As our nation continues to grapple with how best to handle a recent spate of mass shootings around the country, a fairly specify threat has the US military issuing a rare warning to moviegoers.
Back in 2012, one of the most horrific mass shootings in the history of our nation took place at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The shooter, a mentally disturbed man named James Holmes, burst into a crowded theater, killing 12 and injuring over 70 people during a showing of a Batman film entitled The Dark Knight Rises.
Now, 7 years later, a new Batman film is due in theaters, and a dark-web threat to create similar terror has the US military on high alert.
Military commanders in Oklahoma were warned this week of a possible shooting at the theatrical release of the upcoming Jokermovie after the FBI discovered “disturbing and very specific chatter in the dark web.”
The U.S. Army confirmed the warning to Gizmodo on Tuesday after social media postings by suspected incels (involuntary celibates) were uncovered by the FBI.
The memo had terrifyingly specific instructions.
“Run if you can,” the memo read. “If you’re stuck, hide (also known as ‘sheltering in place’), and stay quiet. If a shooter finds you, fight with whatever you can.”
The upcoming film has already received scorn from mass shooting survivors, including those targeted in Colorado in 2012, for its over-the-top violence – a concern that star Joaquin Phoenix has roundly rejected as absurd.
Joker will be released nationally on October 4th.
