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Scarborough: Holmes 'on autism scale'

"You don't want to generalize," MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said today before saying that James Holmes, the suspected Aurora, Colo., shooter, was "on the autism scale."

"As soon as I hear about this shooting, I knew who it was. I knew it was a young, white male, probably from an affluent neighborhood, disconnected from society — it happens time and time again. Most of it has to do with mental health; you have these people that are somewhere, I believe, on the autism scale," said Scarborough, whose son has Asperger's syndrome. "I don't know if that's the case here, but it happens more often than not. People that can walk around in society, they can function on college campuses — they can even excel on college campuses — but are socially disconnected."

I noted yesterday that Dave Cullen, the author of "Columbine," published an opinion piece in The New York Times in which he cautioned that people should avoid jumping to conclusions about the killer: "Over the next several days, you will be hit with all sorts of evidence fragments suggesting one motive or another. Don’t believe any one detail," he wrote. "Mr. Holmes has already been described as a loner. Proceed with caution on that. Nearly every shooter gets tagged with that label, because the public is convinced that that’s the profile, and people barely acquainted with the gunman parrot it back to every journalist they encounter. The Secret Service report determined that it’s usually not true."

"Resist the temptation to extrapolate details prematurely into a whole," he concludes.

Or, you know... don't.

UPDATE: Scarborough addressed his remarks a day later in a written statement to Mediaite:

During a debate regarding the recent Colorado shootings, I suggested that the Aurora tragedy should make Americans focus more on mental health in this country. I also stated that my own experiences raising a son with Aspergers made me keenly aware of how important strong support systems are to those who might otherwise be isolated. The growing Autism epidemic is a tremendous burden for children, parents and loved ones to endure. My call for increased funding and awareness for Autism and other mental health conditions was meant to support the efforts of those who work every day to improve the lives of Americans impacted. Those suggesting that I was linking all violent behavior to Autism missed my larger point and overlooked the fact that I have a wonderful, loving son with Aspergers. Perhaps I could have made my point more eloquently. I look forward to continuing my work with wonderful organizations like Autism Speaks to provide badly needed support to millions of Americans who struggle with Autism every day.