#TeaParty type person behind Austin shooting

Larry Steven McQuilliams, from his Facebook page.

As I suspected this morning on Twitter, the suspect in a downtown Austin shooting (nobody injured except the suspect, fatally), seems to be an anti-government person.

Knowing that Austin's federal courthouse and Mexican consulate had been targets of gunfire and possible explosive devices, just a week after President Barack Obama's speech on immigration, that wasn't too hard a guess to make.

And, now we know something about Larry Steven McQuilliams, who was wearing a vest suspected of either being a bulletproof vest or a suicide bomber's one, fired more than 100 rounds and started a fire at the consulate.

That's him in a Ren Fest costume. Doesn't take a lot of imagination to picture a tea bag tacked to that hat, does it?

The Austin American-Statesman (third link) reports that a neighbor and his Facebook page confirm antigovernment leanings. The Statesman notes that he spent time in the federal pen in Texarkana; on what charges is not yet known. He also reportedly had a 1992 arrest in Austin for aggravated robbery.

His Facebook page also has a photo-poster with a quote from the Dalai Lama advocating gun usage at times. (Yes, on the quote being real.) That's it, on the left.

BreitbartUnmasked has dug up several Facebook comments of his.

McQuilliams doesn't seem like a common last name.

And, Facebook turns up other people with that same name, from Wichita, where Larry lived before Austin.

However, none of them list him as a Facebook friend or vice versa. (It's possible they could have mutually scrubbed each other, of course.)

However, this link confirms that he is related to Aryvella McQuilliams, Landon McQuilliams, Virgil McQuilliams and a Robin Hughes.

Let's take Virgil McQuilliams, the "prize" of the bunch, first.

A copy of that photo poster was on his Facebook timeline on Nov. 23. (Facebook permalink to McQuilliams post.) There's other stuff on his feed talking about Obama's immigration amnesty program, claiming Obama is a secret Muslim, etc. You get the picture.

Virgil looks about the right age to be his brother, assuming that Aryvella is their mother. (Intellius lists her as male, for some reason.) Landon appears to be Virgil's son, and has nothing extraordinary, at least publicly visible, on his timeline.

Robin appears to be Virgin and Steve's sister. She has nothing the likes of Virgil, but both she and Aryvella do have a number of conservatively religious Facebook posts.

On Nov. 30, the Austin PD confirmed that his parents lived in Wichita and refused to talk to them. Given what I've mentioned above, I could assume that's Aryvella and husband Larry. And given everything we're learning (see updates, below), is that a surprise? But, I've not seen Steve, whose given first name is Larry, called "junior." At the same time, US Search, like Intellius, lists all these people as related, so, I'll stand by calling Aryvella and Larry his parents, and on the judgment call about the rest of the family tree.

USA People Search lists a Deana Hudson, 48, as a relative of Steve. Could have been his wife. Or, like Robin Hughes, a sister.

Another possible relative of his, an Eric Tyler McQuilliams, possibly either son or nephew, has both a state of Texas and federal history of drug charges.Other than a state habeas petition, though, I can't find anything about Steve in the federal court system; the Statesman noted his federal information was incomplete. Eric's name came up with his in federal records. However, Intelius does NOT list him and Steve as directly related. So, it may be a nephew, or a cousin, or a first cousin once removed or something.

Meanwhile, at least one Breitbart commenter (I posted this link in comments on a story of theirs that was trying to soft-soap his seeming anti-government stance) called this "propaganda." Yep, that's where wingnuts are at: truth = propaganda.

Update, Dec. 1: Without commenting on anything they've found on his family history, Austin police are confirming Steve McQuilliams had anti-African American views, along with conservative Christian anti-immigrant views. Wonder if he was involved with specific white identity groups.

Actually, per the Washington Post, it appears he WAS involved with just such a group, or a movement that wasn't organized enough to be called a group. Wikipedia has more on the Phineas Priesthood.

Note especially this part, from Wikipedia's page on the Phineas Priesthood:

Members of the Priesthood are considered terrorists for, among other things, various 1996 abortion clinic bombings, the bombing in Spokane of The Spokesman-Review newspaper, bank robberies, and plans to blow up FBI buildings. Four members of this organization were convicted of crimes including bank robbery and bombing, with each sentenced in 1997 and 1998 to life in prison.

Further proof, via a via negativa, that McQuilliams is a white supremacist? White supremacists are calling this a false flag.

Ties somewhat with Eric McQuilliams. Drug running is another way, besides bank robbery, of producing money for bombs and weapons. Plus, don't forget that 1992 robbery charge in Austin reportedly against Steve McQuilliams.

Beyond that, he was found with a list of 34 locations, including two churches, that police believe he had targeted.

Update, Dec. 5: I don't do this often, because I'm not a Gnu Atheist, but I get tired of these "God put me in the right place" types of nuttery. Officer Johnson, if god were really involved, then why didn't he prevent Steve McQuilliams from getting his guns and bombs in the first place?