Dayton shooting: What we know about the gunman's politics

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Before President Donald Trump visited Dayton, where a 24-year-old shot and killed nine people on Sunday, the president tweeted about the shooter's politics.

A day before that, FBI officials announced they were taking over the case. The FBI said the gunman, Connor Betts, demonstrated an interest in "violent ideologies" before the mass shooting.

Betts' family has not commented publicly about the shooting at Dayton's Oregon District that also claimed the life of their daughter, Megan, other than a statement saying they were "shocked and devastated" by what happened.

Dozens were injured in the shooting that occurred less than a day after another mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.

Here's what we know about the gunman's politics:

He was a registered Democrat. Trump said the gunman had supported Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and antifa, a militant group that protests far-right ideology.

Betts once showed video of a mass shooting to a woman on their first date, according to NBC News.

The Dayton Daily News reported he attended a May 25 Ku Klux Klan rally in Dayton as an armed counter-protester.

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Read: Police read statement released by family of Dayton, Ohio shooter Connor Betts

Twitter posts point to far-left political leanings

A suspended Twitter account features references to growing up in Dayton and selfies of Betts and his family. Neither officials nor family members have confirmed it belonged to him.

The account, created in 2013, was suspended late Sunday night. Before it was suspended, the account's Twitter bio said: "he/him / anime fan / metalhead / leftist / i'm going to hell and i'm not coming back."

Flowers and candles are laid at the scene of a mass shooting in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019.
Flowers and candles are laid at the scene of a mass shooting in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019.

A few days before the shooting, the Twitter user was concerned about the Equifax data breach.

He retweeted this: "Losing your personal information in a massive data breach is just a thing that happens now, like 110 degree days and regular mass shootings."

The last message posted to the account was a retweet: “Millennials have a message for the Joe Biden generation: hurry up and die.”

Photos of people beating up white supremacists and klansmen were retweeted from the account.

After Trump visited Cincinnati last week and blasted "left-wing extremists," the account retweeted an account mocking a Trump supporter who claimed he had $1,500 stolen from him.

"Stealing from right wingers is praxis," or common practice, the tweet said.

Gunman talked politics and guns

In the days following the shooting, former classmates spoke about violent incidents in Betts' past. But they also spoke about his love of politics.

In high school, he was known to talk about politics and would frequently trash Republicans, according to the Washington Post.

Dayton resident True Hoffman, who attended Sinclair Community College at the same time as Betts, said: "He had always talked about guns. He said he wanted to make a change with guns."

Follow Keith BieryGolick and Cameron Knight on Twitter: @KBieryGolick and @ckpj99.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Dayton shooting: What do we know about Connor Betts' politics