Wanna dress like the guy who shot Trump? Sleazy T-shirt companies have you covered | Opinion
Did you ever see an item for sale on the Internet that is so sick and twisted that you find yourself hoping it’s a scam, and that everybody who orders one gets their bank account drained and their computer locked up by malware?
Well, let me introduce you to the “Thomas Matthew Crooks Demolition Ranch logo shirt.”
For the low, low price of $29.99, you can dress like the 20-year-old loser who loaded up Daddy’s AR-15 and tried to kill Donald Trump, shooting a piece off the former president’s ear.
This isn’t something I found searching some dark corner of the dark web.
Google brings up multiple offerings of T-shirts like the one 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks wore in his assassination attempt Saturday at a Trump rally in Pittsburgh, an attack that killed one bystander and critically injured two others.
If you zoom in on stills of Crooks’ body lying on the rooftop from which he winged Trump’s ear (and there are many who did), you can see that he’s wearing a branded T-shirt with the logos of the YouTube video channel “Demolition Ranch.”
The channel is run by a guy from Texas (where else?) named Matt Carriker, who has amassed 11.6 million subscribers by vidoeing himself shooting exotic weapons and blowing stuff up for fun and entertainment.
In fact, in their unending war for keyword clicks, several online T-shirt vendors simply substituted Crooks’ name for Carriker’s in their online pitches for Demolition Ranch gear.
See this example:
“By wearing the Thomas Matthew Crooks Demolition Ranch logo shirt, fans of the channel can proudly express their admiration for Crooks’s unique blend of science, humor, and adrenaline. Whether you’re engaging in your own backyard adventures or simply showing your support for the Demolition Ranch crew, this shirt is a perfect way to embrace the spirit of explosive entertainment and ignite your own sense of adventure.”
(If your “sense of adventure” includes attempted political assassinations).
Or this:
“Get cozy in this shirt. This stylish shirt pays homage to Thomas Matthew Crooks, the esteemed founder and owner of the Demolition Ranch, a popular YouTube channel showcasing explosive and entertaining experiments. The shirt features a striking design inspired by the iconic “Demolitia” logo, embodying the adrenaline-fueled spirit of the ranch.”
(They don’t say who you’d be getting cozy with, dressing like a dead would-be assassin and casual murderer. I’d be worried.)
Or this:
“Wear the Demolitia Thomas Matthew Crooks Demolition Ranch Shirt to spark conversations and share your passion for explosive entertainment. Its eye-catching design will attract attention from fellow fans, making it an ideal icebreaker at gatherings.”
(If your idea of “ideal icebreaker” is risking getting punched in the face.)
You’ll note that I didn’t name or hyperlink any of these sites. Anybody who’d want to dress like Crooks has to have something deeply wrong with them, and I’m not going to feed their fetish.
But I will offer this observation: Thomas Matthew Crooks is part of the first generation of children who grew up on a steady diet of school mass shootings, coupled with websites like Demolition Ranch glorifying irresponsible use of heavy weaponry, and politicians peddling the notion that the solution to violent crime is always more and bigger firearms on the street.
Crooks was about 12 when Trump was elected president, and seven when Carriker started Demolition Ranch.
And for the record, Trump was surrounded by lots of “good guys with guns.” The only thing that saved him was that Crooks’ aim was off by a couple of inches.
Meanwhile Carriker is trying to play victim.
Carriker posted on X (where else?) “Last night was crazy… I’ve got news stations calling me asking if I ever spoke with the shooter… what… the… hell”
I don’t feel sorry for him, not even a little bit. Whether he ever spoke to Crooks is immaterial. Channels like his that glorify gunplay are a big part of the problem.
Carriker, a veterinarian, should spend more time giving rabies shots and less making videos for his rabid followers.
And T-shirt vendors should go exploit something other than attempted assassination.
