Behind the Bastards – It Could Happen Here Weekly 220

Date: February 21, 2026
Host: Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

Episode Overview

This episode is a special compilation of recent It Could Happen Here dispatches from Cool Zone Media, tying together several major political, social, and historical discussions. The main themes are:

• The weaponization of recent mass shootings—especially the Tumbler Ridge, BC (Canada) and Pawtucket, RI (USA) tragedies—in online rightwing culture wars.
• The structure and roots of mass violence, online radicalization, and the social consequences of these events.
• International perspectives on atrocity, with an in-depth interview on the Bosnian war, the “Sarajevo Safari,” and post-Yugoslavian geopolitics.
• The history and logistics of general strikes, drawing parallels between early 20th-century China and current American labor struggles.
• Developments in US immigration policy, ICE public approval, and shifting American political dynamics under the Trump administration (2026).

Hosts and guests include Garrison Davis, James Stout, Mink, Mia Wong, Emily Simpson, Mick, and genocide researcher Giorgio.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tumbler Ridge School Shooting, Canada

(02:34–55:44)
With hosts Garrison Davis & James Stout; guest Lance, The Serfs

Incident Recap

• On February 10, in Tumbler Ridge, BC, 18-year-old Jessie Van Ruitzilar killed family members, then five students, a teacher, and herself at a local school. Two others critically injured. Tumbler Ridge: population 2,400—the country’s deadliest school shooting since 1989.

Media Reaction & Misinformation

• Immediate rightwing online mobilization weaponized the shooter’s transgender identity for anti-trans propaganda.
• James Stout [05:40]: “Far-right social media accounts…get retweeted by the US far right, which has a very corrosive effect.”
• False claims spread, including misidentifying innocent local trans individuals as the perpetrator, resulting in harassment.
• Online narration often inflates casualty counts, misrepresents the shooter’s motives, and creates fake statistics about trans mass shooters.
• Garrison Davis [12:26]: “You have all the stats on hand. But arguing about statistics when kids have died—you’re already starting to lose the emotional battle.”

Online Radicalization, Nihilism, and the "School Shooter Fandom"

• Jesse’s online footprint reveals a trajectory from mainstream gaming (YouTube, Roblox) into guns, drug abuse, and gore/true crime forums such as WatchPeopleDie.
• Garrison Davis [29:13]: “This forum essentially exists to desensitize people to extremely violent content that glorifies mass killings.”
• The "True Crime Community" or "school shooter fandom" is increasingly influential in recent shootings—evidence shows “copycat” behaviors and idolization of previous mass shooters, regardless of gender or ideology.

Mental Health, Marginality, & Social Decay

• Root causes explored: cycles of social deregulation, isolation, untreated psychiatric disorders, and the lack of structured belonging for at-risk youth on the margins.
• Garrison Davis [43:43]: “These are largely correlating factors, not causal forces…The common base factor is social disintegration and deregulation.”
• While rightwing commentators blame trans identity or medication, evidence points toward compounded alienation, poor mental health support, and online echo chambers.
• “Being trans is a marginal position in society, and the people who commit school shootings…are at the extreme end of marginal isolation.”

Policy & Prevention

• Improved social services, mental health care, and early intervention could help.
• Greater awareness needed of online “school shooter” subcultures and the true mechanics of radicalization and desensitization.

2. Bosnia, “Sarajevo Safari,” and War Tourism

(59:00–112:13)
Panel: Mink, Mick, Giorgio (genocide researcher), James Stout

Documentary & History Recap

• The “Sarajevo Safari” documentary uncovers claims that foreign “tourists” (including far-right figures from Italy, Russia, US, Canada) paid Serb forces to shoot civilians during the siege of Sarajevo (1992–96).
• Contextualized within the ethnic fracturing of Yugoslavia, the siege’s geography, and post-Cold War “clash of civilizations” rhetoric.

Western Complicity and Far-Right Solidarity

• Giorgio [69:02]: “Bosnian Muslims found themselves at the intersection of oppression. Western European right framed the war as a restoration of Christian Europe.”
• Leftist parties and NGOs also failed to fully support Bosniaks, favoring neutrality or anti-intervention stances.
• Serb/Croat propaganda cast Muslims as “Turks” or invaders, activating centuries-old European Islamophobia.

War Tourism Allegations

• The shock is not that the violence occurred, but that it became commodified “fun” for affluent foreigners.
• Ongoing trials (notably in Italy) attempt to bring perpetrators to justice, but survivors express skepticism and little sense of closure.
• Giorgio [98:52]: “The general mood among survivors is that no one cares about what happened to us. These films get awards, but…there’s skepticism about real justice.”

Lessons for Today

• Genocidal rhetoric and the creation of “others” recur globally (reference to Myanmar, Palestine, Gaza).
• Complicity and inertia by outside powers reinforce trauma and impede healing.

3. General Strike History: Shanghai 1925 and US Contexts

(112:24–137:20)
With Mia Wong; reference to previous Cool Zone/BtB work

Shanghai General Strike (May 30 Movement, 1925)

• Sparked by imperial occupation and police shootings.
• Rapid escalation: hundreds of thousands striking in solidarity against foreign control.
• Mia Wong [114:37]: "Things that were impossible the day before suddenly became commonplace."

Key Lessons

• General strikes unite disparate groups—but solidarity with business/organized crime is fragile and falls away when profit is threatened.
• Provisioning: Feeding/housing strikers is critical—financial support can break down if not planned for, undermining movements.
• State repression (executions, martial law) did not defeat the movement alone—internal divisions and material shortages did.
• The politicization of broad swathes of the population, even in defeat, reshapes future movements.

Relevance to Modern America

• Parallels to 2026 labor unrest, the Minneapolis general strike, and the need for mutual aid logistics (food, rent strikes, etc.).
• Real gains require building new structures of support and not relying on existing elites.

4. US Political & Immigration News: ICE, Public Opinion, and the 2026 Midterms

(137:20–164:26)
With Emily Simpson, James Stout, Mick, Mia Wong, Garrison Davis

ICE and DHS: Public Opinion Shifting

• Recent ICE actions and Trump’s immigration policies have led to collapsing public support for both.
• Emily Simpson [148:29]: “Six in ten Americans disapprove of what ICE is doing. Only about three in ten approve…more Americans support abolishing ICE than oppose it.”
• Democratic leadership remains rhetorically cautious (Hakeem Jeffries, e.g.), hesitating to embrace “abolish ICE” language despite voting to restrict or defund the agency.
• The progressive wing (AOC, others) is bolder—calls for abolishing ICE and DHS, linking it to broader state violence and overreach.

Political Landscape and Electoral Prospects

• Trump’s economic handling is deeply unpopular even among his base; Democrats likely to gain in the House but not by a landslide.
• Special elections show Democratic overperformance, but broad voter dislike of both parties means limited room for sweeping change.
• The possibility of election interference or further democratic decay remains, but GOP strategy assumes regular competitive elections will proceed.
• Mia Wong [173:33]: “We’re not going to have all of our problems magically solved by the midterms.”

Shutdowns, Agency Funding, and Immigration Enforcement

• Ongoing partial shutdown affects DHS, but most ICE/CBP activity remains funded and operational; impact felt more by other departments (TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard).
• Disarray and declining morale in Coast Guard and related agencies as resources are diverted for deportations and personal luxuries of Trump Cabinet officials.

5. Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Domestic Violence Shooting & Culture War Reactions

(184:33–192:43)
Reported by Garrison Davis

Case Details

• 56-year-old shooter’s attack at a hockey game targeted ex-wife and family in an act of domestic violence.
• The shooter was a transgender woman who was active on rightwing social media, with Nazi tattoos and conspiracy posts.
• Both left and right online quickly tried to appropriate the tragedy for their narratives: the right blaming “trans ideology,” the left pointing at MAGA/Nazi influences.

Analysis

• Garrison Davis [188:01]: “Everything about this person can be seen as an expression of antisociality.”
• Underlines the danger of using rare, individualized violence for culture war polemics, when factors like domestic violence and untreated mental illness are far more predictive than ideology or gender identity.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• James Stout [05:40]: “For a small little town of just over 2,400 people...it has to be beyond like a shell shock to go through something this horrifying and then deal with the international right wing apparatus.”
• Garrison Davis [09:09]: (Quoting victim’s mom) “Please, for the love of fuck, can you get your shit together so we don’t have to bring our kids up in a world full of hatred.”
• Giorgio (Bosnia) [69:02]: “The Bosnian Muslims...found themselves at this very peculiar intersection of oppression in which you had the Western European rights framing the war as a restoration of Christian Europe.”
• Mia Wong (On General Strikes) [114:37]: “Things that were impossible the day before suddenly became commonplace. People flooded into the streets...the world changed.”
• Emily Simpson [148:29]: “Six in 10 Americans disapprove of what ICE is doing...more Americans support abolishing ICE than oppose it.”
• AOC (on ICE) [157:07]: “We need to abolish ICE, and we need to have comprehensive changes to that data.”
• Garrison Davis (on Tumbler Ridge) [43:43]: “The common base factor...is that there’s social disintegration and deregulation.”
• Garrison Davis (Pawtucket shooting) [188:01]: "Everything about this person can be seen as an expression of antisociality."
• Giorgio (Bosnia, on justice) [98:52]: “The general mood among survivors in Bosnia is that no one cares about what happened to us...there’s this sense of, okay and now what?”

Timestamps: Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |----------------|-----------------------------------------------| | 02:34 – 55:44 | Tumbler Ridge shooting, media, online radicalization| | 59:00 – 112:13 | Sarajevo documentary, Bosnian genocide, far-right “war tourism”| | 112:24 – 137:20| 1925 Shanghai General Strike, labor dynamics | | 137:20 – 164:26| US political news: ICE, immigration, polling | | 184:33 – 192:43| Pawtucket shooting, culture war exploitation |

Tone & Style

• Direct, unflinching, but compassionate for victims and marginalized groups.
• Analytical, empirical, and skeptical of simplistic “both sides” rhetoric.
• Humor and bleak irony (especially in political analysis), but always with a sense of urgency regarding real-world stakes.

Summary

This episode of It Could Happen Here provides a sobering, multi-perspective analysis of how mass violence, historical atrocities, and culture wars intersect in today’s media and politics. The hosts deconstruct how both right and left attempt to manipulate rare acts of violence for ideological gain, while the roots of societal breakdown—alienation, the failure of social services, and toxic online milieus—are largely neglected. International parallels, from Bosnia to China, highlight that mass suffering is often enabled by outside indifference, opportunism, and the failure to reckon with marginalization and systemic violence. The episode’s closing segments urge listeners to resist political fatalism, push for abolitionist reforms, and remain vigilant in the face of media’s exploitative cycles.

Final Notable Moment:
Mia Wong [137:20]: “People have fought our struggles before. People have fought, fought and died and won to stop the reign of men with guns over our cities. And if we learn the lessons of both their time and ours…we can win. Conscience, history, and the cries of the suffering demand it.”