Three people are dead and 14 others wounded after a gunman opened fire near Buford’s beer garden in Austin’s entertainment district early Sunday morning — and within hours, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was urging Americans to arm themselves.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the suspect drove a large SUV around the block shortly before 2 a.m., lowered a window, and began firing a handgun into the crowded area. The shooter then parked, exited the vehicle, and continued firing — first with a pistol, then later with a rifle. Officers responded in under a minute and shot and killed the suspect.
The FBI is investigating what Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran described as “indicators” of a potential nexus to terrorism. Doran cautioned that it is “still way too early in the process to determine an exact motive.”
On Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press reported, citing an anonymous law enforcement source, that the suspect wore clothing featuring an Iranian flag design and wording that said “Property of Allah.” That detail has not been officially confirmed by authorities.
Before investigators had established motive, Greene was already drawing a direct line between the shooting and President Donald Trump’s joint military strike on Iran alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Trump and Netanyahu go to war against Iran and then there was a horrific mass shooting that the FBI is saying could be terrorism,” Greene wrote on X. “Not what we voted for. Nope. I was there.”
She predicted further violence and escalated her rhetoric.
“Everyone needs to start carrying because it’s all changed. None of this has to happen,” she wrote. “America LAST.”
The graphic video she shared from the scene — showing the chaotic aftermath — circulated widely online, further amplifying panic and speculation while investigators were still piecing together facts.
Greene, long known for incendiary messaging, then turned her attention to Vice President JD Vance and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, calling on both to publicly oppose what she framed as a march toward war with Iran.
“You cannot be silent. Americans are dying,” she wrote. “We said: NO MORE FOREIGN WARS AND NO MORE REGIME CHANGE.”
Neither Vance nor Gabbard has publicly commented since the strike on Iran. On Thursday, Vance told The Washington Post that even if Trump attacked Iran, it would not result in a prolonged Middle East war. “There is no chance that will happen,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump had been briefed on the Austin shooting and had spoken with leaders in Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.
Mass shootings in America routinely unfold into political battlegrounds within hours — before motives are clear, before victims are buried, before communities can process their trauma. This time was no different.
What remains undeniable is the toll: three lives lost, 14 wounded, families forever altered.
Whether investigators ultimately determine the attack was ideologically driven or the act of a lone gunman, law enforcement has urged the public to avoid speculation as the terrorism probe continues.
But speculation — amplified by national political figures — has already filled the vacuum.
