Visual Literacy and the Sociology of Perception Paper Focus this week’s Five-Minute Paper on Frontline’s Merchants of Cool. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages

Visual Literacy and the Sociology of Perception Paper Focus this week’s Five-Minute Paper on Frontline’s Merchants of Cool.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/#_blank This PBS documentary — The Merchants of Cool — perfectly complements this week’s Group Presentation on Advertising & Marketing. Frontline’s documentary may appear to be “dated” but, in fact, it is an historical retrospective that stands the test of time. This important piece of research takes a scrutinizing look at the “creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America.” This documentary raises the question: are these “cool hunters” simply reflecting teen desires or have they begun to manufacture those desires in a bid to secure this lucrative market estimated to be worth $150 billion a year? Please share your thoughts in this week’s One-Minute Paper.

Also, be sure to review the Five-Minute Paper Rubric immediately below(in the files) before you begin writing so you know how you will be graded on this assignment.

Also follow the five min paper:

1. I was surprised to learn that…

2. My perception of this topic BEFORE today was…

3. One “impact” this issue might have on society is… Running head: CASE STUDY
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Case Study
Mark Velasquez
American Military University
24 July 2020
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Case Study The rise in Lone-Actor Terrorism in the United States of America and
Mental Health issues
Introduction
The rise of Lone-Actor Terrorism in the US has encouraged studies on what are the
leading factors that contribute to this act. Among them has been the idea of mental health
issues and how it can play a part as among the motivators of these crimes. This is someone
who perpetrates and commits crimes solely. They do this without any command or material
assistance from any group or leader. A lone actor terrorist may perform these crimes through
influence or motivation of the ideologies and beliefs of the external groups. In general
knowledge, a lone wolf is a term referred to as an animal or person who has isolated
themselves from any group within the social structure. Recent studies have showcased that
though rare, the recent increase in lone wolf terrorist attacks over the years has been
alarming.
This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of lone-actor terrorism and mental
prevalence in America. It looks into an analytical evaluation of these lone-wolf terrorists
attackers, their characteristics, and how they are shaped from the mental health spectrum. To
create and understand the outline of a lone wolf, I gathered the data from different cases of
terrorist attacks and analyzed them. The attackers’ cases, the aftermath, and the FBI
recommendations would help with understanding and comparing the data. The two case
studies looked into the characters of the lone wolf shooters to understand how their mental
state influenced their violent actions.
The two case studies involve the 2017 shooting in Las Vegas, which was entirely
done by Stephen Paddock. Another case study is the mass shooting in the Pulse Nightclub in
Orlando by Omar Mateen. This case studies will help provide the basis of the attack and offer
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an in-depth look into the lone-wolf attackers. They will help form the basis for mental health
analysis and the reason why these acts may be associated with mental health issues.
Case subjects
Case study 1: Stephen Paddock
Stephen Paddock is one of the notable cases in America Lone Wolf terrorism.
Paddock’s act is considered among the fatal terrorist attacks committed by one person in
America’s history. Paddock single-handedly fired into a crowd of twenty-two thousand
concert attendees in Las Vegas (Kumar & Bause, 2018). The shooting caused 59 fatalities,
including the shooter himself Paddock and 869 injuries. Paddock committed suicide by
shooting himself in the process. The most crucial issue in this all is the understanding of
Paddock’s background and what transpired to these shootings. This case study will look into
his early years, education, career, personal life, and up until the shooting.
Early life. Paddock’s birthplace was Clinton, Iowa, and was brought up in Tucson,
Arizona, and Los Angeles. Stephen was the firstborn and had three brothers. Stephen’s father,
Benjamin Paddock, was a bank robber who was arrested in 1960, and he escaped prison in
1969. The father was included in the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) most wanted list
(Ferell , 2017). Stephen spent the rest of his life apart from his father with his brother, stating
that Benjamin was never with their mom. In one of the police interviews between Stephen’s
ex-wife and the police, she expressed that the lack of his father in his life motivated him to be
self-reliant.
Career
Stephen attended school successfully up to the university level. He graduated from
California State University with a business administration degree. His later career was
defined by gambling and investments (Leefeldt, 2017). He first worked for the United States
Postal Service as a letter carrier between 1976 and 1978. He then proceeded to work at the
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Internal Revenue Service as an agent in 1984. In 1985, Paddock worked as an auditor at the
Defense Contract Audit Agency. He proceeded to work for another company, a company that
emerged from Lockheed Martin.
Paddock is reported to have owned a real estate business with his sibling. He owned
properties in Panorama City, Cerritos, and North Hollywood. It was stated that when Paddock
sold the real estate business, he was at least two million dollars rich (Johnson & Jervis, 2017).
Considered his valuable investments was an apartment complex that gave him $500,000 in
annual income and was purchased in 2004. When he sold the property in 2015, he made $5 to
$6 million in profits. Paddock loved gambling, and while it is not stated whether he profited
in it, Stephen was frequently seen in gambling places. Paddock loved playing video poker,
and he played it for 25 years.
Personal life
Paddock had two ex-wives. His first marriage was between 1977 and 1979, while his
second was between 1985 and 1990. Paddock’s family said he maintained and fostered good
relationships with his ex-wives and communicated with them often (Tavernise & Turkewitz,
2018). Stephen’s brother Eric stated he was not affiliated with any religious or political
ideologies of any kind (Hurtado Jacob, 2018). His girlfriend, a catholic, referred to Paddock
as an atheist. She added Stephen used to blame her for anything harmful that would transpire
after she made the sign of the cross. Investigations also indicated he talked less of politics and
expressed no interest in any pollical groups.
Paddock was known to complain about his health and was sensitive to chemical
smells. He resided in a retirement home between 2013 and 2015. He then moved Mesquite,
Nevada, in 2016. It was indicated in 2015, he purchased a new house and sold his home in
Melbourne, a two-bedroom apartment (Johnson & Jervis, 2017). Paddock spent several years
in Mesquite with his girlfriend. Many residents familiar with Paddock had stated; he was a
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man of fewer words and maintained a low profile. He was never seen involved in any gun
activities; neither did he attend gun clubs and shooting ranges. The gun owner community
confirmed this.
An Australian friend of Paddock recounted his meeting with him in North America
and the Philippines. The Australian praised Stephen as a sharp and calculated man. He said
Paddock talked of winning money in the poker games. According to him, Paddock used
different algorithms. He went ahead and stated Paddock’s conversation on gun laws and his
views on the Second Amendment (Leefeldt, 2017). The Australian regarded Paddock as
generous whenever they met. In 2010 Paddock got a United States passport, which he used to
travel. Stephen went traveled on cruise ships and visited foreign ports. His girlfriend
accompanied him in nine of the cruises.
Paddock had almost no interactions with law enforcement all through his life. The
only recorded encounter was an inconsequential traffic incident that happened a few years
prior to the shooting. Paddock was included in a court case that reported him suing
Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with claims that he slipped on the floor of the facility (Ferell ,
2017). The lawsuit was settled in October 2014. Before he committed the shooting, Paddock
was often reported to smell of alcohol in the early mornings and always looked sad. In 2013
reports indicated he had filled Valium prescriptions an anxiety drug later in 2016 and 2017.
Leading up to the shooting
It was indicated that the effects of Valium could be puffed up by the use of alcohol. A
clinical psychiatry professor also confirmed the impact of the drug at Columbia University,
Michael First (Johnson & Jervis, 2017). In an interview with KLAS-TV, a local affiliate of
CBS, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo stated that Stephen’s wealth was declining at a
considerable amount from the beginning of September 2015. The loss of wealth was the
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beginning factor in his depressive episodes. Paddock’s girlfriend stated she noticed a decline
in affection from him, but he claimed it was a result of his health.
Paddock began purchasing guns at an alarming rate from October 2016 to September
28, 2017. It is reported that he bought 55 weapons, with the common of them being rifles, as
reported by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Paddock also
increased the purchase of other weapons that were firearm-related before this. He is said to
have bought twenty-nine firearms between 1982 and September 2016 (Ferell , 2017).
Paddock’s lover stated she noticed the increase in his purchases of weapons but instead
believed his interests were based on hobbies. He suggested his girlfriend go back to
Philippines, her country of origin. This was two weeks leading to the attack.
The attack
Stephen purchased an airline ticket and later sent her a sum of $ 100,000, instructing
her to buy a house. It was established that they primarily depended on email and text
messages as their means of communication. Investigators reported sightings of him with
another woman who was a sex worker. After an in-depth investigation, the prostitute was not
found to be an ally in the attack, and her name was not revealed (Johnson & Jervis, 2017).
Two days before the shooting, a security camera captured Paddock driving to a secluded
place for targeted practice near his residence. This place is most likely considered where he
practiced his fires, and a home surveillance system recorded him.
A jailhouse interview was held with a former chef who had interacted with Paddock.
In his interview, he stated to have presented Stephen with the idea of selling him weaponry
tools. The chef noted that Paddock had expressed his views on anti-government conspiracies
regarding the Federal Emergency Management Agency and right-wing grievances (Johnson
& Jervis, 2017). These grievances included the Waco Siege and the Ruby Ridge standoff.
The chef added that Stephen felt the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s actions were
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a dry a motivator for the law enforcers to begin confiscating guns from the people. The chef
thought Paddock’s views were conspiracies from the internet and that he was one of the
internet ‘junkies’ who consume too much and believe too much of it.
On the 1st of October 2017, at around 10 p.m., Stephen opened fire. He opened fire
from his hotel room 32 to suite 135, Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. The crowd was show
attendees during a music festival. His shootings killed 58 people and Wounded 869 other
people in attendance on the Las Vegas Strip. Paddock then proceeded to shoot himself. It is
reported that Paddock carefully planned the attack he signed into the hotel a few days before
the shooting six to be precise on September 25 (Johnson & Jervis, 2017). Paddock had ten
shooting-range bags and a computer. He moved into another suite in the hotel, and they both
faced the Route 91 festival grounds. Twenty-three other rifles and one handgun were
discovered in his hotel.
The rifles which were quite expensive included 308-caliber Ruger American, 38caliber Smith & Wesson Model revolver, 223-caliber AR-15-type rifles, and eight other 308caliber AR-10. His arsenal had a hefty amount of ammunition. The ammunitions were in
specialized, powerful shooting range magazines (Johnson & Jervis, 2017). Through audio
recordings, it was concluded he used the many guns to fire rapidly at the crowd. Paddock,
had placed a camera outside his room, and the camera showed he had fired thirty-five rounds
that injured an approaching security guard. The shooting went on for ten minutes, and he
stopped, which is when it is believed he had committed suicide.
Paddock shot himself through the mouth, which killed him instantly. In the event, by
10:17, two law enforcers had already reached Paddock’s floor of the hotel. They were shown
Paddock’s door and were then followed up with eight other officers who began evacuating
guests from the building. Eight SWAT members then joined the team more than an hour
later; the law enforcers broke down his door (Johnson & Jervis, 2017). Using an explosive,
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they breached the door finding Paddock lifeless in his hotel suite with a wound from a selfinflicted gunshot in his head. The room Paddock was staying revealed evidence that indicated
his plans. This evidence showcased a well-calculated plan.
They found weapons in his room and a note. The note had written calculations on how
and where he would use his aim. The note indicated the place he would maximize his
accuracy and contained the actual distance to the target. Several laptops were also found in
the room, and forensic investigators found hundreds of underage pornography images on the
computers (Leefeldt, 2017). Ammonium nitrate, which is a chemical used in making
explosive weapons, was found at the back of his car. Also, in the trunk, one thousand six
hundred rounds of ammunition were found, including twenty-three kilograms of Tannerite
Investigators indicated Paddock’s interest in using these materials. Still, he never used them
in the shooting.
The police have reported that Paddock was the perpetrator of the violence and was
never assisted or worked for any terrorist groups. His motives remain a mystery to this day.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant alleged they were the perpetrators and that Paddock
had converted to Islam. United States officials investigated the claim, and no evidence was
valid for these connections (Leefeldt, 2017). The group had named Paddock as Abu Barr al
Amriki, but it was not proven. This being a part of lone-wolf terrorism questions have arisen
about his mental wellbeing. Concerns about the brain pathology of Paddock have risen. His
brain was sent to Stanford University to help understand whether it contained a pathological
condition.
After a long and careful analysis, the pathologists at Stanford found no abnormalities
that could have been presented in the brain. Many investigators have indicated that he may
have had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Bipolar disorder. The former may have been
contributed to by the obsession he had with cleanliness (Ferell , 2017). It was confirmed that
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when offered antidepressants, he rejected them and only took anxiety medication. Paddock
had a fear of medicine and refused to consume it. Psychologists have indicated him with an
association with alexithymia, which may have motivated his decision.
Omar Mateen
Omar Hadeen was a lone-wolf terrorist who committed one of the deadliest shootings
by a single shooter before the 2017 Las Vegas strip shooting. The attack, which occurred in a
gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, called Pulse on the 12th of June 2016, was all planned and
executed by Omar (Meyer, 2020). Before the shooting, Omar was under investigation by the
Federal Bureau of Investigations for links to terrorist groups between 2013 and 2014. Mateen
was cited in the Terrorist Screening Database but was later removed. Mateen’s motivations,
though, have many links to terrorism than mental illness still indicates an impairment in his
judgment, which may have been affected by mental illness.
Early life. Mateen was a first-generation immigrant of the United States born of
Afghan parents on November 16, 1986, in America, the state of New York. Omar’s father is
from Herat and an immigrant from Afghanistan who moved to America in the 1980s (Barry
et al, 2016). He became a naturalized citizen in the United States on November 17, 1989. His
father was an informant of the Federal Bureau of Investigations between 2005 and 2016.
Omar had three siblings, and his parents first settled in New York when they moved to the
United States.
Behavior in school
Mateen’s family was regarded as half Muslim and all American. In his early years,
Mateen began displaying his violent side. He attended Mariposa Elementary School, and his
third-grade teacher commented on his personality as very active, always moving, rude
verbally abusive, and used slurs that included violence and sex in to other children in his
class (Barry et al, 2016). When he reached seventh grade, he was transferred to another class
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to avoid conflict with the other children in his class. He had poor grades due to many cases of
behavioral issues.
A former classmate of Mateen regarded him as a bully who disrespected girls and
thought he was better than the rest of the students. Mateen’s parents were regarded as
unconcerned towards their son’s behavior while his father disrespected the female teachers.
Mateen’s father was always dismissive of the complaints about him (Meyer, 2020). A teacher
once wrote a letter to Mateen’s father regarding his behavior in 1999. Omar joined Martin
County High School in the year 2000. He was expelled from school when he was fourteen for
starting a fight in class. During this incident, he was temporarily arrested on the school
grounds, but charges were dropped, and he joined a substitute school for children with
behavioral issues.
While a sophomore in Spectrum, classmates stated that he was seen reassuring and
supportive of the hijackers in the September 11 attacks, saying Osama Bin Laden was his
relative and that he instructed him on how to use an AK-47. Mateen’s father later came to
pick him up and expressed his anger by slapping him on the face (Mazzetti et al, 2016).
Mateen was then suspended for five days nut still kept up with his antics with a shocking
moment in which he imitated an exploding plane after the September 11 attacks. Dan Alley,
who is a former dean of Martin County Highschool, stated that they tried to counsel by
showing him the errors, but it never came to fruition and resulted in the good they were
hoping for.
College and employment
Mateen’s father is also said to have failed in supporting the schools, and that he
always took Mateen’s side. Omar attended the Indian River State College. He attended the
college’s Criminal Justice Training program, and in one of the questionnaires that asked
whether he had been involved in an undetected crime, he admitted to it without providing
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details (Perez et al, 2016). Mateen earned an associate of science degree in criminal justice
technology in 2006 from the institution. In October of the same year, he started working in
the Florida Department of Corrections as a recruit and was allocated to Martin Correctional
institution. Mateen wrote a letter indicating his juvenile crimes.
Mateen was dismissed from being a corrections officer after he suggested coming
with a gun to his class after the Virginia Tech Shooting. He was suspended on April 27, 2007.
Mateen was employed at a British based security company G4S Secure Solution from
September 2007 (Mazzetti et al, 2016). In The Big Fix, a documentary about the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill martin was interviewed, and he expressed anger feeling that the people there
were being exploited and no one cares. The company confirmed that after screening Mateen
twice after being hired, there was no indication of any red flags. He needed a full psychiatric
analysis or a legally updated psychological test under Florida State Law.
The mishaps in screening
He was administered a psychological test that required him to agree or disagree on the
questions. The analysis included statements such as “occasionally, I think of bad things” and
“my souls leaves my body.” The state of Minnesota has a test that is used during job
evaluations and in court cases (Mazzetti et al, 2016). Carol Nudelman, a psychologist, tasted
Mateen. Carol denied meeting Mateen after it was established she cleared him for firearms
after an evaluation. Carol also stated she stopped working for the company in 2007.
Nudelman said she quit her practice in 2006 in the state of Florida. The company noted a
psychologist evaluated Mateen’s results, and he was not interviewed. The Florida Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Services filed a case against G4S for failing to provide accurate
testing information.
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