The media grinds its preferred narrative.

Patrick Poole points out at PJ Media how the media has been quick to follow the meme developed by family and friends of the Chattanooga killer. That meme is that he was mentally ill, drug-addicted, depressed, a troubled youth with financial debts. Poole writes, however,

But wait a second. Did they just say that going back to 2013, he wrote about “becoming a martyr,” which ABC News quickly translates into him having “suicidal thoughts”?

Well, that’s one way to spin it, I guess.

They also quickly leap over this important point:

The gunman who killed five American troops in a Chattanooga shooting spree last week did online research for militant Islamist “guidance” on committing violence that he may have believed would wipe away in the afterlife his sins on earth including drug and alcohol abuse, an arrest and a lost job, officials said on Monday.

So since 2013 he had written about “becoming a martyr,” and also he had conducted online research for Islamic “guidance” for committing violence.

But it wasn’t just any “guidance” he sought, but the teachings of al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who the U.S. killed in a drone strike in September 2011, the New York Times reports:

The authorities who were examining Mr. Abdulazeez’s computer found that he had viewed material connected to Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American-born cleric who was killed in Yemen by an American drone strike in 2011, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation.

And yet that tidbit was also buried by the New York Times underneath the family’s claims of mental illness, clinical depression, drug use, financial problems, etc.

The killer’s family assured ABC News that his trip had nothing to do with his radicalization:

A seven-month trip to Jordan last year was an effort to “get him away from bad influences in the U.S.,” not part of a path to radicalization, the family told agents.

So just as a matter of review for those still searching for motive in Abdulazeez’s killings last week, we have evidence that:

As far back as 2013 he had expressed his desire to “become a martyr.”
According to FBI officials, he had viewed materials from Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had encouraged Muslims in the West to conduct attacks in their own countries.
He texted a friend just hours before the terror attack quoting an Islamic hadith saying, “Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, then I have declared war against him.”
Less than a week before the attack he posted two blog posts online that cited the examples of the companions of Muhammad, noting that “Every one of them fought Jihad for the sake of Allah,” and adding that, “After the prophets, they were the best human beings that ever lived.”
We have testimony that Abdulazeez’s closest mentor was a former Chattanooga police officer who “would constantly exhort militant Islamic views and threatened anyone who bad-mouthed the faith.”
We have officials that have said that Abdulazeez’s father was investigated TWICE for supporting a terrorist organization, and was put on the terror watch list.
His father was not alone in promoting extremist views, as his sister frequently circulated anti-Israel hate material on her Facebook page and elsewhere.
Abdulazeez recently returned from a lengthy trip to the Middle East, which reportedly included time in Jordan and Yemen, as well as a mysterious trip to Qatar.
According to his closest friends, he returned from that trip upset at U.S. policy for not intervening in the Syria conflict.
Upon his return from the Middle East Abdulazeez purchased several long guns, including an AK-74, an AR-15 and a Saiga 12 clip-fed semi-automatic shotgun.
Abdulazeez was recently spotted at a local gun range practicing with three other individuals sporting long beards, such as he wore.

Read more here.