Jared Lee Loughner left a series of postings and homemade videos that laid out a fervent, though largely incoherent, set of political views.
On YouTube, Loughner's profile listed Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's "The Communist Manifesto" and Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" among his favorite books, Washington Post reported.
He had posted on his Myspace page at some point a photograph of a United States history textbook, on top of which he had placed a handgun. He prepared a series of Internet videos filled with rambling statements on topics like mind control and SWAT teams, The New York Times reported.
In one video, titled "America: Your last memory in a terrorist country!," a figure in dark clothing and a smiley- face mask burns an American flag in the desert.
The videos also say that Loughner applied to join the US Army. The Army issued a statement yesterday saying that he attempted to enlist but was rejected for reasons that officials would not disclose.
Another video attacks the police at Tucson's Pima Community College, where he had been a student.
School officials said in a statement that Loughner attended the community college from 2005 until last fall, when he withdrew after disciplinary problems.The statement said that between February and September last year, campus police were called five times to deal with disruptions Loughner caused in classrooms and libraries. On September 29, the college said, it discovered that Loughner had posted a YouTube video he had made on the campus.
"In the video, he claims that the College is illegal according to the U.S. Constitution, and makes other claims," the college's statement said.
That day, two police officers delivered a letter of suspension to Loughner at his parents' house. On October 4, during a meeting with Loughner, his parents and college administrators, he agreed to withdraw, the college said.
Loughner's troubled past also includes a drug arrest, the Post said.Gabrielle Giffords, 40, the Democratic lawmaker from Arizona was shot in the head yesterday when Loughner allegedly opened fire outside a grocery store where she was meeting with constituents. Six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge were killed and 12 others injured in the incident.
Police said Loughner used a Glock 19 semiautomatic pistol to commit the crime. He also was carrying a knife.