During an event with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whom he would eventually shoot in the head at point-blank range, Loughner asked a nonsensical question:
"What is government if words have no meaning?" the Associated Press reported.
"He was, like, 'What do you think of these people who are working for the government and they can't describe what they do?'" one friend told the Associated Press on Sunday. "He did not like government officials, how they spoke. Like they were just trying to cover up some conspiracy."
It was probably these same beliefs that led Loughner to go on his killing spree. Friends and family described him as an increasingly troubled man who seemed to grow further and further out of touch with reality as time moved on.
And all of the signs were there.
Loughner also posted his nonsensical antigovernment rants on the Internet. He had a run-in with police for his disruptive behavior at the community college he attended and apparently drank to the point of blacking out.
Finally, Loughner began expressing a sudden interest in guns, going with some friends who were bottle shooting in the dessert despite never having expressed an interest in target practice before.
"He appeared to be to me an emotional cripple or an emotional child," said Don Coorough, a student in one of Loughner's poetry classes. "He lacked compassion, he lacked understanding and he lacked an ability to connect."
Not surprisingly, police say Loughner is not cooperating.
Sadly, Loughner's path to this horrible killing is becoming so typical in this country that we are becoming numb to it.
Here's how it usually goes down: A troubled person begins slipping down the dark tunnel of mental illness. He or she begins having all these run-ins with police and there are reports of strange behavior, but no one seems to be able to intervene.
Maybe he turns on the radio or television and hears some of the crazy anti-government rhetoric coming from someone like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin.
The mentally ill person gets a gun and goes on a shooting rampage. Maybe we get lucky and people are just wounded or only one person is killed. This cycle continues because we tolerate it. We don't have the systems in place to help those who have mental illness. I wonder what steps Loughner's parents took to try and get him help. Did anyone help them before this situation got out of hand?
Guns are so readily available that it's only a matter of time before another Loughner gets ahold of one. And not just any gun but a semiautomatic with an extended clip that allowed him to shoot 19 people, including a 9-year-old girl, in a matter of minutes.
We've accepted mass shootings as a part of life in this country when they don't have to be.