“But Thomas Matthew Crooks and Ryan Routh … represent an evolution in these kinds of attackers. Nothing in their backgrounds turned up consistent themes about their political beliefs. Neither left behind a manifesto or seemed to have connections to any group or movement. They more fit the loner, misfit stereotype of a school shooter than ingrained assumptions about political assassins.” It’s an interesting conversation about how historical political assassins acquired a cause first and then decided to act on it, but modern shooters acquire the anger and the social isolation first, decide they’re going to hurt someone, and then go shopping for the cause. At 17:50 he says that he’s come to expect manifestos from people like school shooters, but Crooks was notable because he had NOTHING. And then with a surprising amount of sympathy and sadness he says “and I think that that guy was just SO far down in the dark.” https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2024/09/the-modern-political-assassin/680029/