Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.

To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your

colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com
See a sample reprint in PDF format. Order a reprint of this article now

JANUARY 12, 2011

Postings of a Troubled Mind

Accused Shooter Wrote on Gaming Site of His Job Woes, Rejection by Women
By AL EXAN D R A BER ZON , JOH N R . EMSH WIL L ER And R OBER T A. GU TH

Last May 9, at two in the morning, Jared Lee Loughner typed a question to a group of about 50
online gamers located around the world: "Does anyone have aggression 24/7?"

He was back at his keyboard the following night. "If you went to prison right now...What would
you be thinking?" he asked.

A trove of 131 online-forum postings written

between April and June 2010, which were
viewed by The Wall Street Journal , provides
insight into Mr. Loughner's mind-set in the year
leading up to Saturday's shootings in Tucson,
Ariz. He stands accused of killing six people,
gravely wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D.,
Ariz.) and injuring 13 others.

The online postings paint a picture of a

disturbed young man trying to impress his peers
and struggling to find a purpose to his life. They
range from prosaic chatter about weight lifting
to nonsensical philosophical ramblings that left
some of the gamers who read them wondering
whether he was using drugs or had a mental
disability.

On Tuesday, after a search of the Loughners'

home, federal investigators found a letter from
Rep. Giffords's office in which Mr. Loughner had
scribbled the words "Die Cops" and "Die Bitch,"
Online postings last year by accused gunman Jared
said Capt. Chris Nanos of the Pima County
Lee Loughner.
Sheriff's Department. Capt. Nanos, who was
briefed on the findings, said Mr. Loughner had
also referenced an assassination in handwritten notes on the letter.

The letter, dated 2007, was a form document

Journal Community
sent by the staff of Rep. Giffords to thank Mr.
Loughner for attending one of her events.

Capt. Nanos confirmed that Tucson local

authorities had visited the Loughners' house in
the past for minor incidents unrelated to the
suspect, except for once: Around 2006 or 2007,
the suspect called the authorities to report a case
 of identity theft. "Someone had used his name
on MySpace or Facebook," Capt. Nanos said.

The online-forum messages exhibit a growing frustration that, at 22 years of age, Mr. Loughner
couldn't land a minimum-wage job and was spurned by women. By May 15, he wrote, he hadn't
had a paycheck in six months. A month later, he wrote that he had submitted 65 applications, yet
"no interview."

At times, Mr. Loughner seemed to be reaching

out to fellow gamers for help and advice, albeit
in a disturbing way. Sometimes they offered it,
such as giving him pointers about job hunting. At
other times, his postings seemed so outrageous
that the gamers mocked or ignored him.

The online postings, written using pseudonyms,

Ashby Jones looks at the issue of where the trial for
Tucson massacre suspect Jared Lee Loughner will be
held and whether he will claim insanity?
Related Videos
Families of Tucson Victims Speak
Scenes From Shooter Jared Loughner's
Home
Doctors Express Optimism About Giffords'
Recovery
Moment of Silence at International Space
Station
were shared with the Journal by a person who
had access to them. Two fellow gamers who
participated in the online forums say the author
was the accused gunman, and some of the
postings discuss incidents from Mr. Loughner's
life that others have corroborated.
Judy Clarke and Mark Fleming, two defense
lawyers assigned to represent Mr. Loughner,
didn't respond to phone messages left at their
San Diego offices. Federal authorities have said
they have seized Mr. Loughner's computer and
are trying to examine all of the online places
where he spent time. A Justice Department
spokeswoman declined to comment.

Mr. Loughner's family on Tuesday made its first

comments since the shootings. In a written
statement, Randy and Amy Loughner said they
couldn't understand what motivated their son
and expressed condolences for the victims and
their families. "There are no words that can
possibly express how we feel," they said. "We are
so very sorry for their loss."

View Full Image Mr. Loughner had a history of asking

Associated Press
provocative questions. In early high school, he
Jared Loughner's family made their first public
comments Tuesday. asked unusual questions that were innocent,
such as one time when he asked a friend about
the purpose of human toes, recalls Joseph
Headlee, a former high-school classmate.

His recent online postings are more disturbing. On April 24, he asked: "Would you hit a Handy
Cap Child/ Adult?" On May 20 at 12:03 a.m., he remarked: "I bet your hungry....Because i know
how to cut a body open and eat you for more then a week. ;-)"

The postings exhibit fixations on grammar, the education system, government and currency,
which some friends and acquaintances have described separately in the days since the attack.
They are peppered with displays of misogyny.

Mr. Loughner's posts don't mention Rep. Giffords, who is believed to have been the target of the
attack, nor do they give any indication that Mr. Loughner was plotting a shooting. But several
mention mental breakdowns and violent thoughts. One post alluded to the Fifth Amendment,
which aims to protect citizens against the government abusing its power in legal proceedings.

Mr. Loughner posted the messages in a private

The Arizona Shooting
forum associated with the online game Earth
Palin Attacks Criticism as 'Blood Libel'
Empires. On Tuesday, the site's administrator in
Parents Express Sorrow for Loss of Life a public forum admonished members for sharing
Giffords's Outlook Improves information with the media.
Glock's Reputation Built on Style, Ease of
Use In a separate forum, the administrator wrote
Opinion: Jenkins: The Jared Loughner that he would cooperate with federal authorities
Problem
if asked. "I want this information to get to the
Early Legal Issue: Where to Try Case
right hands, but I want to make sure it's done
Many Mentally Ill Can Buy Guns through the proper legal means," he wrote.
Victim Profiles | Photos | 911 Calls
Complete Coverage: Arizona Shootings Gaming appears to have been an important part
of Mr. Loughner's life. In the 7th grade, he and a
friend, Alex Montanaro, began playing the multiplayer online games Starcraft and Diablo, which
featured complex virtual worlds where players assume roles and play against other people
around the globe, Mr. Montanaro said in emails over the weekend and Monday.

Around the 9th grade, recalls Mr. Montanaro, Mr. Loughner abandoned the old games and
started playing Earth: 2025, now called Earth Empires, a text-based game in which players
assume the form of a country and develop its economy. Players form clans and battle other clans.

The game includes social networks built around the clan alliances—private online forums in which
players conversed. In those forums at that time, Mr. Loughner often spouted conspiracy theories
and got into heated debates with others, according to a forum participant who has been reading
Mr. Loughner's posts for years. Mr. Loughner originally played under the pseudonyms Cries and
Cry. At various times he also used the aliases Heroin, XTC and Erad, according to two people
familiar with the matter, and played for various clans.

Around 10th grade, Mr. Loughner began acting

more strangely and separating from his friends,
according to Mr. Montanaro. Mr. Loughner took
a break from the gaming world in 2008 but
resumed a year later, says Mr. Montanaro. Mr.
Loughner joined an online alliance called
SancTuarY/Collab. He wrote under the
pseudonym Dare. After last June, he stopped
playing, says the games administrator.
View Full Image
Associated Press
Mr. Loughner seemed consumed with the outlet
A high-school classmate shows reporters his
yearbook. the private-posting world provided, says Mr.
Montanaro, who was also part of SancT/Collab.
Compared with the debates he had engaged in as
a young teen, his postings were often nonsensical, say people who knew him in both settings. Mr.
Montanaro described them as "weird poems coupled with 'logic' statements."
 Even in a setting that includes the raw and often
On the Scene in Tucson
raunchy thoughts of young men, Mr. Loughner's
postings were startling. They show an obsession
with language, a hatred of the educational system
and aggression—all of which later became
themes of videos posted by Mr. Loughner on
YouTube in the months before the shooting.
In the forum posts, Mr. Loughner never
mentions any political views explicitly, nor does
he name any political figures.
View Slideshow
On April 24, Mr. Loughner titled a new online
Arizona Daily Star/Associated Press
Witnesses and bystanders waited inside a police
thread: "Would you hit a Handy Cap Child/
barrier in the parking lot of the Safeway grocery store Adult?" He wrote: "This is a very interesting
where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.) and others
question….There are mental retarded children.
were shot Saturday.
They're possessing teachers that are typing for
money. This will never stop….The drug addicts
need to be weeded out to be more intelligent.
The Principle of this is that them c— educators need to stop being pigs."

Later that day, he posted a rant titled "Why Rape," which said women in college enjoyed being
raped. "There are Rape victims that are under the influence of a substance. The drinking is
leading them to rape. The loneliness will bring you to depression. Being alone for a very long time
will inevitably lead you to rape."

Some participants in the forum suggested that he must be on drugs, while others said he may be
mentally impaired. One forum participant who has read his postings says it was only in
retrospect, after the shootings, that he realized that Mr. Loughner appeared mentally unstable in
his messages.

On April 28, Mr. Loughner wrote: "How many stars are in the universe?" Other posters
responded with mathematical calculations. Later in the thread, Mr. Loughner shifted gears:
"What do Chocolate cookies taste like?"

On May 2, Mr. Loughner wrote: "This forum made me feel better....," followed by the emoticon
for a smiling face.

The same day, he started a thread called "Weight

Lifting," and asked whether anyone else lifted.
He described himself as 5 feet 10 inches tall and
155 pounds, and said he could do 65 push-ups,
bench press 165 pounds, and do 25 pull-ups and
100 sit-ups, "(thanks to the ab machine)." He
said he could run a mile in between 6 minutes,
30 seconds, and 6 minutes, 50 seconds. "I'm
flexible" after "years of stretches," he wrote.
View Full Image
Associated Press
"Diet is key."
Investigators at the Loughners' home.
On May 14, at 10:50 p.m., Mr. Loughner begins
an online thread he called, "How many
applications....is a lot?" It contained what appears to be a list of 21 retail outlets he had applied to
or failed to get a job at, including Crate & Barrel, Wendy's and Domino's Pizza.
Some posters expressed surprise. One noted he hasn't applied for that many jobs in his life.

Mr. Loughner had been arrested in Pima County in 2007 and charged with possession of drugs
and drug paraphernalia, according to court records. His case was dismissed. In October 2008, he
was arrested for scrawling graffiti on a street sign. He paid restitution and attended a diversion
program, a court administrator said.

In the online forum, Mr. Loughner wrote that he was having trouble landing a job because of his
work history and criminal record. He explained that he had had five "terminations," listing Peter
Piper Pizza, "Chineese" fast food, Red Robin, Quiznos and Eddie Bauer. He wrote that the list
of firings "will be updated." He wrote: "I'm thinking....2 misdemeanors hurt. Don't do Graffiti."

He hinted at a different problem at the Red Robin. "I had to walk out of red robin," he wrote.
"Terrible situation. Mental breakdown." Mr. Montanaro, who also worked at the restaurant, says
Mr. Loughner "just hated his job" and one night said "he couldn't take it anymore" and quit.

One poster joked that the group can give him a

Political Targets
leadership role on the video game. Mr. Loughner
Prominent political shootings involving
members of Congress.
responded: "...Ha.....ha....ha.....And waste more
time of my life...this is like my social life...I know
everything is made fun of.."

One gamer advised him that in order to get a job,

he needed to provide potential employers such
things as references and a list of jobs he had held
previously. Mr. Loughner replied in a profanity-
laced message that he knew that. "CANT HOLD
TERMINATION AGAINST FUTURE
EMPLOYEE !" He repeated that line 117 times.
View Interactive

Anger increasingly permeated his postings.

On May 5, he started a thread titled "Talk, Talk, Talking about Rejection." He solicited stories of
rejection by the opposite sex. The next day he wrote, "Its funny...when..they say lets go on a date
about 3 times..and they dont....go..." Three days later, he wrote, "Its funny when your 60
wondering......what happen at 21."

On May 9 at 2:00 a.m., he asked: "Does anyone have aggression 24/7?" By noon, when others
suggested he try smoking marijuana, he said: "No weed. No drugs. It's not like I can't see my
brain."

The following night, he titled a thread: "If you went to prison right now.....What would you be
thinking?" He added, "Just curious?" After others responded that they would do everything they
could to avoid going to prison, including commit suicide, Mr. Loughner said, "Let's say you are in
the cell for life...For nothing." A few minutes later he added, "21...going to college...no
workplace."

In his online postings, he comments on problems he had at Pima Community College, which have
been reported previously. His math instructor, Ben McGahee, said recently that Mr. Loughner's
off-topic outbursts during class scared students and disrupted the class. Mr. Loughner was
suspended from the school and withdrew last October.

On June 3 at 12:14 a.m. Mr. Loughner described one confrontation with Mr. McGahee, writing to
his fellow gamers that he had asked the teacher: "Are you just getting a pay check for
brainwashing?" as well as questioning if the class was a "scam" and asking, "can you tell me how to
Deny math?" He wrote that the teacher told him it was a stupid question and he should "GET
OUT OF MY CLASS!"

The next day, after he had to see a school counselor, he wrote: "Told her about brainwashing a
child and how that can change the view of mathematics."

Since the news of Mr. Loughner's alleged role in the shootings broke, members in the public
forums of Earth Empires expressed shock that one of their own would take such action, and
worried that people would point fingers at the game or the community.

"This is an immeasurable tragedy, and it pains me that someone from our close-knit community
could be involved in such a heinous act," the administrator wrote on Sunday. Later that day he
wrote, "I reviewed some of the posts he made and they're....disturbing."

One member wrote, "I can't stand that I know him."

—James Oberman contributed to this article.

More on the Arizona Shooting

Parents Express Sorrow for Loss of Life
Giffords's Outlook Improves
Glock's Reputation Built on Style, Ease of Use
Early Legal Issue: Where to Try Case
Many Mentally Ill Can Buy Guns
Victim Profiles | Photos | 911 Calls
Complete Coverage: Arizona Shootings

Copyright 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our
Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones
Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com