# Breaking news: mass shooting at Gilroy Garlic Festival **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2019, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788 "2019-07-29T02:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/61 "2019-07-30T04:57:10Z")
News on where the shooter got his gun from the [Mercury News](https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/29/gilroy-shooting-gun-rifle-nevada/?utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Gilroy+shooting+suspect+purchased+AK-47-style+rifle+legally+in+Nevada%2c+police+say&utm_campaign=bang-mult-en-single-story-promo-en&utm_content=manual) > [@](#): > > The suspect in the deadly shooting at Gilroy’s garlic festival Sunday evening legally purchased his rifle in Nevada earlier this month and brought it across the state line even though it’s illegal to possess the weapon in California, authorities said. > > Santino William Legan, the 19-year-old believed to have killed three people and injured 12 others, was living with family members in Nevada when he purchased the “AK-47-type assault rifle” on July 9, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee told reporters Monday morning. > > Big Mike’s Gun and Ammo, a gun store in Fallon, Nev., about an hour’s drive east of Reno, posted a statement on its Facebook page confirming Legan purchased his gun there. And something about his background > [@](#): > > Legan comes from an established Santa Clara County family. His late grandfather, Tom Legan, was a two-term county supervisor, the sole Republican on the board at the time, and a former engineer and a Kaiser Cement executive. As a supervisor, Legan lost a re-election bid in 1988 after a jury acquitted him on charges of molesting a young female relative. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/62 "2019-07-30T05:04:15Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The NBC article says this: > > I’ve highlighted the bit you cut out, which ought to be relevant to anyone honestly trying to determine if he was a white supremacist or if his attack was motivated by white supremacist beliefs. He is hardly alone in being mad at Silicon Valley workers pushing up property values, though “misogynistic” implies he is mad at women which seems odd. However you can be hateful about two different things, you know. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/63 "2019-07-30T06:18:26Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > He is hardly alone in being mad at Silicon Valley workers pushing up property values, though “misogynistic” implies he is mad at women which seems odd. However you can be hateful about two different things, you know. The “misogynistic” phrase he used was “[Silicon Valley white twats](https://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/santino-william-legan-smokey-the-bear-ig.png?w=782&h=467)”. I’ll let you decide for yourself how “misogynistic” you think that usage was and how “mad at women” you think he was. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/64 "2019-07-30T07:03:47Z")
The usage of “twat” in US English has been drawing parallel to British usage, which bypasses literal misogyny. It is becoming a general-purpose word for people the speaker finds disagreeable. And, when you consider he said “_white twats_”, that is more indicative of a racist type, in that he felt the need to mention their whiteness (_they are betraying us_). ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/65 "2019-07-30T10:16:43Z")
I didn’t “cut” any sentence that I quoted. The article was maybe updated by NBC at the link, which I shared for anyone to read. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/66 "2019-07-30T14:02:46Z")
So why didn’t he just say “cuck”? ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/67 "2019-07-30T15:58:36Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’ve highlighted the bit you cut out, which ought to be relevant to anyone honestly trying to determine if he was a white supremacist or if his attack was motivated by white supremacist beliefs. I’m trying to get at your thinking here. Are you suggesting that if this shooter said something bad about white people, then that proves he was not a white supremacist? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/68 "2019-07-30T16:13:12Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > I’m trying to get at your thinking here. Are you suggesting that if this shooter said something bad about white people, then that proves he was not a white supremacist? Well, sure, white supremacists love and support all white people. It’s right there in the label. They would never say anything bad about white people, even about affluent whites who generally espouse views the white supremacists abhor and who dominate the local economy, to the detriment of marginally-educated whites. As long as you’re white, you’re good with the Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/69 "2019-07-30T17:35:11Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The article was maybe updated by NBC at the link Indeed it was, and timestamped a couple minutes after you posted the quote. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/70 "2019-07-30T17:57:06Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > I’m trying to get at your thinking here. Are you suggesting that if this shooter said something bad about white people, then that proves he was not a white supremacist? I think there’s very little that’s “proven” about the shooter’s motives or beliefs right now, but I certainly think that his statement denigrating white people generally undercuts the narrative that he was a white supremacist, which appeared to have scant evidence supporting it to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/71 "2019-07-30T18:12:40Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Indeed it was, and timestamped a couple minutes after you posted the quote. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/72 "2019-07-30T18:20:19Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think there’s very little that’s “proven” about the shooter’s motives or beliefs right now, but I certainly think that his statement denigrating white people generally undercuts the narrative that he was a white supremacist, which appeared to have scant evidence supporting it to begin with. Do you feel that someone who calls other white people “white trash”, cannot possibly be a racist, much less a white supremacist? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/73 "2019-07-30T18:21:30Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The usage of “twat” in US English has been drawing parallel to British usage, which bypasses literal misogyny. It is becoming a general-purpose word for people the speaker finds disagreeable. And, when you consider he said “_white twats_”, that is more indicative of a racist type, in that he felt the need to mention their whiteness (_they are betraying us_). I see it as an extra ugly and vulgar “white trash” in its usage in this case. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/74 "2019-07-30T18:25:59Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think there’s very little that’s “proven” about the shooter’s motives or beliefs right now, I agree that nothing is currently **proven** about his motives. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > but I certainly think that his statement denigrating white people generally undercuts the narrative that he was a white supremacist, which appeared to have scant evidence supporting it to begin with. The news article _you quoted_ includes the following pieces of evidence to support the hypothesis that the shooter was a white supremacist, which I’ve broken out into easily digestible chunks: [ul] [li]Legan posted “Read Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard,” on his Instagram page. [/li][li]“Might is Right” is filled with misogynistic and anti-Semitic rhetoric.[/li][li]“Might is Right” is a staple among neo-Nazis and white supremacists on extremist sites.[/li][li][Legan] used slurs against mixed-race people[/li][li][Legan used] misogynistic descriptions of white Silicon Valley workers[/li][/ul] With all that in mind, your instinct is to to make sure we all don’t rush to judgment in accusing this guy of being a white supremacist. Why? Do you think he is being unfairly tarnished? Do you think white supremacists might be unfairly tarnished by association with him? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/75 "2019-07-30T18:28:08Z")
Any word yet on the other suspect? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/76 "2019-07-30T18:43:51Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Do you feel that someone who calls other white people “white trash”, cannot possibly be a racist, much less a white supremacist? Let’s play “20 Questions” some other time and try to stay at least a little bit on topic. Unless the shooter called someone “white trash”, I don’t think your question is relevant to the thread topic. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/77 "2019-07-30T19:06:31Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The “misogynistic” phrase he used was “[Silicon Valley white twats](https://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/santino-william-legan-smokey-the-bear-ig.png?w=782&h=467)”. I’ll let you decide for yourself how “misogynistic” you think that usage was and how “mad at women” you think he was. It’s odd because there are fewer women making big bucks around here and thus driving up housing prices. I’d say he might have been an incel also but he was a tad young for that. BTW, I’ve heard many people call men twats to insult them. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/78 "2019-07-30T19:40:29Z")
Any information on the shooter’s prior history, disciplinary or otherwise? Such as: did he have a police record, was he an alum of Gilroy High School and did he have a significant disciplinary record there? How long was he a resident of Nevada and did he have residency in Nevada? I find it peculiar that a 19 year old, growing up in a bedroom community of Silicon Valley, did not have any meaningful social media history beyond an Instagram page created the day of his crime spree. IMHO, this is the action of a lone nut who grew up in the area, knew the Garlic Festival was the area’s biggest yearly event, knew how to try and sneak into the festival, had a life that was failing—especially compared to the rest of his family, one of whom is going to Santa Clara University and is trying for a spot on the Olympic Boxing team—and decided to lash out at a town he felt hated him. In short, like many of these other mass shooting, pieces of garbage. Shodan, AIUI, there was no accomplice. IMHO, witness accounts were conflating the rapid police response and gunfire with a second criminal gunman. I don’t know what helicopters after the shooting were looking for for multiple hours in the creek adjacent to the fairgrounds. Reports of additional shooting in tweets an hour or two after the Garlic Festival shooting, might be attributable to unrelated violence in the area. It’s been years since I lived near there, but Gilroy was getting a persistent gang problem at that time. Doubt it’s gotten better. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/79 "2019-07-30T19:50:50Z")
nm, we’ll discuss it elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788/80 "2019-07-30T20:15:53Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > …But I wouldn’t shed one tear if AR-15 and AK ammo were banned and possession of a single live round for them carried a mandatory minimum prison sentence. Wouldn’t solve anything like the vast majority of firearms deaths in the USA, but it would complicate the lives of domestic terrorists (who don’t strike me as sophisticated enough to mold & load their own ammo). And it’s the terrorism aspect of events like this that really get me. What is different about AR-15 and AK-47 ammunition? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-mass-shooting-at-gilroy-garlic-festival/837788.md?page=5)