Now that we know the identity of the mail-bomber who has been targeting prominent leftists, the question being asked by segments of society is whether he is a white supremacist who has been radicalized by President Donald Trump.
Fifty-six-year-old Cesar Sayoc, arrested by federal law enforcement, was born in Brooklyn and is the son of a Filipino immigrant. He has also claimed affiliation with the Native American Seminoles tribe, though the tribe disavows him. Therefore, with a high degree of certainty, we can rule out the possibility that he is a white supremacist.
But was he radicalized by Trump’s “message of hate”?
Scott Adams Nails It
Trump supporter and creator of the Dilbert comic, Scott Adams, predicted the political affiliation of the mail bomber, in an insight that should prove useful in our assessment.
Several days before Sayoc was caught, Adams said he rejected the hypothesis that the bombings were part of a false flag operation or the hoax of an angry Democrat. He reasoned that those targeted were people or organizations that had engaged in hateful rhetoric against Trump or his supporters. The bomber did not, for instance, send a bomb to Bernie Sanders or Nancy Pelosi. These two veteran politicians and Trump opponents have vehemently criticized the president on various issues but have generally played by the book and not tried to demonize their political opponents or engage in fake news.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”24″]Sayoc does appear to have been radicalized by hateful rhetoric – but by Democrats, not Trump.[/perfectpullquote]
All the people on the bomber’s list were inciters of hate and had attacked traditional American values. Adams said that the target list implied a disgruntled Republican. He also reasoned that the bomber had a low-IQ and was poorly educated, due to spelling errors and an amateurish execution, plus a failure to realize that sending bombs just before the midterm election would reflect poorly on Trump. Adams therefore predicted the bomber would turn out to be a disgruntled low-status Republican male in his 50s. He nailed it. Although identified as a “nice guy” by a coworker, Sayoc apparently worked in the seedy world of male exotic dancing, with a history of low-paid and dangerous jobs. He has a long criminal record and even made a bomb threat as early as 2002. Perhaps seeing a path of economic hope, he registered to vote for the first time in 2016.
It is worth mentioning that the bombs may not have been designed to detonate. Experts describe most of the devices as defunct, and further investigation is needed to determine whether the whole episode was merely a vicious practical joke meant to terrorize, or if the bombs were real and the intention was to kill.
Half Right
The legacy media only got it half right. Sayoc does appear to have been radicalized by hateful rhetoric – but by Democrats, not Trump. Newsflash: If you demonize a large portion of the population as “deplorables” and call for ostracism and attacks against them, then chances are that an unstable person unable to cope psychologically with such conflict will probably do something stupid and dangerous.
The media can therefore contribute to peace by making sure the overarching national story is one of political tolerance and unity. They have chosen to do the opposite.
Republicans seem to have come through this debacle relatively unscathed. The president and his party unanimously condemned the mail-bomber’s actions, showing that they were able to rise above political squabbles and be adults when it counts. Can Democrats do the same?
