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California Pride Flag Suspected Killer Had Hateful Online Presence
California Pride Flag Suspected Killer Had Hateful Online Presence
Experts have warned for months that the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric pushed by those on the right would lead to acts of violence.
A suspected gunman, who police say shot a Southern California business owner for displaying a Pride flag supporting the LGBTQ+ community, had an extensive social media presence rife with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and violent imagery.
Travis Ikeguchi allegedly fired upon 66-year-old Laura “Lauri” Ann Carleton on Friday after going on a homophobic tirade as he railed against her boutique’s display of a Pride flag, a San Bernadino County Sherriff’s spokesperson said during a Monday press conference.
Once he had killed the owner of Mag.Pi, Ikeguchi fled and was promptly embroiled in an altercation with police.
After exchanging shots with responding police officers, Ikeguchi was killed.
His extensive online presence included bigoted language towards the LGBTQ+ community, according to police officials.
The Advocate found that an X — formerly known as Twitter — account that seems to match Ikeguchi posted anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry incessantly and was highly opposed to abortion.
There has been no confirmation of Ikeguchi’s identity on social media pages, but an X account with his full name was created in 2015.
In June, he posted a Pride flag that was set ablaze.
“What to do with the LGBTQP flag?” Ikeguchi asked.
“Abortion and same-sex marriage are both immoral and are design to destroy humanity one by one,” he wrote in a tweet the same month. “So if someone is pro-abortion and pro-LGBTQP, they are at war against the foundation of family values.”
Also, though appearing to agree with the anti-transgender hate group Gays Against Groomers, the alleged killer took issue with the group as too accepting because its lesbian co-founder, Jaimee Michell, tolerates homosexuality.
“…[T]hese conservatives like Jaimee Michell are saying that they are against groomers, but that is what LGBTQP pervs are all about including homosexuality!!! It is like Sarah calling out someone who is trans yet Sarah is trans too!!! Hypocrites!“ he wrote.
He also seemed to be active on the far-right platform Gab.
According to NBC News, Ikeguchi appears to have written in a pinned Gab post from January 2021, "We need to STOP COMPROMISING on this LGBT dictatorship and not let them take over our lives!".
He added, “Stop accepting this abomination that the government is forcing us to submit to these mentally disordered tyrants!”
The account is no longer accessible.
