^^ it sounds like this has been an ongoing thing with this guy...screaming and yelling like a lunatic in the parking lot. don't think it's a matter of anything particularly snapping, he just cray.

2/12/2015 5:00:08 PM

Quote :

"Its amazing how little is known about the actual events yet how much has been written on the Internets"

This is what's so infuriating. People sure of what happened and all...

2/12/2015 5:03:26 PM

Quote :

"There's a vigil being held at UCSB tonight by their Muslim Student Association, however their facebook event calls them "3 UNC students.""

For new page and to add that the title of the event insinuates that it was an on-campus incident. I messages the event coordinator, said thank you for honoring their lives but wanted to make sure they didn't start telling the world that there was another campus masacre (especially when UCSB already went through that last year: message_topic.aspx?topic=642173)

2/12/2015 5:20:36 PM

My wife got into it online with a friend of ours who attends UNC and is full of white guilt. She blamed a lot of this on white privilege, and when my wife responded that people of all colors have rage and anger issues, she was told to fuck off and that the discussion was over and any additional posts would be deleted. Way to be progressive and open to all thoughts and ideas.

2/12/2015 6:12:14 PM

Whoa guys don't jump to conclusion when the crazy white man executes 3 college students that happen to be Muslim. But please jump to conclusions when the big black kid gets his head blown off by a cop. Lets all believe this guy really shot these people in the head over a parking spot. #Sarcasm

2/12/2015 6:45:04 PM

^^ get some screen caps of that!

2/12/2015 6:49:23 PM

I wonder if this guy had a open carry permit?

2/12/2015 7:58:00 PM

Quote :

"This is what's so infuriating. People sure of what happened and all..."

Like most events of this nature, few people care about the victims. The most important part of any tragedy is figuring out how to shoehorn some narrative to fit your worldview.

If I had to guess, I would say that the parking dispute was the trigger, and the guy hated them even more because they were evidently muslim.

Quote :

"I wonder if this guy had a open carry permit?"

Is that even a thing? I thought open carry was allowed in NC with no permit, as long as you're not a felon/on probation and an adult.

[Edited on February 12, 2015 at 8:16 PM. Reason : ]

2/12/2015 8:15:37 PM

Quote :

"Like most events of this nature, few people care about the victims. The most important part of any tragedy is figuring out how to shoehorn some narrative to fit your worldview."

This. Ultimately led me to delete my Facebook account.

Dude was banned from calling tow company:

http://www.wral.com/chapel-hill-murder-suspect-was-banned-from-calling-towing-company/14443091/

2/12/2015 8:18:15 PM

Quote :

"46-year-old paralegal student"

Seriously?

2/12/2015 8:29:02 PM

Quote :

"I wonder if this guy had a open carry permit?"

In NC no permit or license is required to open carry. I personally don't think its over reach at all to require some sort of training to carry a gun around, but that's what the rules are.

You have to take a class to concealed carry that involves qualifying to shoot, gun laws, and gun safety. Its very affordable.

2/12/2015 8:32:43 PM

2,000 retweets, ladies and gentleman.

2/12/2015 8:32:54 PM

d'oh


Brain fart

2/12/2015 8:39:28 PM

people are murdered all day everyday for so many reasons. We are told that everyone is equal and to not 'see' race.

Yet, this story makes national news due to the race and religion of the victims. The news media and the people that eat it up should be held accountable. But we all know this, and it will never happen. Dumb people are dumb.

Why does it matter why he killed them? Hell, kids get killed for their Air Jordans. If you kill someone, you should be hanged in the street the next day.

2/12/2015 10:41:40 PM

But what about the wrongfully convicted murderers. The chance of a mistake is why the death penalty should never be used.

2/12/2015 11:06:15 PM

Has anyone read the "gun toting atheist Facebook" page? He sounds like a fucking nut job.


He wont have to worry about parking a car the rest of his life though!!!!!!!!!!!!


Also, his wife is divorcing him, guess she does not want to be associated with how much of a piece of shit he is.

2/12/2015 11:11:38 PM

^^^
It matters because there is a trend with crimes against brown people and demonization of Muslims. Just look at any of the hate crime statistics and you'll see we still haven't returned to pre 9/11 levels. This is a unique problem to general crime, and should be treated separately.

People weren't being unreasonable to assume this was a hate crime, that's a far more reasonable assumption than parking dispute, even if it turns out not to be the case.

[Edited on February 12, 2015 at 11:12 PM. Reason : ]

2/12/2015 11:12:34 PM

Quote :

"that's a far more reasonable assumption than parking dispute, even if it turns out not to be the case."

Does this person seem like a reasonable person to you? He's constantly in the parking lot screaming like a lunatic at people about parking issues...the freaking tow company banned him from calling in for tows. He always goes to confront people about parking issues with a gun on his hip?

These facts tied with the lack of any of the common anti-Islam bullshit that's commonly all over Facebook being absent on his active page?

I think it's a little too soon for such assumptions. Let's wait for more facts to come out.

2/12/2015 11:36:42 PM

From Thumbheads FB

Quote :

"“When it comes to insults, your religion started this, not me,” he wrote, without specifying a religion. “If your religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I. But given that it doesn’t, and given the enormous harm that your religion has done in this world, I’d say that I have not only a right, but a duty, to insult it, as does every rational, thinking person on this planet.” Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/11/4548732/chapel-hill-neighbors-describe.html#storylink=cpy"

2/12/2015 11:37:54 PM

Quote :

"Many of the condominiums in the complex are rented or owned by students and recent graduates at UNC, whose campus is about three miles away. Hicks had less success: Unemployed and driving a 15-year-old car, his wife said he's been studying to become a paralegal."

2/12/2015 11:45:47 PM

^^ Could have been Christianity...from the little bit I've seen, he seemed to hate both equally.

The lead-in for that quote:

Quote :

"On his Facebook page, Hicks posted a confrontational message that appeared to address anyone who held a religious belief."

2/13/2015 12:01:09 AM

So I think I found where the murder occurred by searching the tax records and other property records. It looks like the victims lived right next door to thumbhead. It appears thumbheads wife bought her condo in 1997, prior to marrying thumbhead, his name is not even on it and its listed in her previous name. (270 SUMMERWALK CIR)

The victims parents bought the one in which they were living in summer of 2013, probably for them to live in while going to dental school. (272 SUMMERWALK CIR)

https://www.google.com/maps/place/272+Summerwalk+Cir,+Chapel+Hill,+NC+27517/@35.8965458,-79.008878,145m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89ace82fca77d4f1:0x56839f63cf25a0a9

If you look at the layout of the community there is not even close parking, it appears there are parking lots to the sides of each building. The news is saying each unit got one assigned space, which makes sense, but the rest would seem to be open season, especially since these are 2 bedroom, 2 bath condos.

Just by looking at this it seems that it would be easy to park in the wrong space since they all look the same and are not even near the doors to the units.

Basically thumbhead was the de-facto parking police, despite not even being an owner, not listed on any deeds, and only a resident because his wife was letting him freeload off her while going to paralegal school. He also was banned from requesting any more tows because he called so much and complained. Barnes Towing said they would not respond when he called anymore.

2/13/2015 12:18:40 AM

[Insert George Zimmerman reference here]

2/13/2015 1:28:23 AM

Quote :

"Hicks' ex-wife, Cynthia Hurley, told The Associated Press that, before they divorced about 17 years ago, his favorite movie was "Falling Down," the 1993 Michael Douglas film about a divorced, unemployed engineer on a shooting rampage. "That always freaked me out," Hurley said. "He watched it incessantly. He thought it was hilarious. He had no compassion at all.""

OK, watching it "incessantly" would be weird, but "Falling Down" is an excellent and hilarious movie.

2/13/2015 2:42:22 AM

Anyone else hear Story Corps on NPR this morning? They had an interview one of these girls that got killed with their teacher/principal growing up, interview was from about a year ago. You can listen to it here: http://storycorps.org, warning, brings the feels

2/13/2015 7:19:51 AM

As a general statement about our nation, it's astonishing how high the tension gets for apartment parking.
I have no sympathy for people throwing fits because they have to park a little further away.
But the design of many places make it unparkable during times of high demand.
In those cases, people's lives sort of revolve around the parking situation.
It's not pleasant to find out that you just can't go home. And the rest of the town doesn't have free parking.

It's a very unpleasant factor of culture in general.
You have a neighbor, but the only relevance to you is the fact that you compete for the same parking.
Then, emotionally unstable people simmer on those conflicts which should be trivial...

2/13/2015 8:37:41 AM

Hahaha, on GOLO the typical poster is usually quick to say that people should be responsible for their actions, no excuses. However, for some reason, in this instant, they seem quick to make excuses for the shooter. I wonder why?

Quote :

"Basically, the man was bullied. He just wanted to come home and have a peaceful evening and what would he find day after day? A car in his spot. And I'll venture to guys parking is limited, too. It was so bad that to towing company would not help. So the anger just grew. He was backed into a corner with nobody doing anything to help. He might be older, but this is exactly the behavior we've seen with kids bullied at school. If people hadn't mistreated him repeatedly by parking in his spot, he likely wouldn't have lost it that day.-Alexia Proper Feb 12, 10:52 p.m. "

Quote :

"Melvin Denis Feb 12, 9:45 p.m. Once his neighbors learned he could not get their cars toed they continued to throw gasoline on the fire by parking in his assigned spot. What is the matter with people not following the rules. Look what a sad thing happened because of their disregard for simple rules. Of course this doesn't justify his actions. I doubt this would have happened just because they were Muslim without this continuing parking incident . When he paid rent it included his parking space. If the management doesn't want to do anything about violators they should do like many complexes do. Have NO assigned spaces. First come first serve and there is no reason for confrontation."

Quote :

"Scott Wharton Feb 12, 9:10 p.m. That's what it looks like, Christopher Rose. Once the other residents knew that he was banned from calling the towing service, they probably figured it was open season and he couldn't do anything about it. Sounds like poor property management services at this apartment building. Could they have posibly prevented this by enforcing reserved parking rules? Maybe, maybe not."

Quote :

"David Hartman Feb 13, 8:03 a.m. Imagine this going on for months, or longer with the 'victims' blatantly disregarding the rules; almost taunting him. How many of us 1) Would be so inconsiderate as to keep on doing this 2) to a man that shows up with a gun strapped to his waist telling us to stop parking in his spot? These people certainly weren't the 'victims' the MSM wants them to be."

Quote :

"Ncsu Ninetytwo Don't understand what kind of people repeatedly take the reserved parking spot from an angry man with a gun in his belt?................Darwin"

Has it even been verified that they were actually parking in his officially assigned spot?


[Edited on February 13, 2015 at 8:59 AM. Reason : ]

2/13/2015 8:50:40 AM

^ what a fucking cesspool of humanity

2/13/2015 8:58:58 AM

^^Not that I've heard.

Actually, it from what I've read, it seems like they were parking in their parking spot + 1 visitor spot. The Fuzzy Thumb was getting pissy over the visitor spot.

2/13/2015 9:00:52 AM

Hate crime or nutjob, those golo comments are retarded. I don't think there is any rational way to defend this guy. I think it is quick to jump to solely being a hate crime, but this guy, if nothing else, was a bully, and it was probably only a matter of time before he snapped.

I'm sure that given his view of religion, the Muslim portion of this story was definitely a catalyst to the shooting, but not the only reason.

2/13/2015 9:04:34 AM

In brief, this case shows the staggering hazard of self-help, which many experts point to as the most common cause of murder.

Murder is rarely an act of selfishness. It almost always comes accompanied with a feeling of righteousness.
Even if that feeling only persists long enough to pull the trigger, it's the neurological basis for most violence.

2/13/2015 9:07:21 AM

Yea, but when that referenced self-help devolves into murder, there's obviously a screw loose somewhere. You're saying this guy was applying a sense of justice to the murder of 3 people over parking?

2/13/2015 9:16:52 AM

Yeah, I imagine their religion didn't help, but this really doesn't sound like this is a "hate crime" to me. I don't know the actual definition, but I would define a "hate-crime" as an assault that's carried out solely because of hate, with no other motive. The motive in this instance seems that it just was an angry nut-job with a gun with an unhealthy obsession about the parking situation in the complex.

[Edited on February 13, 2015 at 9:18 AM. Reason : ]

2/13/2015 9:18:13 AM

Ugh. Why would anybody waste time reading GOLO comments? Worse than Youtube comments.

2/13/2015 9:20:34 AM

because they're representative of the people living around us that we encounter every day. and representative of a pretty large segment of americans in general. they recently required posters to sign in with a facebook account, but it doesn't seem to have stopped the stupid.

[Edited on February 13, 2015 at 9:33 AM. Reason : ^why would a supposed ASU fan read and post on a NC State message board?]

2/13/2015 9:25:08 AM

I thought for sure that would cut down on the more outrageous posts. I guess people don't care if they post something that might eventually lead to the loss of a job or credibility.

2/13/2015 9:27:34 AM

Quote :

"Why would anybody waste time reading GOLO comments?"

+1

Quote :

"why would a supposed ASU fan read and post on a NC State message board?"

Quote :

"because they're representative of the people living around us that we encounter every day"

I don't encounter people like that IRL every day. We must not frequent the same places.

2/13/2015 9:41:17 AM

Quote :

"You're saying this guy was applying a sense of justice to the murder of 3 people over parking?"

That's exactly what I'm saying.

In a "culture of honor", it isn't only possible, but extremely common to get killed over looking at someone the wrong way.
This has been borne out in many times throughout history, and the event that brings it about is always the same
- a breakdown of the legitimate authority, or at least the perception of that.
In those cases, we see a fast disconnect between the severity of a slight and the retaliatory action taken against it.
The murder's motivation isn't that his parking spot was taken.
His motivation was that he has lost control and that he will be continuously disrespected with no legitimate authority enforcing rules.
The guy had already beaten the rules like a dead horse.

It it looney? Yeah. But it's a staggeringly common form of lunacy.
When people convince themselves that maintaining order is their own job, there will be bodies.

2/13/2015 9:42:04 AM

Quote :

"I don't encounter people like that IRL every day. We must not frequent the same places."

If you go anywhere you're encountering people like this. You may not realize it, they may not be as vocal IRL, but they're everywhere. Do you go out to eat? To the grocery store? The gas station? Target? They're everywhere. Especially if you live in North Carolina and go outside of Raleigh,Charlotte, etc.

2/13/2015 9:45:54 AM

I think mrfrog has a valid point. At some point, Hicks must have thought 'it is my job to be the authority on this parking situation. I have to take control. I have to police this issue.'

2/13/2015 9:48:35 AM

/i must patrol this neighborhood

2/13/2015 9:50:17 AM

we must protect this house?

2/13/2015 9:53:12 AM

Quote :

"because they're representative of the people living around us that we encounter every day. and representative of a pretty large segment of americans in general. they recently required posters to sign in with a facebook account, but it doesn't seem to have stopped the stupid."

Yeah, it's pretty scary, honestly.

2/13/2015 9:55:29 AM

because this is a white guy, we will spend the next days or weeks investigating his motives and having a conversation about why this guy did what he did. that conversation would not happen if the situation was reversed, if this guy was an "other." if a person of color did this we wouldn't have a conversation about his motive, instead everyone would call him a "thug" and consider that reason enough and move one. If a Muslim committed this crime everyone would just decide that they are obviously a radical Muslim and that explains everything. it is so much easier to understand crime when it is created by someone different than yourself, when you "other" people you dehumanize them and condense all of their actions and motivations into a pre-conceived understanding, you simplify them into a short description

2/13/2015 10:12:36 AM

The reason his motives are going to be scrutinized is because the media is calling it a hate crime. Had they deemed it a pissed off guy shooting someone over parking, it would have been an open/shut case. Until we stop calling every incident involving a white guy committing crime against one of your "others" a hate crime, motives will be scrutinized.

2/13/2015 10:19:17 AM

BLAME THE MEDIA

2/13/2015 10:27:47 AM

I think the media is doing a pretty fair job covering this. If you're talking about media jumping to the assumption this was a hate crime, it's places like the Independent and its staff. Those people have already made up their minds and you're not going to change it. When you establish evidence that it could merely have been a parking altercation, they concede 'it could be both.' That's how they roll. It's really not helping.

2/13/2015 10:36:08 AM

[Edited on February 13, 2015 at 10:42 AM. Reason : oops]

2/13/2015 10:42:23 AM

Maybe he is innocent

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

2/13/2015 10:47:52 AM

He was probably banned from calling the tow company because he's a racist.

2/13/2015 10:59:13 AM