The Obsessions of the Alleged Waffle House Shooter

Travis Reinking lived in various places in recent years, but one consistent theme has emerged: obsession. 

The 29-year-old man who allegedly opened fire in a Waffle House early Sunday morning was arrested by police Monday afternoon, and Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall says he's been "compliant with staff at the jail." 

“We’ve had zero problems with him,” Hall said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I would expect him to get used to our rules and procedures. He’s been communicating with medical and mental health staff, and we’ve seen no resistance so far.”

Police have said the alleged shooter refused to make a statement to police when he was taken into custody. 

But incidents from Reinking's past have revealed a sustained preoccupation with Taylor Swift and identification with the so-called "sovereign citizens" movement. 

A police report obtained by the Peoria Journal Star included Reinking's statements about the pop star:

In May 2016, Tazewell County deputies were called to a CVS parking lot where Reinking told officers that Taylor Swift was stalking him and hacking his phone, and that his family was also involved, according to a report released Sunday. Reinking agreed to go to a local hospital for an evaluation after repeatedly resisting the request, the report said.

Colorado television station Denver7

that Reinking, who lived in Salida, Colo., briefly, made similar claims to officers there in 2017.

Salida Police Chief Terry Clark also told Denver7 Monday that his officers contacted Reinking in March 2017 after he reported that he was being harassed and stalked by Swift — claims he also made to Illinois authorities last year that led to his guns being confiscated by law enforcement.

“After some conversation, it was apparent it probably wasn’t going to go any further with the harassment call,” Clark said. “Officers didn’t feel they had enough to open a harassment case on somebody with Taylor Swift as the stalker.”

A man who worked with Reinking told the station, "He was also very obsessed with Taylor Swift and said his parents didn't approve of his girlfriend," and added that Reinking also accused Elon Musk of hacking into his phone and stealing his ideas.

On Wednesday, Denver7 published an audio recording of a 911 call from 2017 in which Reinking tells a dispatcher that Swift, and others, were stalking him:

“Everywhere I go, they’re stalking me on the internet. They’re stalking me, like, in person – everywhere I go,” Reinking says. “I’m pretty sure the police here are involved in it. And like, I want it to stop. It’s stupid. No one has the right to do that to me.” 

today that, while living in Colorado: "[Reinking] told people at work that he was going to marry Taylor Swift, but also said he was being harassed and stalked by her. He told coworkers that he purchased a $14,000 ring for Swift."  

But Reinking also identified himself as a "sovereign citizen" on multiple occasions. 

In 2010, the FBI described the Sovereign Citizen movement as a domestic terrorist group.  

Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or “sovereign” from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.

This causes all kinds of problems—and crimes. For example, many sovereign citizens don’t pay their taxes. They hold illegal courts that issue warrants for judges and police officers. They clog up the court system with frivolous lawsuits and liens against public officials to harass them. And they use fake money orders, personal checks, and the like at government agencies, banks, and businesses.

The

and

have also identified the racist and anti-semitic elements of the movement. 

USA Today reported on Monday that he also declared himself part of the anti-government group before he was arrested in July 2017 for being in a restricted area at the White House. 

All four people killed in Sunday's shooting were people of color. Reinking, the alleged shooter, is white. Police have said they don't know his motive so far, but Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson said Sunday, citing the incidents in Reinking's past, that he may have "mental issues." A report about Reinking shouting racial slurs last week in a Publix across the street from the Waffle House was widely shared on Twitter earlier this week, but Metro police say they have reviewed surveillance footage from the grocery store and the man involved was not Reinking.