Gun Violence 3: Thoughts and Prayers Continue to be Insufficient

[Howl]

One thing not discussed are the 17 wounded/injured and their current condition.   Were any of those children who survived?  Anyone who hit by even one of the shooter's bullets would be in terrible shape.

[47of74]

Now Tennessee

Quote

Six people were shot, two of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Saturday night, police said.

Officers patrolling the area heard gunshots just after 11:45 p.m. near the area of 100 Cherry Street and arrived at a scene of "multiple parties exchanging gunfire and numerous people fleeing the area," said police.

Multiple gunshot victims were taken to a hospital for treatment, said police Sgt. Jeremy Eames. Four are expected to survive while two have life-threatening injuries, he said. Most of those shot were teenagers or in their early 20s, he added.

 

[Vivi_music]

20 hours ago, Howl said:

And the protocol is: attempt to take out the shooter immediately. 

Paraphrasing the amazing Art Acevedo (past Austin police chief) when commenting  about the Uvalde situation:  The point is to immediately engage, engage, engage!

That really boogles my mind! I simply can't understand. Surely they must have had training on the subject, considering how (sadly) common school shootings are now in the US.

I'm from Montréal, and we have had three major school shootings in our city, thankfully spread through a span of more than 20 years, and thankfully less frequent than it has become now in the US.

I don't know if some of you have heard of the École Polytechnique massacre (sometimes called Montréal Massacre) in december 1989. A gunman entered the engineering departement at the University of Montreal and targeted women students. He killed 14 young ladies and injured 14 other students. Back then, school shootings and mass shootings in general were not common. After the event, the police was largely criticized for its action (or inaction in this case). Apparently on the ground, there were conflicting reports of several gunmen inside. The first batch of officers who arrived were Montreal police patrolers who happened to be near by when they heard gunshot and cries from students. They arrived on the scene less than 5 minutes after the first 911 call. The gunman was still alive and aimlessly killing people inside the school. The police had never had training for such a situation and thus, decided to not enter the building right away. The whole event was relatively short. In less than 30 minutes, the gunmen had injured and killed several people and committed suicide. The police entered the building about 10 minutes after it was all finished. Nothing could be done at that point.

The event was so traumatizing, for all of Quebec and Canada as a whole, that multiple inquiries were made on the police intervention that night. The Montreal police did their own internal inquiry, and the Quebec Minister of Public Security also did his own inquiry on the events. This lead to changes in the emergency response protocols that were put in place by a lot of police and security engencies across the country. The main take-away? ENGAGE with the shooter RIGHT AWAY. If not to neutralize him, at least to distract him and prevent him from aiming at students and innocent victims. These changes are now part of regular training for all police forces. The police forces used these protocols in the Dawson college shooting in 2006 and the 2014 attack on Parliament hill in Ottawa. During these incidents, rapid and immediate intervention by police and improved coordination amongst emergency response agencies really helped minimize the loss of life.

Iremember Dawson college very well. I was a junior in high school at the time and we had to do drills and such for the rest of the year. On the site, when the tragedy happened, the first two police officers were near the campus for an unrelated call, and entered the cafeteria as soon as they heard gunfire. They were literally engaging fire with him less than 4 minutes after he started shooting. He was shot in the arm by police officer Denis Côté and then committed suicide. The killer had time to kill one person and injuring 19, who thankfully all survived.

In 2014, when a attacker entered the Ottawa parliament, the same rapid respond helped save most of the MPs present that day. The gunman entered the Centre Block. Right away, he was stopped by two constables on duty. In the ensuing struggle, one of them was shot in the foot and survived. The gunman then ran along the corridor toward the Library of Parliament while being pursued by RCMP officers. He passed, on his left, the door to a committee room in which Stephen Harper and the Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) were meeting. Directly opposite was the door to another caucus room, where leader of the opposition, Thomas Mulcair, and New Democratic Party MPs were gathered. The attacker was being chased down and fired upon by officers, thus trying to take cover and protect himself. He did not enter neither of the committe rooms. He was finally shot by the Seargeant-at-arms of the House of Commons a few seconds later. All of this happened between 9:50 and 9:55 AM.

Sorry for rambling, but if we circle all of this back to Ulvade and Robb elementay, this proves that rapid intervention is the key. ENGAGE with the shooter right away for GOD'S sake. IT IS YOUR JOB. Of course it's scary and dangerous. I'm not saying it's an easy job. It's normal to be scared. I would be scared shitless. But at the same time, I know I would make a poor police officer. It's my choice. I knew this career wasn't for me. No one forced these policemen (or women) to enter the force. It was a choice, their choice. I would be ASHAMED of myself if I were them. Ashamed. I know this will sound cruel, but I hope the police officers present that day carry the weight of their guilt for a long long time. Because these parents will carry the pain of losing their child for the rest of their lives.

(I didn't mention the other changes that occured after the Polytechnique shooting. Mainly the Canadian parliament voted in 1995 for more severe gun control all across the country. While it was a given here after it happened, it seems it isn't a given in the US, unfortunately)

Edited May 29, 2022 by Vivi_music
Spelling

[47of74]

I just sent a nasty LTTE to the Des Moines register that in effect said FUCK Iowa for it's goddamn useless death cult GQP members who don't want to do a fucking thing about gun violence.  And how I was glad to be up in Minnesota where at least part of the goddamn government wants to actually do fucking something about gun violence beyond just spouting off about mental health.  And how Iowa could go fuck itself in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[WiseGirl]

On 5/28/2022 at 1:30 AM, fraurosena said:

The same counts for parents sending their children to school.

How utterly fucked up is that?

And the teachers and staff going to work. I share a classroom with two other teachers. We discussed it. If it ever came to it we are all going out of fire escape window and headed for the trees/houses behind the school. 

Conversations they never discuss in teacher training...

[GreyhoundFan]

[fraurosena]

There is no way to describe how disturbing this image is.

 

[fraurosena]

Do they realize how expertly they are being trolled, though? I mean, they even clap for him at the end...

[fraurosena]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

You couldn’t make this up:

 

[fraurosena]

 

[Alisamer]

On 5/30/2022 at 9:59 AM, GreyhoundFan said:

Quoting this because it's amazing and so clearly put. 

It's just insane. We have police officers so gun-happy that they'll shoot an unarmed person at the slightest provocation, and yet here, where they were armored and well armed and had the advantage of numbers, they sat around waiting for a shooter to get done killing children before daring to risk their lives going in to stop him.

And people think the answer is for Mrs. Jones in English class to toss down her copy of Romeo and Juliet, whip out a weapon and leap over the desk shooting like she's the lead in an action movie. While the police, some of whom chose the job specifically for the potential glory of being a hero, shrug their assault-rifle laden shoulders and pick their butts?

How about we make it more difficult for people to aquire guns that can kill multiple people in less than a minute? 

Honestly if people want to be gun people and play military and pretend to be action heroes and all that, they totally can. Get an airsoft gun and join a group, go on all sorts of missions with all sorts of weaponry. I think paintball is still a thing, go do that. Go to the shooting range and rent a gun for the afternoon there and shoot targets. Get a properly licensed hunting rifle and a hunting license and go hunting for food animals during the appropriate seasons, if you want to kill living things.  And if you love that stuff so much that you choose to join the police to carry a gun around, know when to use it appropriately and DO SO. 

I'm still boggled that after all the police shootings of unarmed people (of color, nearly exclusively) that none of these cops decided to be the hero and take this shooter out. In TEXAS, of all places. Texas. Where you can literally just carry a gun around with no training, no license, no anything. At any age, even!

But we have 9-year-olds huddling under desks in a classroom watching classmates bleed out while a gunman wanders around heavily armed and shooting occasionally, on the phone to 911 begging for the police to come help, while the police have actually been there for half an hour or so waiting around outside for the shooter to get done!

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

watching classmates bleed out while a gunman wanders around heavily armed and shooting occasionally, on the phone to 911 begging for the police to come help, while the police have actually been there for half an hour or so waiting around outside for the shooter to get done!

Don't forget they actively prevented parents attempting to save their children from entering the building, using excessive force and even handcuffing them. They weren't too cowardly for that! Probably because those parents were unarmed. Ffing yellow bellied, lily livered snivelling cowards. 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

On 5/30/2022 at 11:01 AM, fraurosena said:

Do they realize how expertly they are being trolled, though? I mean, they even clap for him at the end...

The clapping at the end really shows how incredibly stupid and how incredibly sheep-minded some of these people are.  As soon as he started listing  off mass murder after mass murder, Ol' Wayno knew something was up and even the guy to his right was figuring it out but those good little NRA foot soldiers couldn't see the forest for the trees.

[47of74]

Yeah, the Federal government actually set money aside to allow for the demolition and reconstruction of schools where mass shootings took place.

Quote

In Uvalde, Texas, students at Robb Elementary School are marred by the slaughter of 19 children and two teachers at their school.

But at some point, classes must resume. Now, questions abound as to whether or when a school devastated by carnage should reopen.

But when President Joe Biden visited Uvalde on Sunday, he told Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez "we're going to look to raze that school, build a new one," Gutierrez told CNN affiliate KSAT.

Gutierrez said there is a federal grant process for schools to be razed after a mass shooting. And that fact alone is depressing.

Fuck you Republicans.

[Ozlsn]

20 hours ago, Alisamer said:

Honestly if people want to be gun people and play military and pretend to be action heroes and all that, they totally can. Get an airsoft gun and join a group, go on all sorts of missions with all sorts of weaponry

Or join the army or national guard. 

[Ozlsn]

 

[Cartmann99]

Texas teachers protest, march at Ted Cruz's Austin office after Uvalde school shooting

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At noon on Tuesday, May 31, the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers and other organizations gather at the AFL/CIO building on Lavaca Street in downtown Austin. It's hot — 90 degrees and rising — and the labor organizers, students, and teachers assembled are riled up under the oppressive Texas sun.

They are set to march down to the J.J. Pickle Federal Building — the site of Senator Ted Cruz's office — in protest of his and other Texas politicians' response to the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde. On Friday, May 27, Cruz spoke at the NRA convention in Houston, where he exclaimed, "gun bans do not work."

Education Austin president Ken Zarifis rails against Cruz and other Texas lawmakers who have pondered putting the responsibility of future school shootings on teachers by arming them in the classroom. He believes that even a few years ago, Texas Governor Greg Abbott was lucid in his thinking about the issue of gun control in the state.

"But the gun lobby's pressure kept him from doing what was right," Zarifis says. "I still want to believe that in his heart, Governor Abbott knows what is right. But his political will is not there."

As Zarifs finishes his speech, protesters file out of the building. They're holding signs, poignant, funny, and heartbreaking. One man holds a failing report card for Cruz; another a sign that reads: "It's the guns stupid." As they begin walking, they start chanting.

"What do we want?" one protestor yells.

"Safe classrooms!" the crowd screams back.

"When do we want it?" the first protestor continues.

"Now!" they shout.

The assembled crowd of about 50 marches two blocks east to the steps outside the gate of the Texas State Capitol, where a vestigial portion of last week's vigil remains. Aside rotting flowers, kicked-over candles, and photos of those killed at Robb Elementary, AFT president Zeph Capo speaks.

"We've watched time and time again, as Greg Abbott buckles to Dan Patrick," he says, to an audible boo. "And as Dan Patrick buckles to the NRA." Booing in unison. Then it's more call-and-response.

"Who will stand up for families in Texas?" Capo asks.

"We will!" a few folks exclaim. 

''Who will stand up for kids in Texas, who will stand up for every one of us that has the right to live and breathe in this state without the fear of losing your life or going to school?" Capo continues.

"We will!" the crowd roars.

After a 21-second moment of silence for the 19 children and two teachers killed in Uvalde, the crowd moves together under the oppressive Texas sun to its final destination: Cruz's office.

An Austin woman named Melissa Seal tells me that she's originally from Castroville, a small town located between Uvalde and San Antonio. Her mother is a teacher, as are some of her cousins, and they're all some mixture of confused and furious over the notion from lawmakers that they should arm themselves against school shooters.

"They feel like they've been left behind, that their government, their representatives have abandoned them," she says. "We're all pissed, and it shouldn't be this way."

At the Pickle Building, a "shame on you" chant crescendos as protesters hold their signs high above their heads. The chant gives way to "shame on Cruz!" 

Capo speaks again, mentioning that most Texans want sensible gun control, which is supported by a June 2021 UT Austin poll that found that 71% of people at least "somewhat support" universal background checks on all gun purchases.

Speaking of the teachers he represents, he says, "They do not want to be armed. Add in police duties, add in the consideration that a gun could harm one of their students. That is too much to bear."

On weapons like the AR-15-style rifle that the Uvalde shooter used on May 24, Capo is unequivocal. 

"A weapon that does nothing but kill human beings," he says. "We have to protect our kids and not the rights of the NRA and others who have their vanity weapons and who make the profits off the backs of our children."

He implores Cruz and other Texas representatives to get back to Washington, D.C. and figure something, anything out, even if it's a measure not everyone agrees with.

A chant of "do your jobs!" breaks out, and gets so loud that security meets Capo at the door. He is told that the protestors cannot all enter the building without a permit, but that he can present the letter at a different entrance.

As he disappears to enter the building with some students, a local woman named Emily Timms tells me that she's there in solidarity with the teachers union. The executive director of Workers Defense Project, a statewide organization that advocates on behalf of low-wage workers, she says that she's marching both as a parent and as a labor partner.

"This is now a very real job hazard that educators have to face," Timms says. "That's a really terrible reality to face."

Timms says that state and federal officials have the power to make these working and learning conditions safer for teachers and students, but that they keep skirting the issue and coming up with other solutions.

"Arming teachers is not the answer," she says. "We really need safe schools, and we deserve them."

As Capo emerges from the building, he tells me that Cruz's staff met him and a few students in the lobby to accept their letter. He says it was gratifying to have parents want their children to participate in the march and be part of the democratic process of peaceful demonstration.

"I'm not quite sure that the staffers in Senator Cruz's office felt the same way," he laughs. "I think that they were just doing a perfunctory job of taking the letter."

Capo says that Abbott, Cruz, and other Texas representatives have harkened back to talking points like mental health and arming teachers, while cutting funding for mental health services and schools.

"I don't think any of it's legitimate," he says, just after the crowd disperses. "But you know, I wouldn't put it past people like Cruz and others to believe their own bulls**t."

 

[Cartmann99]

Narratives, and blame, shift again as dysfunction engulfs shooting probe

Quote

The official response to the mass shooting at an Uvalde elementary school — a response already marred by shifting narratives, finger-pointing and a general lack of timely and accurate information — took a further turn toward dysfunction on Tuesday.

The Uvalde school district’s police chief — who made the decision to wait for more resources rather than confront the gunman sooner — has stopped cooperating with state investigators and had not responded to requests for information for over two days, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

And the agency walked back an assertion that a teacher at Robb Elementary School propped open a back door prior to the shooting, allowing the gunman to enter and kill 19 students and two teachers. Earlier Tuesday the teacher’s lawyer had pushed back on the state’s account.

Texas Rangers investigating the response to the shooting want to continue talking to Pete Arredondo, chief of police at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. But he hasn’t answered a request made two days ago for a follow-up interview, according to two DPS spokespeople.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s police department and the Uvalde Police Department have otherwise been cooperating with the Rangers’ investigation, DPS spokesperson Travis Considine said.

Arredondo did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

Amid the turmoil, Texas’ largest police union — the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT — urged its members Tuesday in a statement to “cooperate fully” with investigations into the police response to the Uvalde massacre — though they didn’t name Arredondo.

Both the police chief and the school teacher had been implicated by DPS officials as, in effect, having failed at their jobs. The change in narrative is likely to deepen the mistrust surrounding the investigation. Already, as in other mass shootings, conspiracy theories and misinformation have begun to proliferate online.

While the U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to review the response to the mass shooting, the ultimate responsibility for carrying out a credible, thorough and transparent investigation rests with the state — and so far, state officials have not offered much confidence in their abilities to carry out such a probe.

In the school teacher’s case, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said Friday that the unnamed teacher had propped open the door through which the gunman entered the school. DPS now says a teacher shut that door but its automatic lock malfunctioned. Considine said DPS is investigating why the lock didn’t work.

The reversal came hours after a lawyer representing the teacher told the San Antonio Express-News that the teacher closed the door before the shooter entered the building.

“She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 911 that he was shooting,” Don Flanary, the teacher’s lawyer, told the Express-News. “She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked.”

Flanary did not return requests for comment from The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.

The revelation was the latest addition to what has become an almost daily need to clean up past statements by state leaders. DPS officials and Gov. Greg Abbott have walked back several of their initial statements about the shooting and the authorities’ response to the call after contradictory information came to light.

For example, Abbott and McCraw said the gunman encountered a police officer before he entered the school. McCraw later said the shooter went inside unopposed. When asked about the discrepancy, Abbott said he was “livid” to have been “misled” in some of his earliest briefings on the massacre.

CLEAT, the police union, blamed state officials Tuesday for “a great deal of false and misleading information in the aftermath of this tragedy,” some of which “came from the very highest levels of government and law enforcement.”

“Sources that Texans once saw as iron-clad and completely reliable have now been proven false,” the union said in a statement.

Police officers who responded to the shooting at Robb Elementary have faced heated criticism from parents who said officers did not act quickly enough to stop the 18-year-old gunman.

That criticism reached a new level on Friday when McCraw told reporters that officers did not try to stop the shooter sooner because the district’s police chief wanted to wait for backup and equipment before confronting the gunman — even though 911 calls confirmed that students were still trapped inside with the shooter.

McCraw said Arredondo, whom he identified by position but did not name, treated the gunman as a “barricaded suspect” rather than an active shooter and believed children were no longer at risk — which McCraw called a mistake.

A tactical unit made up of U.S. Border Patrol agents eventually breached the classroom and killed the gunman — more than an hour after the gunman first arrived on campus.

The news about Arredondo came on the same day he was sworn in as a member of the Uvalde City Council. A public ceremony had been scheduled for Tuesday after the chief won election on May 7, but the event was postponed. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a press release that nothing in city law prevented him from taking his seat. Later in the day, McLaughlin said he was sworn in "as per the city charter.”

“Out of respect for the families who buried their children today, and who are planning to bury their children in the next few days, no ceremony was held,” the mayor said.

Arredondo’s law enforcement career spans nearly three decades, including 15 years at the Uvalde Police Department. He completed an active shooter response training in December, according to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records.

The first funeral for one of the victims of the attack was held Tuesday, for Amerie Jo Garza. She was 10.

The mayor also walked back his previous criticism of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who previously had said state officials “were not told the truth” about the timeline of the shooting. The mayor responded to Patrick’s comments saying investigators had not misled anyone. In Tuesday night’s statement, the mayor said he “misunderstood statements I thought he said.”

“Our parents deserve answers and I trust the Texas Department of Public Safety/Texas Rangers will leave no stone unturned,” the mayor said. “Our emotions are raw, and hearts are broken, and words are sometimes exchanged because of those emotions.”

In a tweet, Patrick responded to McLaughlin saying he appreciates the mayor’s “statement setting the record straight.”

 

[Cartmann99]

Live updates: 4 dead in Tulsa medical center shooting

Quote

Multiple people were killed in a shooting at a medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, authorities said, adding that the suspected shooter was also dead.

Tulsa Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish confirmed the number of dead. He said the gunman died apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Oklahoma medical official: We stand with physicians from Tulsa hospital

Oklahoma State Medical Association President Dr. David Holden said in a statement the organization was heartbroken to learn of the loss of lives at the Tulsa hospital.

“Oklahoma’s hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices are places for healing and should be safe for all,” Holden said. “And while there will be much to discuss regarding this tragedy in the days and weeks to come, we stand with our fellow physicians and health professionals in mourning those who were killed and injured due to this devastating event.”

- Dana Branham

Police believe Tulsa shooter may have planted bomb in Muskogee home

Muskogee police went to a residence there Wednesday night after being notified by Tulsa police that the shooter may have left a bomb inside. Muskogee is about 50 miles southeast of Tulsa.

"At this time we have evacuated the house and have notified everyone in the area to stay inside their homes," the Muskogee Police public information officer said.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol bomb squad was at the residence preparing to search it once police get a search warrant, the officer, Lynn Hamlin, said.

- Nolan Clay

Gov. Kevin Stitt issues statement on Tulsa medical center shooting

“What happened today in Tulsa is a senseless act of violence and hatred. Sarah and I are praying for the families of those who lost their lives and for those who were injured.

I am grateful for the quick and brave actions of the Tulsa Police Department and other first responders who did their best to contain a terrible situation.

I have offered Mayor G.T. Bynum any state resources that may be needed, and I ask all Oklahomans to come together in support of the Saint Francis Health System community and to grieve with those whose lives have been forever changed.”

- Ben Felder

Lawmakers respond to Tulsa medical center shooting

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, who lives in Tulsa, tweeted his condolences Wednesday night, saying "one thing is clear: tragedy is in the loss of life."

"Kay and I are praying for comfort for the victim’s families and loved ones as they go through this hard time as well as those who suffered injury. I am thankful for the law enforcement officers and first responders who responded to the situation swiftly and with bravery."

U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he was "heartbroken" in a statement issued after the shooting and that he and his wife Cindy were praying for the families.

"It is hard to process the anger that motivates someone to commit such violence, especially at a place that provides care and healing," Lankford said.  "I am in touch with local officials in Tulsa and will continue to receive updates on the situation. Our law enforcement and first responders were prepared and equipped to respond to a situation to which no one ever wants to respond. I’m grateful for their quick reaction to prevent any further loss of life."

Representative Kevin Hern echoed similar thoughts in a statement on Twitter Wednesday evening.

"My prayers are with those who lost loved ones tonight, and with the entire Tulsa community as we recover from this tragedy," Hern tweeted. "I am thankful for our law enforcement officers who responded quickly."

- Jessie Christopher Smith

Police provide timeline for Tulsa medical center shooting

Tulsa Police Deputy Chief Eric Dalgleish spoke to press during a brief Wednesday evening and provided a brief timeline of the shooting.

At 4:52 p.m., dispatch received a call of an active shooter at the Natalie Medical Building.

At 4:56 p.m., police officers arrived at the location.

At 5:01 p.m., officers made contact with victims and the suspect on the second floor after hearing gunshots.

Killed were "four innocents, one shooter." Police said they believed the shooter's gunshot wound was self-inflicted. One witness was found locked in a closet.

At the time of the briefing, police had not yet identified the suspect but said they "were getting close."

- Nolan Clay

Death toll rises in Tulsa medical center shooting

Tulsa police tweeted that at least 5 people are dead, including the shooter, in the Natalie Medical Building on the St. Francis Medical Center campus.

What we know so far: Tulsa medical center shooting

Officers responded to a report of a man armed with a rifle at the St. Francis medical campus, which "turned into an active shooter situation."

St. Francis Health System locked down its campus Wednesday afternoon because of the situation at the Natalie Medical Building. Police said officers were going room-to-room in the building. 

The Natalie building houses an outpatient surgery center and a breast health center. People were asked to avoid the area.

At least three people are dead in addition to the shooter. It was unclear how the shooter died or what prompted the deadly assault.

Meulenberg also said multiple people were wounded and that the medical complex was a “catastrophic scene.”

Aerial footage from a TV helicopter appeared to show first responders wheeling someone on a stretcher away from the hospital building.

Dozens of police cars could be seen outside the hospital complex, and authorities shut down traffic as the investigation went on.

Kevin Foristal, of Broken Arrow, waited for his wife at the designated reunification area at Memorial High School just over a block away from the hospital campus.

Foristal said his wife was receiving outpatient therapy at the infusion center in the main hospital building at the time of the shooting.

She told him hospital staff turned out the lights, locked the doors and covered windows with cardboard, Foristal said.

He said he is "elated" to have good news from his loved one, but "there's people out there where that's not going to happen."

It also was the second mass shooting this week in Oklahoma.

A woman was killed Sunday and seven others were injured during an annual Memorial Day festival in Taft, a small town near Muskogee, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported. The shooting suspect later turned himself in.

The shooting in Tulsa comes after two high-profile shooting massacres in Buffalo, New York, where 10 Black people were killed, and Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in May

 

[47of74]

8 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Live updates: 4 dead in Tulsa medical center shooting

 

Yeah I just heard about that too.  If I could I'd move to Rome tomorrow, apply for Italian citizenship, and once I obtained it renounce my US citizenship.  That's how fucking done I am right now. 

(Italians love to complain that the biggest problem with Rome is that it's full of Romans but the city has a way of growing on a person after a few days there.  Yes, Italy has its set of own problems but I'm to the point where I'd rather live there than this shithole).

[Ozlsn]

At this point I'm wonderful what it will take before there is action. Shooting of Congresspeople? Shooting their children? How many shootings does it take? Also this sums it up:

Spoiler

 

One death was too many.

[Ozlsn]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:11 AM, GreyhoundFan said:

You couldn’t make this up:

 

This is an outright call for a coup, if not a civil war. The description of the shootings in the tweet below is accurate - these should be being treated the same way bombings by radicalised IS supporters would be, including going after the sources of radicalisation.

Spoiler

 

 

[Alisamer]

On 6/1/2022 at 6:46 AM, Ozlsn said:

Or join the army or national guard. 

A large percentage of people who play Airsoft are former military already. I was thinking the ones that want to be big heroes and shoot guns but can't hack basic training would do well in Airsoft and similar hobbies. But yeah, there are legit ways to get to carry guns around.

Although apparently not all police who carry them take the opportunity to use then when it is called for. When it isn't, sometimes, but not always when it is.

4 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

This is an outright call for a coup, if not a civil war. The description of the shootings in the tweet below is accurate - these should be being treated the same way bombings by radicalised IS supporters would be, including going after the sources of radicalisation.

  Hide contents

 

 

That's an excellent point. Guns to "take back the government" - that is simply an insurrection. The government we have was elected by the majority of the people. Republicans haven't won a popular vote for president in decades. The majority of people in the US do NOT want them in charge. But the minority who do, especially the far right extremists who do, are calling for a coup to illegally "take back" the government. 

It is, in fact, a war. History may well look back on it that way. A minority of people, led by an even smaller fringe, want to take over and force the majority to do things their way. And practically every day someone on that fringe takes some steps toward making that happen. They might not even have that in mind as a goal, but that's the end effect. Some battles are big, some are small, the casualties are civilians and children. But the end goal is to harden the Republican resistance to gun control.

RIght now the US has a completely unregulated unorganized militia on the far right. They are, for now, carrying out lone terror attacks. We've just seen one major (badly) organized skirmish so far, at the Capitol. But the more people call for common-sense gun control, the more the far right lose their minds, and the more guns the crazies try to obtain before they can't anymore.

And no, a shooting involving Republicans themselves won't change anything, unless it takes out a large number of them. They had one at some congressional baseball game, didn't they? And the end result? Thoughts and prayers...

[fraurosena]

This is so rage inducing that I'd better hold my tongue or a barrage of angry swear words will flow out.