The Uber driver arrested in a mass killing invoked Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra while carrying out his shooting spree, according to police in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Jason Dalton didn’t mention Trump by name when he rolled up on one victim, but he did ask if “she could spare a dollar to make America great again” before emptying his gun into her, Michigan State Police Sgt. Kyle Gorham wrote in a report.
The report sheds light on the depravity of Dalton’s crimes, as well as the killer’s bizarre mental state. It says Dalton told investigators his mind was being controlled by an Uber app. He was interviewed Feb. 21, a day after the attack that killed six and injured two others.
During the interview, Dalton (photo inset) said he had recently begun driving for the ride service for extra income. The Uber app wouldn’t let him “shut down,” consistently beeping at him and disrupting his sleep, he said.
Dalton said the audio directions made him feel like he was “on fire,” Gorham wrote.
Dalton told authorities after his arrest that when you “plug into” the app, “you can actually feel the presence on you.” He said the difference between the night of the shootings and others was that an icon on the Uber app that is normally red “had changed to black.”
Jason Dalton is seen on closed circuit television during his arraignment in Kalamazoo County in February.
After dropping off a group of passengers, he was overcome by the app, he said. He scared a passenger by accelerating into oncoming traffic, zigzagging and driving over sidewalks — leading the passenger to jump out of the car.
“You got to your destination, sir,” Dalton told the rider in a high-pitched voice.
Dalton told cops he returned home and drank a glass of water before going into his basement, where he “began preparing his guns.”
He called the moment an “altered reality.” Dalton placed several guns into a black bag, and he and his dog returned to his Equinox. He told authorities that he pulled up to an apartment complex and pointed his gun at the woman, who was later determined to be victim Tiana Carruthers.
“(He) began pulling the trigger, indicating this by a finger gesture as well as the noise of ‘pop pop pop pop,’ ” police wrote. “He advised he dumped the entire magazine.”