John Patrick Bedell and his obsessions

The image of Pentagon shooter John Patrick Bedell that is starting to emerge is one of a bright and very strange 36-year-old software developer with a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Bedell had some strange obsessions, he was obsessed with something he created called “Information Currency”, growing marijuana, 9/11 conspiracy theories and the 1991 death of Marine Col. James Sabow in Orange County.  Lets take a quick look at each obsession.

On Information Currency:

Below is the YouTube video Bedell uploaded about his Information Currency idea: 

Bedell’s YouTube page holds other videos that he marked as favorites.  Left Coast Rebel provides examples. They range from an Al Jazeera video to an anti-war anti-Bush video.

On Marijuana:

Bedell had attempted to combine his Information Currency theory with marijuana in order to set up a marijuana based monetary system.  It led to his arrest.

From Gawker: Bedell claims these beliefs led him to attempt to devise a subversive marijuana-based monetary system based on his ideas of Information Currency. He started with a 16-plant growing operation on his balcony in Irving, CA. (In fact, Bedell uploaded a picture of his own pot plant to wikipedia.) Police discovered his plants in June 2006 and he was arrested. The felony complaint, which he posted to a pro-marijuana website, details a contentious arrest: When the police came to Bedell's door, he wouldn't let them in and began resisting arrest, pushing against police and collapsing to the floor when they tried to bring hm out of his apartment

See Mediaelite for full details of the arrest and more information on Bedell’s pot growing.

On 9/11:

Bedell believed that the government was involved with the 9/11 attacks because it wanted to gain more control o the people:

From Paterico’s Pontifications:

This criminal organization would use its powers to convert military, intelligence, and law enforcement bureaucracies into instruments for political control, and the domination and subjection of society, while discrediting, destroying, and murdering honest individuals within those services, that work to root out corruption, and faithfully serve their fellow citizens. This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history,would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control. This collection of gangsters would find it in their interest to foment conflict and initiate wars throughout the world, in order to divert attention from their misconduct and criminality. The true nature of such a regime would find its clearest expression in the satanic violence currently ongoing in Iraq.

On Col. James Sabow:

Bedell has tied Col. James Sabow’s death to the 9/11 conspiracy theory:

From Gawker:Speaking of the suicide of Marine Col. James Sabow—whom conspiracy theorists believe was assassinated by the government to cover up a 9/11 plot—Bedell wrote on his Wikipedia profile (now deleted):

I am determined to see that justice is served in the death of Colonel James Sabow, as a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions and institutions such as the coup regime of 1963 that maintains itself in power through the global drug trade, financial corruption, and murder, among other crimes.

As you can see, Bedell was not a dummy, yet he seems to have embraced conspiracy theories. Like Joe Stark, Bedell was politically all over the place.  I will update this post as I collect more information on Bedell’s politics. When I post it, I will do so not to point fingers at the right and the left, but to just show what beliefs Bedell held.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Paterico’s Pontifications

Via: Left Coast Rebel

Via: Gawker

Via: Mediaelite