A look inside the mind of erad3 (most-likely Jared Loughner)

We here at AboveTopSecret.com, our owners, staff, and membership find ourselves in the unfortunate position of apparently being one of the largest (if not the largest) repositories of online postings by someone who has been classified as a "monster" (among other things) due to his (accused) actions of two days ago. Online research that began on Reddit, and continued here on ATS has resulted in an overwhelming amount of anecdotal evidence to support the notion that the "erad3" member account here is Jared Loughner. Indeed, the content found in more than 4,000 Google search returns (including some pages in the mainstream press) have drawn the same conclusion.

This is a rather unique situation, to say the least. I and our staff have been considering if we should provide a public statement, and if we do, what should we say? Especially since we're already being contacted by the media for comment and more information.

The postings of "erad3" reveal someone who clearly has many questions for which answers have been elusive if not outright impossible to obtain. And despite the best efforts by many of our members, it seemed there were no answers to be found here for which he was satisfied.

As is often typical, recent analysis in the media is rampant with all manner of conclusions, second-guesses, exaggerations, distortions, and missing information. The opinion of the staff and owners of AboveTopSecret.com is that it serves the public interest to provide an easy method to access every post made here by erad3 (normally, visitors must be logged-in to view such information).


Topics authored by erad3:
All aboard with the empty NASA Space Shuttles! (July 13, 2010)
Did NASA Fake the Mars Rovers? (July 12, 2010)
Infinite Source Of Currency!?!? (July 8, 2010)
Why is the year infinite in the date? (July 7, 2010)


Replies authored by erad3:
Posts by erad3



There appear to be no clues in these postings (the last on July 13th, 2010) that would raise any kind of "red flag" (at the time) beyond someone struggling with unanswered questions.

Some will noticed that his account has been terminated. This has been done to protect the integrity of a now widely known member account here: there is now such a great deal of information available which might provide clues to guess the password and either post as him, or obtain personal data.

I think the media is hunting a scapegoat
and has ATS in it's sights (no pun intended).

I think ATS is doing the right thing here.
Kudos to the staff for a well played
after effect.

Originally posted by AboveTopSecret.com
Especially since we're already being contacted by the media for comment and more information.

Have you been contacted by the authority yet? That's the real question.

reply to post by Jazzyguy


No. However, we won't be surprised if there is some contact today.

I believe the staff should make a public comment and using that comment, make it as clear as possible that there is nothing for ATS to hide. Be sure to alert them that all appropriate measures have been taken, cooperation with authorities will be done, and let them know that ATS works on a strict Terms and Conditions basis for which all members must obey.

Make it clear that the membership is not all like this one lone character since there are thousands of posting members who have committed no violence towards public officials. The member represents himself and himself alone. Whatever he has done using this network was his own doing.

There’s nothing more you can really do besides cooperate and provide as much transparency as possible.

It is very sad that we had a murderer in our community. Let us all hope this does not allow others to paint us all with one brush stroke.

I thank the site owners for being on top of this and fast to respond. You have done an excellent job.

I find this downright tragic. I think Loughner actually has some good ideas, it just sucks he had to be violent, because it's so counter-productive. I still feel like he was brainwashed.

I did a rough analysis of his videos to try and explain his reasoning for the murderers. I concluded that he was trying to send us a message. www.abovetopsecret.com...
theres a lot of grammatical errors cause i did it in one go. try to follow the state of mind of just learning why rather than just shunning a sick murderer. we all know he did something horrible. but why?

I dont think ATS needs to say anything about this. ATS is not his mind or his drive. ATS did not murder to influence him to. He chose to do the unspeakable, and he alone faces the punishment.

His threads speak a lot about how he sees the world. Im not talking about his general distrust. I mean how he is able to deduce his reasoning, and how he essentially sees everything in black and white.

Originally posted by Misoir
It is very sad that we had a murderer in our community.

It is. But had is the key word in your statement, as far as I'm concerned.

He found no like minds here.

He was not an integral part of our community.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
He found no like minds here, he was not an integral part of our community.

star for u.
that statement alone speaks volumes
about the quality of our ATS community.
He did not fit in.

reply to post by kosmicjack


Looks like you mods are in overdrive. The hemorrhaging must be controlled
S* though: I whole-heartedly agree. Jared was an outsider HERE; if that tells you anything...

Originally posted by AboveTopSecret.com
I and our staff have been considering if we should provide a public statement, and if we do, what should we say?

You answered this question immediately after asking it.

The postings of "erad3" reveal someone who clearly has many questions for which answers have been elusive if not outright impossible to obtain. And despite the best efforts by many of our members, it seemed there were no answers to be found here for which he was satisfied.

This member's account and posts here at ATS provide a unique and fascinating view into the seriously flawed thought processes of this disturbed individual.

After reading through a lot of his posts and his threads on ATS, I can't see how it can do anything but expose how seriously disturbed this person was.

It in no way reflects badly on ATS in my opinion. If his own family and those around him could not prevent what happened then what could ATS have possibly done?

reply to post by kosmicjack


He was definitely not someone who received much positive response. I believe this is what led him to last login on September 23, 2010. He found no support on our boards and even was told to seek help before he hurts someone. The member who told him that was spot-on.

One must be reeaaaallly loony to not fit in somewhere within the ATS community.




Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by AboveTopSecret.com

I and our staff have been considering if we should provide a public statement, and if we do, what should we say?

As for providing a public statement , that is entirely at the discretion of the staff . I don't really know what you should say other than offer condolences to the families of the victims .

ATS was in no way responsible for what this deranged individual did . You guys can not know the mental state of every single person who logs in to this site .

The guy was obviously deranged before becoming a member here , as is evident by his postings . Therefore ATS should not be held to answer for the actions that he took .

My sincere condolences to all those who were affected by this senseless and insane tradegy .

Edit : For those who feel it is the responsibility of ATS to offer a public statement , would you feel the same way if the guy had not posted here for , say , the last five years ? If the guy had last been on ATS in '04 or '05 , do you feel ATS should still make a statement ? Just curious , as your comments on this seem to inflect that it is somehow the responsibility of ATS to make a statement , simply because the guy was a member here .

Thank you ATS for not taking a cowards way out. I have read that many have scrubbed web pages of things they think could reflect negatively on them. With ATS this is not the case. You are proving that keeping information open and available is the best course of action. And to me that speaks volumes on your mission statement, deny ignorance.

Interesting thread here too.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

about whether he was influenced by or merely attracted to the ATS community.

As has been mentioned, if the investigators do start digging and trying to find out more info on members and some of the discussions between them (including private message...get 'em cleared out ...!) , then this guy is probably not going to be totally alone in his 'feelings' towards TPTB. Maybe his words differ, but there is a lot of anti establishment sentiment and encouragement to buck the trend.

Its not ATS's fault for the shootings? Has any psycho-analysis been done into schizophrenia or bi-polar?

As I've been saying for some time now, if you promote the wealth of those who lack mental health then you are as much to blame for their actions as they are.

Whilst there are still people claiming to be aliens, prophets, gods and other entities which they cannot back up with evidence (and some have tried - bless them) ATS attracts people who need protections.

Alongside these vulnerable folk are the wolves, those who seek to gain either financially or through having their ego stoked. All those with their religions, books, DVDs and pay-for websites are herding the vulnerable towards lining their pockets.

Say what you will about civility, decorum or sceptics - I've never seen any of their actions lead to murder or preying on the vulnerable. Playground politics is where people learn that acting like a fool in public gets them called fools by those who say what they see. Censoring or making life problematic for those who only wish to help those lost or looking for answers means that you are furthering the propaganda of insanity.

It's not the first time that an ATS member has turned to murder and I'm sure it will not be the last.

Just remember that silencing those who correct the behaviour of miscreants and harbouring radical concepts which promote potentially dangerous actions places blame squarely at this site.

Deny ignorance is more like ignore denials around here some days.

There is a lot of good work done here - but it leaves no room for incidents like the one Jared undertook. An incident which could have been prevented if adults, particularly those with apparent authority around here, acted like adults.

Sad day, but hopefully a lesson well learned.

-m0r

Its not a good day for the ATS community period. Due to the happenstance and broad topics associated with ats, conspiracy's in general it seems to attracted the sociopath's that are out there. I tend to try not to look into the minds of madness, all things considered here law makers are biting at the bit to make new laws to try and prevent madness like this occur, even if that means and not limited to monitoring ever single key stroke being used in forums, or chat rooms, and what have you, anything that sounds different or an alternative way of thinking they are going to pull out predictive software, and try to figure out what you meant in a broad stroke of key stroke.

I condemn such monstrosities in reality, I am unaware of how instances like this can be prevented without time travel technology or military units escorting governmental officials I suppose. I am not sure how ATS and its nature will fare thru this considering the killer was an active member on ats and was posting some clinical mental instabilities on its boards. It may have or will take a crack at the reputation of ATS, the irony is it was out of ATS's control, I think people are going to be more aware of people posting on ats, and things that look like clinical mental illness post should be reported or at least alerted to the mods, and perhaps further action could occur, if anything scrutiny. I am all about people posting things that they are trying to understand and are asking the internet community to try to understand, I am against people coming onto the internet community's preaching madness, and by observing the threads started by this madman, I can see madness just in the titles. In conclusion, I am concerned about the reputation of ats in the future, and hope for the best, and give my prayers out to the victims of this heinous crime.

god bless