YouTube Shooter Identified As Nasim Aghdam
As it turns out, Tuesday's shooting at YouTube headquarters (which has so far resulted in zero deaths other than that of the shooter, who committed suicide) had nothing to do with domestic violence and everything to do with blowback to YouTube's demonetization efforts - as many initially feared.
The shooter was identified as Nasim Aghdam who slammed YouTube for purportedly censoring her after she claimed that they demonetized her channels, including an exercise one devoted to exercise videos and another devoted to veganism. Aghdam channeled her anger toward YouTube into a paranoid manifesto published online. She wrote in her purported manifesto: "Be aware! Dictatorship exists in all countries but with different tactics! They only care for personal and short-term profits and do anything to reach their goals even by fooling simple-minded people, hiding the truth, manipulating science and everything, putting public mental and physical health at risk, abusing non-human animals, polluting the environment, destroying family values, promoting materialism and sexual degeneration in the name of freedom and turning people into programmed robots!"
"Manifesto" posted by animal rights activist and YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam
She identified herself as an Iranian activist as well as an animal rights activist. Shortly after she was identified, photos of her holding signs with anti-YouTube messages were found online and shared.
YouTube HQ shooter held a sign up decrying "YouTube Dictatorship" in 2017
Along with her now-deleted Instagram...
Instagram pages of YouTubeHQ shooter
...One now-deleted YouTube page bore anti-YouTube messages.
User page of YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam - just deleted
She recently published a video ranting about her treatment by YouTube, complaining that they'd deprived her of views. She said the practice was tantamount to censorship. She also maintained a website that remained live late Tuesday evening. It lists five channels for Aghdam.
And driving that point home, she published a video debating whether the US or Iran did more to protect freedom of speech.
Video of YouTube HQ shooter from 10 days ago asking if USA or Iran is better for freedom of speech https://www.instagram.com/p/BgxW8Mkl...by=nasimesabz1 …
A Facebook artist page she created had more than 1,600 followers according to a cached version from archive.org. The Facebook page contains a trove of videos. They range in subject matter from lighthearted and comical to recipes for helping people eat vegan, as well as her exercise videos.
Contrary to initial reports, ABC said Aghdam wasn't in a relationship with anyone at the facility (so much for those initial suspicions).
She did not have an ID badge, and was carrying a purse. Aghdam was apparently a prolific maker of YouTube videos, maintaining several accounts for videos of different subjects.
