In the Worldview of the San Diego Mosque Shooters: Technology is a Threat
By Jordyn Abrams
Jordyn Abrams writes that the San Diego mosque shooters, in addition to bigotry, were driven by an anti-technology extremist ideology.
The San Diego shooters’ manifesto undoubtedly includes an eclectic mix of ideologies: references to neo-Nazism, incel culture, nihilism, and more. The two teenagers who wrote it, Caleb Vazquez and Cain Clark, killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego on May 18, before turning their guns on themselves. They left behind the manifesto and live streamed footage of their attack.
Under explored in their rationale for the attack is their strong fear about the threats posed by technology. Anti-technology extremism has already manifested in recent months as being the rationale behind the attack in Indianapolis on a city councilman who backed a local data center, as well as the Molotov cocktails thrown at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s house in San Francisco. This growing anti-tech ideology needs to be tracked and understood.
From Christchurch to San Diego
The San Diego shooters’ manifesto shows they were inspired by Brenton Tarrant, a New Zealand man who killed 51 people at an Islamic center in Christchurch in 2019. The teenage shooters identified themselves as the “sons of Tarrant.” Tarrant livestreamed his attack, as did the San Diego copycats. The first part of their manifesto seems to be Caleb Vazquez’s, while the second part switches to Cain Clark.
One theme present in both Tarrant’s and the San Diego shooters’ manifestos is their self-described support for “ecofascism.” This ideology, as interpreted by the far right, is a belief that the “overpopulation in the Global South is causing the over-use of resources, increasing immigration to the West, and thereby furthering the environmental despoliation and degradation of ‘white’ homelands.” The ideology combines replacement theory, historically present in other attacker manifestos, with nationalism and environmentalism. Ecofascists often seek to roll back technology to promote the creation of a new global system that implements “a fascist ‘natural’ and ethno-pluralist order where white men sit at the top echelon of this ‘natural’ hierarchy.”
Indeed, in Clark’s section of the San Diego manifesto, he writes that “sabotage of the industrial complex” is the “first step” to freeing mankind of the current system. He goes on to discuss the importance of restoring the “natural order,” which is aligned with ecofascist ideology.
The Anti-Technology Extremist Sentiments
While much of the San Diego shooters’ manifesto was a recast of the ideology present in Tarrant’s writing, what is added may demonstrate the increasing influence of anti-technology sentiments. For example, the section of the San Diego manifesto written by Vasquez notes that Vice President J.D. Vance is “best buddies with the CEO of Palantir,” referencing the close relationship between Vance and Peter Thiel, who owns the software company. Vasquez continues that if Vance becomes President, the U.S. will resemble the dystopian Orwell novel 1984 and explicitly states that “nobody likes a Big Brother surveillance state.”
Vasquez’s section also uses the term, “AI slop.” Content that is created through artificial intelligence (AI) that is obviously fake, disingenuous, or simply poorly done, is often referred to as “slop.” The increase in this type of content, due to the broad accessibility of AI, even made “slop” Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year. Given the ecofascist ideology and the references to companies like Palantir, the use of the term “AI slop” in the San Diego manifesto can be viewed as an expression of anti-technology sentiment.
Perhaps, in some ways, the inclusion of anti-technology extremism in the myriad of ideologies expressed in the San Diego manifesto is confirmed by the teenager’s reverence for Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Kaczynski was concerned with the developing industrial society, and in 1978 began bombing institutions and individuals he perceived as symbols of these technological advancements. Famously, in 1995, Kaczynski, who was unknown to authorities at the time, threatened to kill again if his manifesto wasn’t published in the Washington Post and New York Times—who both complied.
“Industrial Society and Its Future,” thus, continues to be relevant as a modern example of pure anti-technology extremism. Vasquez included Kaczynski’s writing as a “good read” among other extremist documents, like the “Turner Diaries” and “Mein Kampf,” present in the manifesto. Both San Diego attackers cite Ted Kaczynski as someone who inspired them, albeit, for Vazquez, as an “honorable mention.” For his part, Clark dedicates a section of his manifesto to “the Industrial Complex,” echoing Kaczynski’s ideologies and stressing the importance of destroying it. Both San Diego shooters demonstrate a connection to Kaczynski and use ecofascism as a means to fuse environmentalist goals and an anti-tech focus with their hateful ideology.
Looking to the Future
The San Diego attack is a tragedy. And it’s clear that Christchurch, which happened seven years ago, continues to have an enduring legacy, particularly online. This is also true of the anti-technology views of Kaczynski. Although technology was not the prime target in Christchurch or San Diego, it’s important to understand how anti-tech ideology influenced the attackers.