TX - Austin Package Bombs #3

[arkansasmimi]

Not long after he detonated himself, his family said in a statement that they were praying for the families who lost family members and those who'd been impacted in any way, and the soul of their son. I figured they meant family members who'd lost a loved one, and victims who'd survived, but had been hospitalized from opening the bombs.

The large majority of folks aren't very good at public speaking, or writing public statements, in the first place (That's why there are political speechwriters). I think they tried, but no matter what they said, it wouldn't be the right words. They're his parents, they will automatically be under scrutiny. However, this was a 23 y/o adult male, living on his own, who made the decision, to build bombs, commit murder, and terrorize his community. He knew what he was doing. It's all on him, unless, of course, we find that he had a buddy.

I am still awaiting news about the roommates.

 

[arkansasmimi]

From today's Austin Stateman-

Austin Police are saying one of MAC's roomates is a person of interest and has been called back in for questioning.
I'm guessing this is the one kept overnight earlier. The other one was just questioned earlier but not detained.

There's also mention that the police will probably release the confession when the investigation is concluded.

They interviewed a homeschooled friend of Conditt who sounded like Conditt has some earlier issues. Friend
thought he had turned a corner and was stable now. ??

I stilll think his father's statement to the neighbor about buying/fixing up the house w/ his son, was him trying to
"bond" with his son. I still believe there were some issues there.

One of the roommates was into computers too. Read that anyways.

 

[BooBooTheFool]

:goodpost:

I agree. Much of what turns these people into cold hearted killers comes from their backgrounds, the environment in which they were raised. Something that causes them to become inoculated against the feelings of "other" people who are outside their special group. That feeling of superiority over others isn't something they're born with. People are taught to hate.

It's long past time for our society to come to grips with this problem. We're seeing too many of these violent, senseless crimes being committed by young people from "good" families, who have had every advantage.

This column may shed some light on the discussion

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/mark-conditt-austin-bomber-blog/

Thankyou for linking me to that article! It's very much on the wavelength I was on with this (I was raised and live in Oklahoma so I can relate to the city being a dot of blue in a sea of red) bomber and with the way Austin is "set up" because my cousin works as a public servant there w/ at risk or disadvantaged youth and she says it's just like here (invisible segregation brought on by policy), despite it's liberal air.

 

[HMSHood]

and with the next Elliot Rogers what can a parent or community do to help him?

That is a very good question. Elliot Rodger had a history of harassing people.

 

[HMSHood]

We are all speculating amongst ourselves as to why Mark felt such an angry desire to slaughter people he seemed to not know personally.

But until the APD releases Mark’s video diatribe, or some insiders come forward, I’m of the opinion that this kid suffered from from a host of social disabilities and wasn’t a psychopath. And that Mark didn’t have normal medical intervention and help like most kids get by being in public schools and not in an insular society.

I rewatched Elliot Rodger’s YouTube lamentations last night. I bet there are similarities with Elliot and Mark. And Mark had the added crutch of being so isolated and fed a bunch of beliefs which may have made him feel totally worthless and unredeemable.

There will be lessons to be learned.

I read Elliot Rodger's manifesto and he has an extreme entitlement mentality mixed with pathological envy.

Mark Conditt shows sign of envy. The victims he targeted were successful and he felt like a failure.

 

[rsd1200]

I read Elliot Rodger's manifesto and he has an extreme entitlement mentality mixed with pathological envy.

Mark Conditt shows sign of envy. The victims he targeted were successful and he felt like a failure.

I wondered about that.

Draylen Mason had it all together, talented, going off to college, had a bright future.

Stephan House, was a husband, father, preparing to start a mentoring program, and was Sr. Project Mgr. at Texas Quarries.

Esperanza Herrera (unsure if pkg was placed at right address) was well liked in her community, dedicated to caring for her 93 y/o mother who needed assistance, and seemed to be just an all around good person. Her family noted that her name, in Spanish, means "Hope", and they are hoping for Grandma Hope's full recovery. She has a long road to recovery, and is still fragile, according to the link below.

William Grote III, had just left his father's home on Dawn Song Drive. The bomb was placed about 100 yds from the father's home. His father seems to be very successful in the tech world, and is an admin in the Texas Dept. of Ag. I wonder if WGIII biked through there about the same time every night?

Colton Mathis. The news has been fairly silent about CM.

One of the last packages, that was sent via FedEx, was addressed to a young woman, at her work address. She attends the same community college as MAC did, but did not attend during the same years that he attended. She did not know him, and no one at her workplace (Spa) recalled him ever frequenting the business.

Would hurting Will Grote III be a way to hurt his family? I don't know what Colton Mathis, nor Grote III, did for a living, where they graduated, etc... although I may have missed it along the way, I've not really seen much about either of them, in the media.


I'd just read of EH's injuries, earlier tonight.
https://heavy.com/news/2018/03/esperanza-hope-herrera--help/

Spa Employee was to be recipient of FedEx bomb
https://www.statesman.com/news/loca...loyee-worker-mom-says/Ow90lvM3xRhFdJkbF2ScOI/

 

[mpnola]

Agree to disagree, social disorders vs psychopath is where we are; I don't think he was a psychopath. i think he was having social difficulties and failing to adapt to adult life. if he were in public schools, it probably would've been caught by teachers but he was home schooled in an echo chamber.
I just don't think he was something as remarkable as a psychopath, he may have wanted that label to martyr his failure of a life.

to most people who've never suffered with a mental illness; symptoms of ordinary, mundane mental illnesses can seem like sociopathy or psychopathy (especially when it comes to world view) to the uninitiated especially if they go untreated for long periods of time and are allowed to fester.

If public school catches all the bad people in the world and stops them from doing horrific things, then why are 99% of the people who do horrific things public school people? You are giving a whole lot of credit to an institution that does not have a good track record stopping problematic behavior. As a matter of fact, many shootings are actually done in the school by the people who attend there. So, why weren't they caught? It's not that simple. At all. To act like public school fixes things and homeschool creates problems. As a matter of fact, many times mental health professionals are involves and horrors STILL happen. But somehow, school is the miracle cure. Disagree greatly.

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[MzOpinion8d]

BBM

I was thinking about the Amish, when you posted about "othering" on your last post. I've only known of one really horrific murder, by an Amish man, at least where I'm at, and there are lots of them here, in parts of Ky. Mostly in the foothills. That man turned himself in to LE a few years after he committed the murder.

However, the Amish are the poster children for "othering". One cannot be LGBTQ and be Amish, they use corporal punishment, have insulated themselves from the outside world-liness, divorce is highly frowned upon and can be grounds for excommunication, and females must wear head coverings to denote their marital status (I think beards, or lack of, denote males status). Although pleasant, and cordial, to us English, we are the "others" to the Amish. They do have their own internal issues, as life in their community is not just some bucolic dream world, but they solve most among themselves.

The Amish, may not have issues with violence, in the same way as the "English", because they also have no electricity to constantly power hours of television, computers, and video game entertainment, either. They don't spend significant amounts of time, in front of these devices. Instead, because of their "othering", they must rely on a strong sense of community. Neighbors will give freely of their time to help one another, and kids work in the family business, doing apprenticeships, to learn a trade.

I don't know how many times, in interviews, after some horrific act, that I've heard the neighbors say, "Seemed like a nice guy, but, we didn't really know him . I spoke to him/her occasionally at the mailbox.". I don't think that it's about any views about firearms that the Amish own. If an Amish kid wanted to commit suicide, with their family's firearm, they could attempt to, just as easily as an English kid could. I think it's about the Amish's strong sense of community, and caring for one another. They have to, if their community is to survive. They know one another in their community, they eat together, worship together, and work together.

And cover up a good many crimes together, I suspect. They handle *everything* inside their communities.

 

[rsd1200]

And cover up a good many crimes together, I suspect. They handle *everything* inside their communities.

True. They do have their own type of "court". Most of what goes on in Amish country, goes on in any other community, but you don't usually see an Amish person blowing up the locals, and the only Amish school that I recall being attacked, was by a non-Amish man, who killed five little girls, in their one-room school house. That was my point, with "othering". They are pretty good at othering, yet they don't run amok and kill the English.

 

[BooBooTheFool]

If public school catches all the bad people in the world and stops them from doing horrific things, then why are 99% of the people who do horrific things public school people? You are giving a whole lot of credit to an institution that does not have a good track record stopping problematic behavior. As a matter of fact, many shootings are actually done in the school by the people who attend there. So, why weren't they caught? It's not that simple. At all. To act like public school fixes things and homeschool creates problems. As a matter of fact, many times mental health professionals are involves and horrors STILL happen. But somehow, school is the miracle cure. Disagree greatly.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I didn't say they catch all "the bad people" (I wouldn't even phrase anything "bad people" because I'm not that simplistic). What I'm saying is; someone not involved in his inner circle would've noticed things people in his inner circle didn't want to notice. Teachers spend so much time around kids, especially in grade school that someone would've noticed him having problems. Later on, in highschool has less chance of something being noticed and acted upon but in general his cloistered, insular social circle did him no favors.

I'm not even talking about home school vs public school (because I don't care; it's not relevant) even though I personally believe children need to be socialized with people from walks of life other than their own and have friends that aren't family or in their family's social circle. This insular, don't integrate with the outsiders because they're our enemies stuff with that particular branch of christian fundamentalism confuses kids.

No one is "acting like public school fixes things and homeschool creates problems" show me where I said any of that. I didn't even say "school is the miracle cure"; I said failure to adapt is the underlying problem and his background (christian fundamentalism, not home schooling) exacerbated whatever social disorders he had.

Just curious, have you read his blog posts he had to do for government class? He reeks of arrogance and cruelty. Probably just regurgitated whatever he'd been brainwashed to believe and unable to handle information that doesn't match what he was taught. <modsnip>; they literally cannot handle other world views.

His post about freeing a terrorist is very interesting.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

If public school catches all the bad people in the world and stops them from doing horrific things, then why are 99% of the people who do horrific things public school people? You are giving a whole lot of credit to an institution that does not have a good track record stopping problematic behavior. As a matter of fact, many shootings are actually done in the school by the people who attend there. So, why weren't they caught? It's not that simple. At all. To act like public school fixes things and homeschool creates problems. As a matter of fact, many times mental health professionals are involves and horrors STILL happen. But somehow, school is the miracle cure. Disagree greatly.

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Very good points. I'm not nessesarily damning homeschooling and praising public schooling. Sorry it came off that way.
It's really rigid fundimentalist homeschooling. That's the problem. Isolation, indoctrination, bible thumping cultivism.
I went to catholic, and public school. Catholic school sucked, it was no where near being christian. I refer to it as Hell.
I got bullied in public school too, still IMHO being that catholic school is supposedly christian makes it worse. At least public schools don't falsy claim to be christian. Where as religious schools, and these bible home schoolers do.

 

[jjenny]

I didn't say they catch all "the bad people" (I wouldn't even phrase anything "bad people" because I'm not that simplistic). What I'm saying is; someone not involved in his inner circle would've noticed things people in his inner circle didn't want to notice. Teachers spend so much time around kids, especially in grade school that someone would've noticed him having problems. Later on, in highschool has less chance of something being noticed and acted upon but in general his cloistered, insular social circle did him no favors.

I'm not even talking about home school vs public school (because I don't care; it's not relevant) even though I personally believe children need to be socialized with people from walks of life other than their own and have friends that aren't family or in their family's social circle. This insular, don't integrate with the outsiders because they're our enemies stuff with that particular branch of christian fundamentalism confuses kids.

No one is "acting like public school fixes things and homeschool creates problems" show me where I said any of that. I didn't even say "school is the miracle cure"; I said failure to adapt is the underlying problem and his background (christian fundamentalism, not home schooling) exacerbated whatever social disorders he had.

Just curious, have you read his blog posts he had to do for government class? He reeks of arrogance and cruelty. Probably just regurgitated whatever he'd been brainwashed to believe and unable to handle information that doesn't match what he was taught. <modsnip>; they literally cannot handle other world views.

His post about freeing a terrorist is very interesting.

What exactly was there to catch? Being arrogant isn't a crime. Most people I heard describe him as quiet and introverted. He managed to have a job for years, stay out of trouble, not commit any crimes that we know of. What specifically was public school supposed to catch that could have prevented this?

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

I didn't say they catch all "the bad people" (I wouldn't even phrase anything "bad people" because I'm not that simplistic). What I'm saying is; someone not involved in his inner circle would've noticed things people in his inner circle didn't want to notice. Teachers spend so much time around kids, especially in grade school that someone would've noticed him having problems. Later on, in highschool has less chance of something being noticed and acted upon but in general his cloistered, insular social circle did him no favors.

I'm not even talking about home school vs public school (because I don't care; it's not relevant) even though I personally believe children need to be socialized with people from walks of life other than their own and have friends that aren't family or in their family's social circle. This insular, don't integrate with the outsiders because they're our enemies stuff with that particular branch of christian fundamentalism confuses kids.

No one is "acting like public school fixes things and homeschool creates problems" show me where I said any of that. I didn't even say "school is the miracle cure"; I said failure to adapt is the underlying problem and his background (christian fundamentalism, not home schooling) exacerbated whatever social disorders he had.

Just curious, have you read his blog posts he had to do for government class? He reeks of arrogance and cruelty. Probably just regurgitated whatever he'd been brainwashed to believe and unable to handle information that doesn't match what he was taught. <modsnip>; they literally cannot handle other world views.

His post about freeing a terrorist is very interesting.

His blog was done in 2012 as a school project. I&#8217;m not as convinced it really tells me anything other than he was a kid &#8220;experimenting&#8221; with world views. To me, it shows he did the minimum required for the assignment and then abandoned it when he was done.

Part of me wonders if he took the conservative stance he did simply because he enjoyed the intellectual process of debate. I know he was a kid when he wrote the blog, but that said, he kinda writes like he&#8217;s not really 100 percent behind what he&#8217;s writing. Did anyone else get that feeling?

His blog: http://definingmystance.blogspot.com/?m=1

His 2012 blog &#8220;bio&#8221;:

&#8220;My name is Mark Conditt. I enjoy cycling, parkour, tennis, reading, and listening to music. I am not that politically inclined. I view myself as a conservative, but I don't think I have enough information to defend my stance as well as it should be defended. The reasons I am taking this class is because I want to understand the US government, and I hope that it will help me clarify my stance, and then defend it.&#8221;

 

[x_files]

idunno. ..people say this about me because i only have a facebook that i haven't used since 2007. I just...have no friends irl.
when you're young and don't have a regular job and aren't in school. ..you go into this weird limbo where you don't exist (have a presence on social media) because you have nothing to show. or whatever i'm trying to say.

well MAC was good with computers I read so maybe he was using a proxy or something.

good point!
He might have been obsessed with video games Ifor example) or just bomb-making recently.

 

[x_files]

My opinion is that he was exactly who he said he was, a psychopath. He admitted that he wasn't able to feel remorse for his actions. He was able to behave normally without getting into trouble, so what medical intervention are we talking about? There is no medical intervention that can change a psychopath.

There's therapy that alters psychopathic behavior but must be caught in early childhood development to be effective.
First, his parents would have to have noticed red flags and sought expert treatment in that field which is still woefully, not available everywhere.

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Very good points. I'm not nessesarily damning homeschooling and praising public schooling. Sorry it came off that way.
It's really rigid fundimentalist homeschooling. That's the problem. Isolation, indoctrination, bible thumping cultivism.
I went to catholic, and public school. Catholic school sucked, it was no where near being christian. I refer to it as Hell.
I got bullied in public school too, still IMHO being that catholic school is supposedly christian makes it worse.
At least public schools don't falsy claim to be christian. Where as religious schools, and these bible home schoolers do.

Yes, this! ^^^

Public schools aren’t allowed to promote Christianity over any other faith. They can teach values, which they do. They can teach religions in the context of history, but public schools, by law, must follow the “separation of church and state” doctrine. Thank God. [emoji6]

 

[x_files]

"Failure to adjust" is a big red flag. The thing his former manager (?) said about him not following orders. Other than that, his views on homosexuality and women -- but the rub there is that wouldn't have been a red flag to his folks because that's where he got his beliefs from.

People are so good at blocking others out that everything bad is a terrible shock to them.



and "i know better than you" arrogance with fits with his socializing behavior being characterized as "pugnacious".

So, what was normal to his family and community would be considered hateful or hate speech to others.
Back to tribalism and "othering" issues again. Us vs Them.

 

[x_files]

JMHO I am sure they are in shock and they are getting ready if not already to bury their family member. Not really sure what they could say to the public at this time. If they knew anything they should say it to the LEO investigating. I have seen it in other cases, no matter if they do or don't say anything we (public) try to make something out of it. I just don't know what they could say.

The Church they attended could have help addressed this and they have professional PR point person. I just thought it odd his Church has done or said very little about the victims. I had hoped the community would come together to help the victims.

 

[x_files]

That is a very good question. Elliot Rodger had a history of harassing people.

Could start with the police reports of harassment are taken more seriously.

 

[rsd1200]

His blog was done in 2012 as a school project. I&#8217;m not as convinced it really tells me anything other than he was a kid &#8220;experimenting&#8221; with world views. To me, it shows he did the minimum required for the assignment and then abandoned it when he was done.

Part of me wonders if he took the conservative stance he did simply because he enjoyed the intellectual process of debate. I know he was a kid when he wrote the blog, but that said, he kinda writes like he&#8217;s not really 100 percent behind what he&#8217;s writing. Did anyone else get that feeling?

His blog: http://definingmystance.blogspot.com/?m=1

His 2012 blog &#8220;bio&#8221;:

&#8220;My name is Mark Conditt. I enjoy cycling, parkour, tennis, reading, and listening to music. I am not that politically inclined. I view myself as a conservative, but I don't think I have enough information to defend my stance as well as it should be defended. The reasons I am taking this class is because I want to understand the US government, and I hope that it will help me clarify my stance, and then defend it.&#8221;

I think that you could be right. One guy, who claimed to have befriended him, and was also home-schooled as a child, said that he loved to debate, would debate about anything. Can't find the link right now, but this guy seemed like the only friend that MAC had, or the only one who said he had been his friend, and they'd not kept in touch after they'd graduated. The other young man moved away, iirc.