Digging through Christian’s social media account, Pein uncovered several other posts expressing racist points of view against a variety of groups.
“If Donald Trump is the Next Hitler then I am joining his SS to put an end to Monotheist Question. All Zionist Jews, All Christians who do not follow Christ’s teaching of Love, Charity, and Forgiveness And All Jihadi Muslims are going to Madagascar or the Ovens/FEMA Camps!!! Does this make me a fascist!!!”
In between these diatribes, Jeremy also appears to have supported the candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein. While he did not always speak positively of Trump, Christian did state multiple times on his Facebook that he believed he should be the next president of the United States over Clinton, though he later admitted that he did not vote. In one such post professing his support for the Republican candidate, he ended it with a cry of “Feel the Bern!” His most spirited hatred seemed to be reserved for Clinton, noted Oregon Live.
Because of these reference to left-wing candidates, conservatives are hitting back at the narrative that Jeremy Christian was a Trump supporter, pointing to posts from his social media accounts linking him to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
The murderer wanted Stein’s America. Good thing he didn’t get it. pic.twitter.com/VyXvCIF82n
— Baked Alaska™ (@bakedalaska) May 28, 2017
It’s notable that even before Jeremy committed his crime, he did not find widespread support among Trump supporters. Reporter Mike Cernovich noted that he had been thrown out of a free speech rally last month.
Portland killer Jeremy Christian was kicked out of free speech event by Trump supporters, he was false flagger. https://t.co/isnrluz4uG
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 27, 2017
Some critics of the theory that Jeremy was a legitimate Bernie or Jill supporter have pointed to the blowout over WikiLeaks revelations where the Democratic National Committee (DNC) appeared to engage in behavior that benefited Hillary Clinton’s presidential run over that of Sanders. As the controversy rocked the Clinton campaign, many Trump supporters were quick to present it as evidence of the Democratic candidate’s proclivity for corruption. Christian does, however, seem to have lined up behind Sanders long before these revelations.
It’s difficult to say where exactly Jeremy Joseph Christian stood on the political spectrum. Both his posts and behavior are highly erratic, particularly during the time leading up to the attack itself. His suggested struggle with mental illness aside, it’s also not wholly unbelievable that someone may have at one point or another supported all three of these candidates during the tumultuous 2016 presidential election. From his Facebook, it’s clear he approved of key aspects of all three candidates’ platforms at least on occasion and repudiated them entirely on others.
His nihilistic approach to life, illustrated in controversial behavior at free speech rallies, makes it nearly impossible to separate his true beliefs from his trolling. Among the other people that Jeremy typed out his support for was Oklahoma City bomber and “TRUE PATRIOT” Timothy McVeigh. He also frequently made anti-Semitic comments despite the fact that Bernie Sanders himself is of Jewish descent. As Christian posted earlier this year in January, “The only concrete political view True Nihilist should hold is to repeat the mantra ‘I Don’t Care’, over and over again. Ad Infinitum-Ad Naseum.” From the flood of political posts on his Facebook, it seems that he did not adhere to this statement either.
https://youtu.be/0ufb0fFx6iI
What do you think about Jeremy Joseph Christian being associated with Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein or Donald Trump?
[Featured Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
