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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

A journalist and advocate who rose from homelessness and addiction to serve as a spokesperson for Philadelphia’s most vulnerable was shot and killed at his home early Monday, police said.

Josh Kruger, 39, was shot seven times at about 1:30 a.m. and collapsed in the street after seeking help, police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later. Police believe the door to his Point Breeze home was unlocked or the shooter knew how to get in, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. No arrests have been made and no weapons have been recovered, they said.

Authorities haven’t spoken publicly about the circumstances surrounding the killing.

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[-] halfempty@kbin.social 156 points 1 year ago

I'm always a bit suspicious when a Journalist is killed like this. Who were those who may have been threatened by what he published?

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 129 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The people in these comments talking like this is "just another day in a US city" have no fucking idea what they're talking about. This is not the kind of violence that randomly happens. This person was clearly targeted.

They also fail to grasp the concept of "per capita" crime/murder statistics.

[-] American_Communist22@lemmygrad.ml 40 points 1 year ago

no, targeting journalists to suppress left wing elements is as american as apple pie and as common as corn syrup

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[-] x4740N@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago

Bigots a.k.a conservatives

[-] febra@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Wouldn't surprise me one bit. There's an epidemic of violence going through the conservative movement right now. They've been growing more and more violent. See Jan 6. and all the terrorist attacks/shootings coming from their side lately.

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[-] HorseRabbit 94 points 1 year ago

No doubt a fascist done this.

[-] KillAllPoorPeople@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Cops definitely murdered this man.

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[-] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 1 year ago

It would seem so.

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[-] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 90 points 1 year ago

Some of those who work forces,

Are the same who burn crosses.

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[-] xc2215x@lemmy.world 87 points 1 year ago

Very sad to see this. Unfortunate what happened to Josh.

[-] oxjox@lemmy.ml 79 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

These comments are out of control. To be fair though, this AP article is garbage.

The likelihood of this having anything to do with the victim being a queer journalist in Philadelphia is practically zero. Here's some excerpts from the local paper.

Detectives believe Kruger’s death may have been the result of a domestic dispute or may have been drug-related, according to three law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said police investigators recovered troubling text messages between Kruger and a former partner. Investigators also recovered methamphetamine inside Kruger’s bedroom, the sources said.

In recent months, he’d written on social media about a variety of alarming incidents at his home.

In April, he posted that an ex-partner had broken into his home. “The door was locked, so he had somehow obtained a copy of my keys,” he wrote. He had allowed the man, whom he’d known for years “before his troubles,” to stay at his house briefly after being released from jail. He said he was able to deescalate the situation and the man eventually left, and he changed his locks.

In August, someone threw a rock through his home window, he said. Then, about two weeks ago, he wrote on Facebook that someone came to his house searching for their boyfriend — “a man I’ve never met once in my entire life.” The person called themselves “Lady Diabla, the She-Devil of the Streets” and threatened him, he wrote.

https://www.inquirer.com/crime/josh-kruger-killed-point-breeze-shooting-philadelphia-journalist-20231002.html

[-] StereoTrespasser@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

The conspiracy theories are strong in this thread. Nobody wants to believe that random acts of violence can happen. There always has to be some deeper conspiracy to try and make sense of it, and to feel like there is some semblance of control in our lives.

[-] Mr_Blott@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

Bear in mind a lot of the commenters come from a civilised society, where a journalist getting shot is massive fucking news and implies something about his profession getting him killed

People just don't get shot in modern countries

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[-] Rearsays@lemmy.ml 79 points 1 year ago

But who's committing these crimes, and why so much senseless violence?

Probably a “good Christian”, since the fundamentalist are militantly (in a literal sense) against any sort of tolerance, acknowledgement, or compassion being expressed towards people who don’t completely conform to their heteronormative worldview.

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[-] some_guy 37 points 1 year ago

On his website, he described himself as a “militant bicyclist” and “a proponent of the singular they, the Oxford comma, and pre-Elon Twitter.“

[Emphasis mine] This is such an important issue to me. Contracts have been ruled upon because of the appearance or lack of the Oxford comma (a union got fucked because it wasn't there). All his other traits are also admirable, but this is the unimportant-important thing that jumped out at me.

[-] American_Communist22@lemmygrad.ml 32 points 1 year ago

honestly just america being america

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[-] BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 20 points 1 year ago

when i first read this, i thought it was the journalist advocating for homless and lgbtq+ to be shot and killed

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this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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