Right-wing violence is on the rise in the United States, and the internet has helped radicalize these people more effectively, which has only spread conspiracy theories like Pizzagate further. One such internet-obsessed conspiracy theorist, Lane Davis, a former Milo Yiannopoulos intern, allegedly killed his father after being called a Nazi.
Davis’ story is a familiar one. A 33-year-old college dropout with a couple of misdemeanors who lived with his parents and was unemployed, Davis spent his time on the internet. On his YouTube channel, Davis peddled conspiracy theories about vaccines and 9/11. He also began “investigating” GamerGate by “[calling] the employers of women game developers and their allies, in an attempt to get them fired,” according to The Daily Beast. During this time, he also started interning for Milo Yiannopoulos, who was then the tech editor at Breitbart. After a fallout with Yiannopoulos, Davis began writing for The Ralph Retort, another far-right site whose founder is currently serving a prison sentence for assaulting a police officer.
On a July morning last summer, Davis spread Seth Rich conspiracy theories and complained about diversity on Twitter before blogging about sharia law for The Ralph Retort. At one point, Davis began “screaming” and going on a tirade, something his parents, Catherine and Chuck, were so used to they began recording audio. Apparently fed up with this latest outburst, they tried to get Lane to leave the house and called 911 when he refused. Enraged, Lane said, “Ok well, so here’s the deal. If l am going to go to prison for threatening to kill somebody, I mean…” and grabbed a chef’s knife:
Lane doesn’t seem to hear or believe his mother. “So, you are going to send me to prison?,” he asks. “My life is over.”
Minutes later, Catherine called 911 again. The audio recording is hard to hear. In it, Catherine is running and the portable phone she’s using breaks up. Catherine screams, “He stabbed him” before the connection is lost.
Chuck Davis died on the scene, and his son surrendered himself to police without resistance when they arrived. In an apparent confession, Lane Davis told police the two were fighting over “whether toddlers could consent to sex or not.” His father also called him a racist and a Nazi, Davis said.
Despite the history of far-right conspiracy theorists being indoctrinated prior to committing crimes, all of Davis’ former internet pals are distancing themselves from him and saying they are not responsible for his beliefs. Davis is being held on one million dollars in bail and awaiting trial for first-degree murder in Washington state.
(Via The Daily Beast)