{"id":7193,"date":"2018-04-04T07:02:39","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T15:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/?p=7193"},"modified":"2018-04-09T07:06:21","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T15:06:21","slug":"youtube-shooter-was-a-vegan-activist-but-peta-and-other-animal-rights-groups-dont-claim-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2018\/04\/04\/youtube-shooter-was-a-vegan-activist-but-peta-and-other-animal-rights-groups-dont-claim-her\/","title":{"rendered":"YOUTUBE SHOOTER WAS A VEGAN ACTIVIST, BUT PETA AND OTHER ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS DON\u2019T CLAIM HER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BY\u00a0KRISTIN HUGO<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>

Updated\u00a0<\/em>|The\u00a0identity<\/a>\u00a0of the suspect who allegedly opened fire at YouTube headquarters Tuesday has revealed a bizarre social media user with a hatred of YouTube and a love for animals. But animal rights and welfare organizations claim to hardly know her, and there\u2019s no indication that she was a prominent member of the animal rights community.<\/p>\n

Nasim Najafi Aghdam had major issues with the video platform YouTube, accusing them of censoring, restricting\u00a0and\u00a0demonetizing her videos.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what they are doing to vegan activists and many other people who try to promote healthy, humane and smart living,\u201d she claimed in\u00a0one video<\/a>. \u201cPeople like me are not good for big business. For animal business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aghdam is suspected of using a\u00a09 mm Smith & Wesson handgun to shoot several people who she apparently\u00a0didn’t know personally<\/a>\u00a0at the YouTube headquarters in the Silicon Valley of\u00a0California. Three people were in the hospital after the attack, including one victim in critical condition. After firing on others, she allegedly turned the gun on herself and committed suicide.<\/p>\n

So was Aghdam\u00a0affiliated with animal rights organizations like PETA, Mercy For Animals, Direct Action Everywhere, or the Animal Liberation Front? Donald Trump Jr. called Aghdam a \u201cliberal vegan PETA activist\u201d in a tweet Wednesday by\u00a0Donald Trump Jr.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span>@DonaldJTrumpJr<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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You think there\u2019s any chance whatsoever that a mass shooters hateful Instagram and YouTube channels would be pulled immediately if they were NRA members as opposed to liberal Vegan PETA activists? Asking for a few million friends in the @<\/span>NRA<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0He also wrote \u201cI look forward to the whole PETA has more mass shooters than the NRA conversations.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Donald Trump Jr.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span>@DonaldJTrumpJr<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Yup I look forward to the whole PETA has more mass shooters than the NRA conversations. I\u2019m sure they will cover that… right? https:\/\/<\/span>twitter.com\/markdice\/statu<\/span>s\/981386290959716353\u00a0<\/span>\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Aghdam appeared in\u00a0a 2009 PETA protest<\/a>\u00a0against the use of pigs in military experiments, but PETA denies further involvement.\u00a0\u201cShe appeared at a few demonstrations about nine years ago, but the phone number she gave did not work, and she did not contact us after that. We have not been in contact with her,\u201d PETA told\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0in a statement.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

PETA co-founder and President\u00a0Ingrid Newkirk wrote\u00a0on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday night: “Some people who SUPPORT assault weapons are excited that out of millions of PETA supporters one person did something awful. For the record, PETA\u2019s position is clear from this banner we\u2019ve displayed outside our DC office for a month, in solidarity with the Parkland students.”<\/p>\n

Another animal rights organization, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), is based in the same general area of California where the shooting took place. Matt Johnson, a spokesperson for DxE, told\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0<\/em>in an email, \u201cNo one knows who this person is, and she’s never (as far as I can tell) attended any DxE event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Animal Liberation Front has a more checkered history of damaging property and\u00a0leaving an incendiary device on someone’s doorstep, but there\u2019s no way to tell if Aghdam had any loyalty to them. \u201cNo one knows who is and who isn\u2019t part of the ALF, it\u2019s an underground anonymous organization,\u201d Will Hazlitt, a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, told\u00a0Newsweek.<\/em><\/p>\n

Part of the\u00a0ALF credo<\/a>\u00a0is that no harm should come to humans, so this couldn\u2019t have been under the ALF banner, Hazlitt said.\u00a0\u201cThis type of action would not be considered an ALF action since its primary objective is the injuring of people,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mercy For Animals did not immediately get back to\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0for comment.<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to include a statement from\u00a0Ingrid Newkirk.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00a0KRISTIN HUGO\u00a0ON 4\/4\/18 Updated\u00a0|The\u00a0identity\u00a0of the suspect who allegedly opened fire at YouTube headquarters Tuesday has revealed a bizarre social media user with a hatred of YouTube and a love for animals. But animal rights and welfare organizations claim to hardly know her, and there\u2019s no indication that she was a prominent member of the animal … <\/p>\n

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