By Darian Douraghy – The Postmillennial
Philadelphia law enforcement has found a suspect in the killing of Josh Kruger, a leftist journalist and local activist who had a history of downplaying violent crime in the city.
While an arrest warrant has not yet been issued, Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore reported that authorities plan to bring the man into custody and ask him some questions.
Vanore said that while authorities believe the shooter was a man Kruger knew, a motive had not yet been identified for the killing.
“We don’t want to close any doors,” he explained. “We’re working hard to try and fortify that person of interest.”
Anonymous law enforcement services have said that initial evidence and interviews suggest the homicide was domestic in nature, or drug-related, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The 39-year-old Kruger lost his life on Monday after he was shot seven times at a residence in the 2300 block of Watkins Street around 1:30 am.
He was infamously known for mocking people who had expressed concerns about violent crimes in Philadelphia.
“Look, it’s that lawless land of liberals in Philly where shootings are…dropping to levels not seen in years,” Kruger stated in a past post.
“Some idiot just said you’re more likely to get shot and killed than die of COVID in Philly to make some insensitive rhetorical point for ‘his side.’ Folks, four times as many Philadelphians have died of COVID than gun shots this year. I understand math is hard but do better,” he said another time.
He was a vehement leftist; Kruger once ranted about his problems with “straight people” and called for them to “unclasp [their] goddamn hands for a second so your opposite direction sidewalk neighbors can traverse the highway without being tossed by your beastly partner into the gutter.”
“Share the road, straights,” he complained.
“I’m f*ckin done with it, straight people. They should have never given you people the right to marry.”
In April, Kruger posted online that a man who he used to be in a relationship with broke into his home.
“The door was locked, so he had somehow obtained a copy of my keys,” Kruger reportedly said. He managed to de-escalate the situation, with the man eventually leaving, according to The Inquirer.
“Drugs can help but also exacerbate mental health problems,” Kruger wrote.
Vanore would not specify if that same man was the person of interest, but noted that police are “certainly looking at those incidents.”