FedEx Shooter Wrote Facebook Post About My Little Pony
The Claim
Brandon Hole, who killed eight people and then himself during a mass shooting at a FedEx in Indianapolis, was a brony.
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Emerging story
The claim went viral on social media following the April 15, 2021 shooting.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that not even an hour before the mass shooting, Hole posted on Facebook: “I hope that I can be with Applejack in the afterlife, my life has no meaning without her. If there’s no afterlife and she isn’t real then my life never mattered anyway.”
Applejack is a female Earth Pony from the popular cartoon My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.
Male adult fans of the show, or “bronies,” are part of an internet subculture that appreciates the show, whether genuinely or ironically. As early as June 2020, multiple media sources reported on a strange correlation between bronies and Nazis. The site Derpibooru, which hosts My Little Pony tribute art pieces, has published art that is seen by many as violent and racist. According to police, Hole had recently visited white supremacist websites.
Because Hole’s Facebook post references Applejack and his desire to be with her in the afterlife, but since thus far we don't know the extent of his involvement with brony subculture, we rate this claim as selective.
