As law enforcement continues to investigate Monday’s deadly attack at an Islamic center in San Diego that left three people dead and ended with the apparent suicides of the two suspected shooters, investigators say the suspects left behind a lengthy manifesto outlining extremist ideological views and apparent motivations for the attack.
The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert discussed the alleged 75-page manifesto of the suspected shooters, who have since been identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, during an appearance Wednesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Pappert said he has personally obtained the document believed to be the manifesto.
“So far, we have obtained this document. I have it in my possession…and it’s as unhinged and insane as you might expect,” Pappert said.
Although authorities have not publicly authenticated the document, Pappert noted that multiple outlets have reported that law enforcement sources are privately confirming its legitimacy.
“We do not know for certain that this manifesto, this document, is authentic. However, it’s been reported by multiple sources that law enforcement is privately confirming,” he said. “They’re not willing to go on the record yet, but they’re telling outlets that this is authentic.”
Pappert emphasized that the suspects appeared determined to ensure their writings and actions were widely disseminated online.
“They were inspired by previous mass shooters who have live streamed, who have written manifestos, who have published them online,” he said. “I think that a key difference here is they wanted this to be discovered and widely disseminated by the public.”
According to Pappert, the alleged manifesto was uploaded to a file-sharing website and distributed through social media prior to the attack.
“The way I understand that it was disseminated is, one of the killers, Caleb Vasquez, allegedly uploaded this to a file-sharing website online, and then put it on his social media,” Pappert explained. “They live-streamed a portion of the attack with the goal of it being seen by millions of people.”
Pappert contrasted the current federal response with the years-long legal battle surrounding the writings left behind by Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale in Nashville.
He acknowledged a major difference between how the Trump-era FBI is handling the San Diego case compared to the Biden-era response to the 2023 Covenant School shooting investigation in Nashville.
“The Trump administration has a different policy,” Pappert said. “They clearly do not want these files to be taken down.”
Pappert argued that withholding such documents can fuel speculation and misinformation.
“I think the Trump administration realized that by not putting out real information, or at least allowing the public to find it, you are allowing conspiracies and fabrications to spread,” he said.
Pappert also highlighted passages in the manifesto where the alleged author rejected association with mainstream American political movements while embracing extremist ideology.
“The killer [allegedly] writes, and I quote, ‘I’m certainly not left-wing, nor am I right-wing, especially not with MAGA or Trump. Politically, I’d call myself a third positionalist, specifically aligning with the most national socialism and eco-fascism,’” Pappert said.
“He says he’s a Nazi. He’s not left, he’s not right,” Pappert added. “It’s better for the public to see this so our country does not descend into turmoil. We can accurately see what this person believed and not blame left or right.”
Pappert further connected the San Diego attack to what the FBI has described as “nihilist violent extremism,” comparing the alleged manifesto to writings left behind by Solomon Henderson following the Antioch High School shooting in Tennessee.
“The similarities to the Solomon Henderson manifesto from Antioch High School are uncanny,” Pappert said.
According to Pappert, these extremist online subcultures glorify mass violence and seek notoriety through digital dissemination.
“This is, according to the FBI, a cult-like phenomenon that exists solely online where people are essentially worshiping death,” he said. “They love school shootings. They love bombings. Anything where an innocent person dies, they seem to worship this.”
Pappert also said the suspects appeared to carefully stage both the attack and their deaths for online audiences.
“What we know for a fact, what I’ve seen the still images of that purport to be their bodies, is that these suicides were filmed,” he said. “It sounds to me like they were playing to their online nihilistic audience.”
He warned that such extremist networks often preserve and circulate recordings of attacks among followers.
“One of the things that’s so disturbing about these NVEs, nihilist violent extremists, is they form cults,” Pappert said. “Now these two, their actions are going to be saved and scrapbooked and charted into a collection by these nihilist violent extremists.”
Pappert concluded by noting that modern extremist attackers increasingly appear focused on maximizing online notoriety.
“They are all about making their murders famous,” he said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X.
