Jarrod Ramos identified as suspect in Annapolis newspaper shooting that killed 5

One pro-Trump user tweeted that the symbol was proof that Ramos was being mind-controlled through the CIA�s MKUltra program, a series of mind-control experiments that were officially discontinued more than 40 years ago but continue to figure prominently among conspiracy theorists.

Believers in QAnon�a complex conspiracy theory that�s growingly increasingly popular among Trump supporters�have also seized on the shooting. QAnon relies on message board posts made by an anonymous character dubbed �Q,� who quickly blamed the shooting on Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

"Thanos" said
Sean Hannity blamed the shooting on Maxine Waters.

"N_Fiddledog" said
Sean Hannity blamed the shooting on Maxine Waters.

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SEAN HANNITY (HOST): By the way, we're getting some breaking news that there was a shooting at the, it's called Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun is now reporting. We have multiple deaths also being reported, and the sheriff is saying that multiple fatalities in a newsroom shooting. Oh, good grief. So scary. The suspect though has been apprehended according to the sheriff. And we'll continue to follow that story. It's so sad that there are so many sick, demented, and evil people in this world. It really is sad. You know imagine you go to work and this is what you're dealing with today, some crazy person comes in -- and I'm not turning this into a gun debate, I know that's where the media will be in 30 seconds from now. That's not it. You know, as I've always said, I mean honestly -- I've been saying now for days that something horrible was going to happen because of the rhetoric. Really Maxine ? You want people to create -- "call your friends, get in their faces," and Obama said that too. "Get in their faces, call them out, call your friends, get protesters, follow them into restaurants and shopping malls," and wherever else she said.

He also criticized what he called "over the top" rhetoric.

"While it's not connected in any way, I'm not suggesting it's connected in any way, the incendiary rhetoric that we have been hearing and the calls to confront people in restaurants and at gas stations and department stores. The incidents that we have seen with Sarah Sanders and Secretary Nielson and Pam Bondi and of course the tweets threatening the President's son and threatening Secretary Nielson and even the granddaughter of the President. Things are getting way, way too hot and out of control. Again, separate and apart from what happened here."

"Sean Hannity never tied today's horrific shooting to the comments made by Representative Maxine Waters. Today's event was pure evil, and no one can control someone who is intent on inflicting pain and violence," his website said Thursday. "It's unfortunate that some outlets have to stoop to lying to attempt to get ratings and clicks."

When the identity of the apparent gunman in the massacre of five journalists in Annapolis, Maryland, was revealed, Jonathan Hutson, a communications consultant and writer who lives nearby, had a shock of recognition. The suspect, Jarrod Ramos, had contacted Hutson in March 2015, taunting him about his role in alerting law enforcement and thwarting a potential mass killer who threatened schoolchildren and Jews in far-away Montana.

That individual in Montana, David Lenio, had overflowed with hyperbolic threats. Hutson�s efforts to stop him succeeded, as I reported at Salon shortly after it happened. Ramos was more cryptic and less overtly demonstrative � but in the end, far deadlier. Both were enigmatic, angry loners, with an unmistakable affinity for the racist alt-right.

�Jarrod Ramos was a lone nut who was not politically motivated, but he was politically influenced by the alt-right,� Hutson told Salon.

Researcher Fred Clarkson agrees. �Ramos and David Lenio seem to have been drawn into the orbit of far-right visions of anti-democratic violence, even as they seem to have ultimately acted on their own,� said Clarkson, a senior research analyst with Political Research Associates, a progressive think tank in Somerville, Massachusetts.

The only two politicians Ramos had tweeted about, according to Hutson, were Donald Trump and Michael Peroutka, a wealthy neo-Confederate funder turned Maryland county councilman. Hutson has written about Peroutka, as have I. Peroutka had major funding ties to former Alabama judge and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, as well to the League of the South, whose leader, Michael Hill, had written approvingly about plans to form paramilitary groups to fight a militarized �fourth generation� culture war, one of whose targets would be the media.

�To oversimplify, the primary targets will not be enemy soldiers;� Hill wrote, �instead, they will be political leaders, members of the hostile media, cultural icons, bureaucrats, and other of the managerial elite without whom the engines of tyranny don�t run.�

Ramos first contacted Hutson through Twitter, the latter recalls, after "the Capital Gazette published a piece about how I had alerted the FBI about mass shooting threat suspect David Lenio,� Hutson said.

After Hutson tweeted about the story, Ramos tweeted a couple of disturbing responses, first asking �Were any school children intimidated?� then claiming that Lenio �had won�:

�The piece highlighted the fact that I was also researching and writing about Michael Peroutka, for example, in the pages of Huffington Post,� Hutson noted. �I documented Michael Peroutka�s support for the League of the South , a right-wing group that advocated death squads, assassinating journalists, elected officials, and other members of the elite,� he explained. He questioned and challenged Peroutka "about his support for the League of the South, and that led to a lot of public attention,� which he also wrote about for Huffington Post.

Although Ramos didn�t contact Hutson at the time, he was clearly not pleased with the critical coverage of Peroutka, fusing his own lawsuit-fueled enmity toward the Capital Gazette with his enthusiasm for the pro-Confederate candidate.

Ramos was also given to self-inflation, putting on both literary and moralistic airs. In court documents, Hutson noted, he referred to himself as a crusader. Like his hero, Peroutka, this would effectively place himself above ordinary human law.

�His defense of Michael Peroutka is particularly interesting, since his views seem to echo Peroutka, a local politician and think tank leader, and other elements of the theocratic far right,� Clarkson added.