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The shootings at Salon Meritage have mostly elicited reactions of horror and sympathy for the victims. But some men's rights advocates have been coming out in support of Scott Dekraai, the man who shot his ex-wife and seven others at Salon Meritage, where she worked as a hairstylist.Dekraai had been fighting his wife Michelle Fournier for nearly full custody of their 8-year-old son from their 4-year, shotgun marriage, according to Belmont Shore-Naples Patch. The couple had joint custody of their son nearly split evenly: Fournier had him from Monday through Thursday afternoon, and Dekraai had him the rest of the time. But Dekraai wanted to spend even more time with him and he wanted "final decision-making authority" for his son. Dekraai had spent nearly $50,000 in legal fees trying to win his case. He argued in court that Fournier drank too much, but that argument wasn't successful. Just the day before his shooting rampage, the court-appointed psychologist recommended that the judge should not award him the full custody, Patch reported.
Since news of the story broke, men's right activists have been coming out in support of Dekraai (many of them, before reading the full details of the massacre), arguing that Dekraai's murderous rage was a righteous response to an anti-male court system, as noted by Jezebel and the blog Man Boobz.
Ferdinand Bardamu, a blogger at MalaFide, titled his post about the incident "Anti-Male, Anti-Father Divorce Laws Drive Man to Commit Heinous Rage Shooting Against Ex-Wife" He wrote:
...do I expect this horrific crime to inspire any introspection on the part of Americans, or any questioning of the role of feminism in poisoning the relationship between men and women? Nope. Also consider that if the sexes were reversed, if a woman shot her ex-husband and an entire room full of men because she was getting shafted by the family courts and denied custody of her children, her plight would be lamented and her actions excused by the exact same people who are going to be condemning this guy. Expect this horse to be flogged to death and back for the next month or so as proof of systemic "misogyny" in American culture.
A commenter named Remorhaz on Bardamu's post complained that Dekraai had chosen the wrong target for his rage:
The only way this or any offensive action will make a difference is if it starts affecting the judges and lawyers. King John did not sign the magna carta because he was a kindly just ruler, he did it with a sword on the back of his neck while watching a grinning man holding an axe who was busy trying on black hoods. In Mexico entire police forces quit because a few officers go missing. If that started happening then the law becomes meaningless as there is no one to enforce it. This will happen eventually due to bankruptcy so it might not play out as above but either the former or latter is required to solve the problem and some mix is likely - the latter inevitable. Essentially men need to tell feminism to shut the fuck up, give it a vigorous slap across the face thus reminding it who is the biological superior, then order it back into the kitchen/bedroom. Grunt, oop.
To be honest I'm not surprised the rates of violence aren't higher given how many men are affected by child theft and being sold into slavery via alimony/child support.
Reddit commenter TheRealPariah simply claimed Dekraai as one of the group's own right away:
He is one of us. You cannot throw men struggling out simply because they do something you disagree with.
Reddit commenter Aerik suggested the group had shot themselves in the foot with their thread:
ha. Brilliant. OP says to expect blowback, saying others will accuse him of being an MRA -- so you go ahead and beat 'em all to it and say he is one of you.
