Mass Murder as Part Hatred, Part Fandom
Two teenagers carried out a mass shooting at a San Diego mosque, motivated by extremist ideologies. They recorded their actions and posted them online, reflecting a disturbing trend of online radicalization. Their manifesto expressed intense hatred towards various groups and was influenced by previous mass shooters.
- ▪The shooters wore neo-Nazi symbols and killed three people before fleeing in a stolen car.
- ▪One shooter shot his accomplice before taking his own life, and their actions were recorded and shared online.
- ▪Their manifesto indicated a motivation rooted in militant accelerationism and included extreme anti-Semitic and racist sentiments.
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National SecurityMass Murder as Part Hatred, Part FandomThe San Diego mosque killers were keen to impress their fellow extremists online.By Ali BrelandZoë Meyers / AFP / GettyMay 20, 2026, 7:16 PM ET ShareSave The two teenagers who walked into a San Diego mosque with assault rifles on Monday evening wore patches displaying the Black Sun—a neo-Nazi iteration of the swastika—and had scribbled white-supremacist symbols in white correction fluid on their guns. They started shooting, killing three. Then they fled in a BMW one had stolen from his mother. In the car, 17-year-old Cain Clark apparently shot his accomplice, Caleb Vasquez, before shooting himself in the head.
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