Special Forces Sniper and Ex-MMA Fighter Says Lack of Masculinity Contributing to Mass Shootings

Military veteran Tim Kennedy appeared on “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning and suggested that mass shootings are the result of a feminization of young men.

The Special Forces sniper and former UFC fighter’s remarks came in the wake of two deadly weekend mass shootings – one in El Paso, TX and another in Dayton, OH – that have shaken the nation.

“The fact that somebody’s saying there is a ‘toxic masculinity’ problem when in fact there’s not enough masculinity, what we’re doing to our boys right now is we’re stunting them,” Kennedy said. “We are built, we are hard-wired to do incredible things — protect is one of them.”

Kennedy gave examples of how, in his view, American society was suppressing “hard-wired” male energy to disastrous ends.

“When you give [young men] ADHD medications and you tell them ‘you can’t go climb a tree, that they can’t be busy in the classroom,’ [mass shootings] are the results,” he said. “You have to let boys be boys.”

MORE: Feminist ‘Coaches’ Are Policing James Bond to Eradicate ‘Toxic Masculinity’ From Next Movie

“I don’t know what I’m going to do but I still have that same energy and that’s a great thing, that got us to the moon, that defeated the communists, that stopped the fascists and the real Nazis in Normandy. Those weren’t little boys and girls that were storming the beaches of Normandy, those were men,” Kennedy added.

In a lengthy Instagram post shared the day after the Dayton and El Paso shootings, Kennedy decried society’s demonization of masculinity.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0w9WX7Bfac/?igshid=1dc6963ucnco5

“Masculinity is about integrity. It is hardwired into every single man’s soul,” Kennedy wrote in the post. “We all have a choice to fight. We are all warriors on the inside. But if that is suppressed, if that is denied, it manifests in the most unhealthy ways.”

The retired MMA fighter responded on Thursday to a Twitter user who criticized him for appearing on Fox News by tweeting: “I’m just trying to help protect us from future shootings.”

Tim Kennedy and the “toxic masculinity” debate

The eradication of “toxic masculinity” is at the top of the list for feminist and progressive movements aiming to beat back the purported injustices of the patriarchy.

MORE: Teen Protesting Sexism of High School List Ranking Girls’ Hotness Outraged She Placed Hundredth

There have been no shortage of think pieces attempting to link misogyny to mass shootings such as the Dayton and El Paso tragedies.

The Dayton shooter’s misogyny is part of a well-worn pattern of shooters having a documented history of violence or threatened violence against women. https://t.co/GBHyLqydHd

— Vox (@voxdotcom) August 6, 2019

In the past week alone, media outlets Vox, ThinkProgress, The Cut and The Week have all published articles arguing from such a framework.

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