On Saturday, a gunman killed eight people in a mall shooting in Allen, Texas. In the aftermath, police said the alleged gunman, who died in the shooting, expressed neo-Nazi and far-right views online.
Influencers on the right immediately tried to cast aspersion on those claims, given the gunman, Mauricio Garcia, appeared to be of Latino descent.
However, reviews of the shooter’s social media, including on an obscure Russian platform, appear to confirm police reporting, and show tattoos on the gunman that include a swastika and lightning bolts that are a reference to the SS, Adolf Hitler’s secret police in Nazi Germany.
A YouTube channel that the profile linked to also included an emoji that had been altered to include Hitler’s signature haircut and mustache. The image in the YouTube video matches the avatar in the social media profile, and the title of the YouTube video references the gunman’s name.
The profile on the Russian site appears to have been first identified by the New York Times, which noted that the profile birth date matched that of the gunman and referenced a motel that he had reportedly been staying at.
On the account, it appears that the gunman monitored the mall where he committed the attack, including a post that showed a Google result that monitored peak times at the mall.
Police said that the killer wore a patch that included the phrase “Right Wing Death Squad,” a phrase popular among the Proud Boys and other white supremacy movements. It’s a reference to the fascist government of Augusto Pinochet, another popular leader in the far-right.
Images on the channel unearthed by Bellingcat’s Aric Toler show a tacticle vest with the patch, as well as two patches that included Punisher logos, a symbol right-wing movements have adopted.
Posts on the channel also include images of people in Nazi outfits with the caption “my kind of people.”
One post referenced the popular right-wing influencer Libs of TikTok and discussed a “PC” (politically correct) teacher at his school who he claimed to have trolled by saying “Heil” and “white power” while wearing a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) uniform.
Although the right has attempted to use the disconnect between someone being of Latino descent and supporting white supremacy, posts on the profile appear to address that at well, including a meme that said “Latino children” could either “act black” or “become a white supremacist.”
“It’s funny because it’s true,” the caption on the meme reads. “I think I’ll take my chances with the white supremacist.”
