You know it’s going to be a bad day when you find out a failed assassin was wearing a shirt with your YouTube channel name on it. But that’s exactly what happened to Matt Carriker, founder of Demolition Ranch, a popular YouTube channel for gun enthusiasts that has more than 11 million subscribers.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin that was killed by Secret Service snipers after shooting former President Donald Trump in the ear at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, was wearing a Demolition Ranch shirt at the time of the failed assassination attempt. And according to authorities, he was also videoed earlier wearing one of the channel’s shirts at an ammunition store.
Of course, since the website deals with firearms, the so-called “mainstream” media jumped all over it. Never mind the fact that, as some have observed, a Chicago gangbanger can shoot up a crowd on a street corner while wearing a pair of Nike’s, and reporters would never consider calling Nike headquarters for a statement.
Headlines like CBS’s “What is Demolition Ranch, the YouTube channel on Thomas Matthew Crooks’ shirt?” and the New York Post’s “Would-be Trump assassin wore influencers merch during shooting,” quickly popped up around the web and in print.
The media attention prompted Carriker, a YouTuber and veterinarian, to post a six-minute video on his YouTube channel explaining that he had never met the shooter and sells his merchandise like shirts and hoodies to anyone that wants one, just like any other merchandiser would.
“As a lot of you guys know, and we were shocked and confused to find this out, the shooter who tried to assassinate Trump was wearing merch from my channel—wearing a Demolition Ranch t-shirt,” Carriker said in the video. “That sucked to see that. That was rough.”
Carriker was quick to point out, however, that Demolition Ranch and his other YouTube channels do not address politics.
“Across all my videos, we really don’t talk about politics at all,” he said. “We keep politics out of it. For one, it’s not my bread and butter. But also, I don’t feel the need to impose my political views or beliefs on other people. However, we were obviously kind of thrust into the conversation after last weekend.”
Carriker also said that his channel has never promoted violence of any kind, and moving forward it never will.
“No matter what side you’re on politically, none of us want violence,” he said. “This channel was never meant to incite violence or hate. It never has, it isn’t and it never will be a channel that does that. I don’t want any violence or hate anywhere around me. I have a wife and little kids. I want them to be safe and secure forever.”
Additionally, Carriker said that the channel, like many others, sells all kinds of logo’d merchandise to anyone who orders and pays for it online.
“We also own a t-shirt company, and my friends work there and we print them here in Texas and ship them all over the world,” he said. “I’ve seen my shirts in every continent. I got a picture two weeks ago of a guy wearing my shirt in Antarctica.
“We don’t vet the people who buy our shirts, obviously. It would be impossible to, just like Nike doesn’t vet who buys there shoes. I wish I could. I would love to keep people like that from being associated with that article of clothing. I wish he couldn’t get a shirt. But it happened.”
In the end, it seems it was just a damn bad piece of luck that the shooter grabbed a Demolition Ranch shirt and put it on the day he headed out to do the unthinkable. I hope that the media to-do over it doesn’t have any negative affect on Carriker or his channel.
Read the full article here
