The Hate Crime Files

Episode 16: Collier Township Shooting


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In his 2017 book "Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era," sociologist Michael Kimmell coined the term "aggrieved entitlement" to describe the state of mind of some American white men, who become angry to the point of advocating mass murder and genocide. Kimmell argues that white men who join extremist movements are part of the downwardly mobile middle class, who feel "betrayed by the country they love, discarded like trash on the side of the information superhighway."

By all appearances, 48-year-old George Sodini seemed to be a pretty successful guy. He was in good shape and reasonably good looking. He owned a car and had a good job. But, from his perspective and in his own words, Sodini bore more of a resemblance to the men Kimmell described.

On August 4, 2009, that frustration led George Sodini to walk into an aerobics class at an LA Fitness gym in Collier Township, Pennsylvania, and open fire on the people he blamed for his anger: women.

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The Hate Crime FilesBy Terrance Heath

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