May, 2012.
J.T. Ready was a "citizen's militia" leader, self-appointed patroller of the border with Mexico, dabbler in politics (as a Tea Party speaker and candidate for Sheriff), and an ardent neo-Nazi. He made waves with his staunch, hardline aggressive stance against illegal aliens and his extreme pro-gun, vigilante opinions. Then, one evening, he strapped on body armor, armed himself with two handguns and a shotgun, then walked into a home in Gilbert, Arizona and shot four people to death, including a baby. He then killed himself.
Unhappy with the thought that one of their fiercest supporters could have carried out such a heinous act, the pro-gun extremists quickly jumped to the conclusion, with no evidence whatsoever, that Ready hadn't actually committed the act. Rather, they speculated, it must have been carried out by some other organization that opposed his views. One conspiracy-theory website accused the Mexican mafia, opponents of "immigration reform and the 2nd Amendment", or even the U.S. government. From the website:
This political position – particularly from someone running for Sheriff in America’s most embattled county, made him a target of the federal government.
If there was motive to kill J.T. Ready, perhaps it was his role in intercepting drugs from the powerful Sinaloa Drug Cartel. Perhaps it was his open distaste for the Federal Government and Arizona’s open borders. Or maybe it was his ambition to become Sheriff – in a border county which is currently the number one theater for drug smuggling and border crime in the United States of America.
These baseless speculations were then echoed on neo-Nazi and pro-gun forums, such as THIS ONE.
Just another wacko pro-gun conspiracy theory!
Just another wacko pro-gun conspiracy theory!
