By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI said Tuesday it’s launching a domestic terrorism investigation into the July 28 mass shooting in Gilroy, Calif., because authorities uncovered evidence that he was influenced by “violent ideologies.”
Investigators uncovered evidence that 19-year-old gunman, Santino William Legan, had a “target list” of political organizations, religious institutions, federal buildings, and courthouse, the FBI said at a news conference Tuesday.
Three people were killed and 13 others were injured in the shooting. Legan turned the gun on himself.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive and are trying to determine whether his “fractured ideologies” played a role in the shooting, said John F. Bennett, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office.
The FBI did not reveal the specifics on the list.
About an hour before he opened fire with a AK-47-style rifle, Legan posted about a white supremacist manifesto on Instagram. He encouraged his Instagram followers to read, “Might Is Right or the Survival of the Fittest,” a fringe book that describes black and Jewish people as inferior and advocates for women as property.
The FBI also opened a domestic terrorism investigation into the gunman who killed 22 people at an El Paso Walmart. The 21-year-old suspect is accused of writing an online manifesto about his hatred for immigrants.
In late July, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate committee that white supremacy is behind an increase in domestic terrorism cases this fiscal year.
