In these bizarre times, bizarre incidents involving bizarre people are becoming commonplace. It makes us wonder are we all trapped in a Salvadore Dali painting.
Just, surreal.
Investigators arrested a California train engineer Tuesday after he allegedly derailed a train in a bid to crash into the USNS Mercy, the hospital ship treating non-COVID-19 patients at the Port of Los Angeles to lessen the burden on area hospitals, prosecutors said.
Eduardo Moreno, 44, was expected to appear in court Wednesday for arraignment on train wrecking charges.
Around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Moreno allegedly ran the train at full speed off the end of the tracks near the Navy medical boat, smashing through several concrete and chain barriers, before sliding through a parking lot nearly 250 yards from the Mercy, according to the criminal complaint.
Who would want to attack an unarmed hospital ship on a mission to help civilians and the overstressed healthcare system in California?
A California Highway Patrol officer caught Moreno as he allegedly tried to escape from the scene, according to the complaint. Moreno allegedly told officers and FBI investigators that he deliberately derailed the train because he was suspicious of the Mercy’s intentions and thought it was actually part of a government takeover, the complaint said.
“Moreno stated that he acted alone and had not pre-planned the attempted attack,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. “While admitting to intentionally derailing and crashing the train, he said he knew it would bring media attention and ‘people could see for themselves,’ referring to the Mercy.”
In an interview with FBI agents, Moreno stated that “he did it out of the desire to ‘wake people up,’” according to the complaint.
Just what could people “see for themselves”? Apparently, the hospital ship is part of a government plot.
The affidavit said Moreno, who waived his right to speak to an attorney before being interviewed by investigators, admitted in two post-arrest interviews that he intentionally ran the train off the track because he wanted to bring attention to the government’s activities regarding COVID-19 and was suspicious of the Mercy.
In his first interview with Los Angeles port police, Moreno acknowledged that he “did it,” saying he was suspicious of the Mercy and believed it had an alternative purpose related to COVID-19 or a government takeover, the affidavit states.
Moreno reportedly told the FBI that he believed the USNS Mercy was part of a plot to take over the government by the “deep state.” The conspiracy theory has been a staple of fringe talk radio for a few months. Even Sean Hannity suggested the deep state was using the coronavirus to hurt the economy.
Moreno is not crazy. He may be paranoid, but he’s not insane. He’s been propagandized and his paranoia has been fed by those who seek fame from pushing outrageous conspiracy theories on the internet. Those who push this insanity — QAnon and all their fantastical offshoots — don’t care about people like Eduardo Moreno or anyone they hurt. Feeding their own fevered imaginations and dreams of glory are more important.
