Image from OK.RU video showing Garcia with guns and ammunition, wearing an “It’s Ok to Be White” shirt
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Preliminary research by the ADL Center on Extremism appears to show Mauricio Garcia, the suspect in the Allen, Texas, mass shooting, was obsessed with violence and subscribed to a range of extremist ideologies, including antisemitism, violent misogyny and white supremacy.
An initial assessment of a massive social media trove, which ADL researchers can link to Garcia with a high degree of confidence, reveals a preoccupation with violence that manifests in a wide range of hate, including towards women and Jews, and includes images of SS bolt and swastika tattoos on Garcia’s arms and chest. These tattoos appear to be recently acquired, as they did not appear in images posted prior to April 22, 2023. The tattoo image is captioned: “Here’s what I think about your diversity you f….g loser’s [sic].”
Photos shared on Garcia’s profile on Russian social media platform Odnoklassniki (sometimes referred to as OK or OK.ru) first uncovered by Bellingcat researchers, match images shared by law enforcement investigating the May 6, 2023, mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets shopping mall in Allen, Texas. Nine people, including Garcia, died in the attack, and seven more are injured. Garcia, armed with an AR-15, was wearing a tactical vest filled with additional magazines and ammunition.
Garcia’s social media posts demonstrate a profoundly violent misogyny; he uses terms specifically tied to the incel – or involuntary celibate – community, referring to women as “foids” (a derogatory term that combines “female” and “android”) and raging against a system that leaves him with no romantic options. Incels blame women for their own lack of sexual and romantic success, and many have committed violence against women.
His posts are also littered with antisemitic tropes and vitriol, including claims that “the Jews” have “engineered society so that men cannot mate with a woman.” He references the “Jewish Question,” a reference to Nazi-era attitudes towards Jews, and uses symbols frequently used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, including swastikas, SS bolts and an Othala rune. Garcia also posted anti-Asian and anti-LGBTQ+ content.
Garcia, who was reportedly wearing a “RWDS” (or Right-Wing Death Squad) patch on the day of the shooting, posted images of that patch in April 2023. “RWDS” is typically a generic expression of far-right sentiment and may be used by white supremacists or other types of right-wing extremists. The phrase first emerged in the 1970s and 80s to describe Central and South American government and paramilitary units created to support right-wing governments and oppose communists and others on the left.
A chilling YouTube video, posted the day of the shooting to an account that appears to belong to Garcia, shows a young man taking off a “Scream” mask. Using a voice distorter, he says, “Not quite what you were expecting, huh? That’s the video, see ya.”
In February 2023, Garcia wrote about his anger towards his “lib commie” teachers in a post he said was “inspired by Libs of TikTok,” the anti-LGBTQ+ extremist account. He wrote, “Drop the PC shit and I’ll stop…. We’ll convert your children drag queen story hour loser’s running around loose. No zog [an antisemitic reference to “Zionist Occupied Government”] communist or liberal fake news media under Hitlers watch. Heil Hitler. [all sic]."
As ADL has consistently documented, right-wing extremist violence poses the greatest violent extremist threat to America. Of the 444 people killed at the hands of extremists over the past 10 years, 335 (or 75%) were killed by right-wing extremists. Of the 335 murders committed by right-wing extremists over the past 10 years, 73% were committed by white supremacists. ADL has also documented the links between white supremacist beliefs and violent misogyny.