Ian Karbal
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iankarbal.bsky.social
Ian Karbal
@iankarbal.bsky.social
Journo in PA @penncapitalstar.bsky.social. Bad at posting.

Bylines @columjournreview.bsky.social, @opensecretsdc.bsky.social, @thetrace.org, Mountain State Spotlight, and more.
Here's last year's story on the 11 school districts that got funding bumps.

All were affected by an education funding compromise pushed by Senate GOP leaders, which resulted in dozens of districts receiving less than dems hoped for. But others were hit even harder and got no help.
Eleven Pennsylvania school districts got $14 million in extra funding in the latest budget • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
“If you really think that it's important to make adjustments for people who are hurt, you should make them for all of the people who were hurt,” said Michael Churchill, an attorney with the Public Int...
penncapital-star.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Anyway... there's only so much you can get from someone's FB. I'm not an expert in extremism. And again, this guy's mom has said he has serious mental health issues and was unmedicated

But I've seen a lot of posts trying to draw conclusions from this stuff, and it's just not that simple

10/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I didn't see anything explicitly antisemitic. A few videos/memes he posted mentioned bankers pulling strings, Epstein theories, etc. But I wouldn't read too much into it without more to go on

Also nothing about Shapiro himself, despite an affidavit claiming he harbored hatred for him.

9/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
He was also had a lot of posts about feeling depressed, betrayed, alone, etc.

8/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
All this aside, the posts that stuck out most to me were the misogynistic/men's rights ones.

He had degrading posts about women generally, some of which are pretty hardcore. He also posted men's rights videos, about how no one cares about men, etc.

7/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
There are also posts that, in retrospect, could show an inclination towards political violence or crime

6/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
There are some other common threads.

He posted about society/politics being rigged for the rich. He appears to despise what he saw as Christian hypocrisy and MAGA-coded racism. And he didn't like America's foreign policy and wars. A fair bit of political nihilism as well.

5/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
His COVID politics were particularly... complicated

There are posts angry on behalf of essential workers and pro-mask

There are posts saying the media was overreacting, government was manipulating, and taking pride in not obeying lockdown

Again, take all memes with grains of salt.

4/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM