Brian Clyde, a 22-year-old Texas man who posted about guns and ammunition on Facebook, was named as the masked Dallas active shooting suspect who was shot and killed by officers with the Federal Protective Service after he opened fire outside the downtown courthouse.
Clyde’s cover photo on his now-deleted Facebook page showed Civil War uniforms, and he demonstrated a fascination with medieval military gear. He wrote on social media about loving gun shows and made negative references to the government, mentioning Waco and Ruby Ridge. Clyde posted photos of himself in an Army uniform, writing with one in 2016, “I think i deserve some M&Ms after digging a trench all day.”
“Private 1st Class Clyde served as an infantryman in the Army from August 2015 to February 2017,” William J. Sharp, public affairs officer for the U.S. Army, confirmed to Heavy.
The Dallas Morning News reported on June 20, 2019 that Clyde’s half-brother allegedly “warned the FBI in 2016 that he shouldn’t be allowed to buy a gun because he was depressed and suicidal,” according to their mother. According to the newspaper, this occurred at a time that Clyde was in the Army. The Morning News also reported that the FBI had confirmed that Clyde’s half brother called a national hotline in 2016 but said he “didn’t report a threat against an entity or individual, so the FBI had no legal reason to pursue an investigation and no further action was taken.”
Clyde also shared “don’t tread on me” signs and a meme showing a green swastika. In 2013, he shared a drawing of Adolf Hitler as Colonel Sanders. The cover read “HFC: Hitler Fried Citizens.”
Clyde’s cover photo on Facebook
Clyde posted a strange video on June 9, in which he said, “I don’t know how much longer I have… the storm is coming…let’s do it” and held up a gun. The caption reads, “This storm is about to pay for kicking me off my porch.” There was inclement weather in Texas that day.
In 2018, he posted a picture showing him with a gun, writing, “When the yeyo deal goes south.” He also posted a photo showing ammo. Numerous photos show weaponry on Clyde’s Facebook page. His page was filled with many memes, some of them joking (likely including some of the pictures of weapons and medieval photos). They covered a wide range of topics from ancient armor to feminism.
FacebookA photo on Brian Clyde’s Facebook page.
It was a frightening morning in Dallas that ended without carnage because of the quick-thinking actions of federal law enforcement officers, who returned the suspect’s fire, ultimately killing him. Unlike other horrific active shooter situations throughout the country, in this one, the suspect did not end up wounding any citizens or law enforcement officers. Tom Fox, a Dallas Morning News photographer, was at the scene when the gunman began shooting at the courthouse, and he captured a shocking photo of Clyde, who shot at the courthouse door:
DMN staff photographer @TomFoxPhoto captured this image shortly before a gunman opened fire on the Earle Cabell Federal Building Monday morning in downtown Dallas. Fox was waiting to enter the building to cover a trial when the attack took place. t.co/y8fWYYuKjs
Online records show Brian Clyde had ties to Corpus Christi, Texas. “We are aggressively pursuing all his social media activity,” an FBI official told reporters.
The suspect’s name was alternatively given as Brian Isaack Clyde and Brian Klyde. Online records, the FBI, and his Facebook page confirm that his name is Brian Isaack Clyde. “At 8:40 a.m., the federal building was shot on by an active shooter. Law enforcement responded immediately…the community is safe,” said Erin Nealy Cox, the U.S. Attorney for the area. She praised the law enforcement response, calling it “extraordinary. Everybody came together and provided an immediate response and neutralized the situation.”
The motive is not yet clear; Clyde was not on a federal watch list.
Here’s what you need to know about the Dallas active shooter suspect, Brian Clyde:
1. Video Shows Brian Clyde, With Mask & Body Armor, at the Scene
BREAKING: Video shows suspect after shots fired near federal building in downtown Dallas. @FOX4
You can get a sense of the grim seriousness of the situation by watching videos that emerged showing the gunman with a rifle and what appears to be a mask and body armor.
Video showing the suspect was published by Fox 4 via a viewer named Lane Brown. The video shows Brian Clyde in tactical gear as he ran around the parking lot with a weapon. Several other videos also captured the gunman and the sounds of gunfire. Puffs of smoke from bullets against the building appear. In the end, Clyde didn’t do much damage to anything except the door, and his actions cost him his own life.
The video from Fox 4 shows the suspect near the federal courthouse carrying what looks like a rifle. The active shooter suspect fired shots at the Earle Cabell Federal Building. If you look closely, you can see a person hiding behind a part of the building as the gunman approaches a door. That person is the Dallas Morning News photographer, who told his newspaper of the harrowing moments in which the gunman loomed nearby and it was unclear which direction he would go in next: “I just kept thinking, ‘He’s going to look at me around that corner and he’s going to shoot,'” Fox said. Thankfully, he didn’t.
Video of the shooting at the Federal Building in downtown Dallas. Shot by apartment resident Tim Brown. Puffs of smoke appear to be from return fire by Federal agents. @FOX4
Fox 4 also reported that another video from Brown shows the suspect being loaded into an ambulance. Clyde was armed with a rifle, but he never made it inside the courthouse, authorities said. Instead, in one of the videos, he runs across the street and crumbles to the ground in a parking lot.
MORE: Video of suspect being loaded into ambulance. @FOX4 (credit: Lane Brown)
He was ultimately pronounced dead.
2. On Facebook, the Gunman Posted Photos of Ammo & Wrote About Defending ‘the Modern Republic’
Brian Clyde
Brian Clyde’s Facebook page shows a fascination with memes, guns, medieval outfits, and the military, among other things. Here’s his post showing the swastika.
Clyde posted a photo of a sword and the caption, “A modern gladius to defend the modern Republic.” He wrote this about gun shows:
He also posted memes that reference the so-called incel movement, which stands for involuntary celibate. Another post was a meme showing Alex Jones and referencing pedophiles in Hollywood. The Alex Jones photo showed a picture of a naked Jones giving a thumbs up, and the meme caption, “When everyone calls you crazy for saying Hollywood is ran (sic) by sex abusers and pedophiles but it turns out you were right from the beginning.” Clyde wrote with the meme, “They had grown men lusting over Shirley Temple when she first started out.”
His last post was bizarre. Many of his posts show attempts at twisted humor.
“Behold, my paste,” Clyde wrote on Facebook the day before the shooting. The caption was accompanied by a photo of his bare legs. In May, he wrote, “General Patton and General McArthur could have ended communism but one was assassinated via car wreck and the other was sent into obscurity.”
His page is filled with weaponry pictures and memes. He wrote, “Aside from the FAL, I would take a flechette rifle over any other assault/battle rifle.”
Clyde also posted this photo on Facebook in 2017:
A photo Brian Clyde posted on Facebook.
And this:
Brian Clyde
He posted a photo of a sword, and wrote about Hillary Clinton, “It’s like, anyone that’s involved with an investigation against Hillary or about to speak against her ends up committing suicide.”
The photo of ammo was accompanied by a caption that references cosplay. “No cosplay for me for A Kon because i decided to finish getting all of my mags. 2 40 rounders and 8 30 rounders total. A tad bit late though since everyone is going over to 7.62 nato because level 4 plates are now widely available and affordable and will stop almost anything,” he wrote.
He posted a picture of a weapon in April, writing, “It’s so trashy, I want twenty of them.” On June 12, he posted a handwritten drawing that read, “In this state, I am in a realm of Euphoria, not because of a false god but because I am enlightened.” Another meme referenced National Socialists, saying, “When Libertarians and NatSocs meet on the battlefield during the Boogaloo.”
In 2018, he posted this photo to his Facebook page – it’s a meme, though, not him. Daily Beast noted that “anime body pillows are a running joke in the 4chan-right.”
A photo on Brian Clyde’s Facebook page.
He showed a fascination with this kind of thing:
Some memes dealt with feminism, misogyny or government. One post from 2018 said his favorite song was the Star Spangled Banner and his hobbies were “shooting commies and Manifest Destiny.” Under pet peeves, he included ISIS, liberals, things made in China, gun laws, California, the UN, commies, and the Westboro Baptist Church. Daily Beast noted that “multiple memes referenced the Confederate flag.”
His Facebook page describes him as “former infantry, U.S. Army.”
3. Brian Clyde Received an Award for ‘Non-Destructive Applied Technology’
Brian Clyde
In April, Brian Clyde shared a photo of a plaque from Del Mar College in Texas, which read “outstanding student award. Brian Isaack Clyde. Non-destructive applied technology. 2019.” The school lists him as a spring 2019 graduate here.
In 2017, he wrote, “Welp, I’m a certified armed security guard more commonly known as a rent-a-cop. I can also be a bounty hunter.”
In another strange video two weeks ago, he said, “You underestimate my power? I’ll show you whose power is greatest.” He then drank a liquid, burped, and said, “apparently defeated.”
The Dallas Police Department confirmed there was an active shooter incident and said that federal officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect. There was a massive law enforcement response to the scene. “Active Shooter Incident Downtown Dallas: There has been an exchange of gunfire between a suspect and federal officers. The suspect was shot and transported to an area hospital. No officers or other citizens injured,” police wrote on Twitter.
Please avoid the area of the Earl Cabel Federal building and Jackson St. specifically. A suspect is in custody. It is still an active scene and officers are working to get it secure.
Police also wrote the following tweet on the morning of June 17, 2019, explaining that they were planning on blowing up the active shooter suspect’s vehicle: “This is still an active scene in downtown Dallas. The Bomb Squad is examining the suspect’s vehicle for precautionary reasons. The Bomb Squad is preparing to do a controlled explosion of the suspect’s vehicle.”
#BREAKING: Shots fired outside the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Dallas this morning. You can hear a volley of gunfire in this clip. This went out as an active shooter. Dallas Police have a person in custody. No reports of injuries.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno said that Clyde was taken to the hospital but was deceased and added, “At this time we have no information indicating that there are other shooters, other threats to the community. We are working on one vehicle, we will have that cleared shortly.”
DeSarno said that “agents from the federal protective service engaged the shooter.”
He added, “He had more than five 30-round magazines on his person. That’s a lot of rounds at his disposal. A large powerful weapon at his disposal. As far as what he was trying to do, we don’t know that yet completely. We’re reviewing videos. But for the actions of the federal protection office this likely would’ve been a deadly incident.”
Members of the FBI just briefed media on the situation downtown Dallas.
WFAA-TV reporter Jason Whitely wrote on Twitter, “Shots fired outside the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Dallas this morning….This went out as an active shooter. Dallas Police have a person in custody. No reports of injuries.”
There were concerns of a bomb threat at one point, so the Founders Square office building was evacuated.
4. Brian Clyde Wrote That He Was From Dallas, Attended Multiple High Schools & Once Lived in ‘Hell’
Brian Clyde
According to Clyde’s Facebook page, he “studied at Leander High School, went to Leander High School, went to Vandegrift High School, went to Woodrow Wilson High School, and is from Dallas, Texas.” He posted a photo showing him with a relative who was wearing a military uniform.
Fox4News reported that he only attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas “for part of his freshman year in 2012,” before withdrawing and moving to Austin.
He also wrote on Facebook that he once lived “in hell.”
On Facebook, he liked Rage Against the Machine, Rob Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne, and Motley Crue. He was a fan of Star Wars, Starship Troopers, and Blade. He liked Grand Theft Auto and Halo.
A lot of gunfire was exchanged, according to journalists’ reports. Journalist Jason Whitely wrote, “Law enforcement using dogs to check vehicles around the federal courthouse after capturing an active shooter outside the building. Despite at least a dozen rounds of gunfire, no reports of injuries.”
#BREAKING: Law enforcement evacuating Founders Square office building adjacent to federal courthouse in downtown Dallas over concerns about a bomb threat after an active shooter was apprehended outside the courthouse.
Tom Fox, the Dallas Morning News photographer, told his newspaper that he saw a “a man in a mask parked on the corner of Jackson and Griffin streets. He ran and then stopped in the street to pick something off the ground.”
UPDATE: Law enforcement using dogs to check vehicles around the federal courthouse after capturing an active shooter outside the building. Despite at least a dozen rounds of gunfire, no reports of injuries.
According to the newspaper, Fox says Clyde “then began shooting at the courthouse and cracked the glass of the door.”
5. Clyde Posted Several Photos Showing Him in a Military Uniform & Was in JROTC
Brian Clyde
With one of several photos showing Brian Clyde in a military uniform, he wrote, “my secondary mos is basically construction worker.” In a video of a school ceremony, he said, “Military has always been big in my family, so has education. When I got out, I really didn’t have any other options, so I figure go to school.”
According to The Dallas Morning News, he participated in the JROTC program.
A witness told The Dallas Morning News that he saw the shooter fire at the building with a rifle from the middle of the street.
NEW VIDEO after @DallasPD and @ATFDallas took down the active shooter outside the federal courthouse in Downtown Dallas. The gunman is behind a vehicle. Motive and condition unknown. No one else was injured.
This post is being updated as more information is learned about Brian Clyde.