If this has become the ” American Normal ” What would the “exceptional” be? Any real effort to prevent this repeating itself over and over again,
An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others wounded, totaling 30 people shot at a Baltimore block party.
Source: At Least 30 Shot, With Two Dead In The Latest Mass Shooting | Crooks and Liars
GOP REP. SHRUGS OFF SLAUGHTER: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO FIX IT’
He added that his philosophy was influenced by his father, who told him, “Buddy, if somebody wants to take you out and doesn’t mind losing their life, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it.”
Source: GOP Rep Admits ‘We’re Not Going To Fix’ School Shootings | HuffPost Latest News
Six people have been killed, including two police officers and an innocent bystander, during an incident at a remote property in Queensland.
US Republican Senators have responded quickly to the latest mass shooting, assuring gun advocacy groups that they have no reason to feel anxious or afraid tonight.
Source: “We promise to do whatever it takes to keep you safe,” Republican Senators assure NRA | The Shovel
When will the NRA and gun manufacturers be declared the Sacklers of their industries? America is exceptional. Exceptional in the number of mass shootings, the lack of gun control, and the incarceration of its people in the land they call free. It truly is the world leader in the worst of every possible way imaginable and does absolutely nothing to arrest the carnage.
At least 18 children and three adults have died in the latest mass shooting to hit the United States.
Biden, recently returned from his trip to Asia, delivered a statement in the White House in which he could hardly contain his anger over an epidemic of massacres in America.
“As a nation, we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what we know in our gut needs to be done?”
“We have to act,” he said and suggested reinstating the assault weapons ban and other “common sense gun laws”.
Australia has a bipartisan gun control policy though one wonders if it will last as there are minorities that want to see it relaxed if not removed. We also have compulsory voting that suggests a majority-ruled Democracy but it fails to be reflected in our minority lead governments. Then the art of negotiation comes into play and history shows that the ALP is far better when one counts the number of bills passed. It’s not reflected in the job being done by the LNP, IPA, and Murdoch alliance. Their focus has been working on staying in power and so much money is spent on that alone that social progress and government services get left behind. When the front pages of Murdoch and the mainstream private media aren’t News or information and our public broadcaster the ABC has been reduced to a shadow of itself Democracy becomes a shadow of itself and politics dominates and narrows government service.
In the face of such dark events and horrific loss of life, it’s important to emphasize that we can and must do better as a nation. The work extends from battling against hateful political extremism and strengthening gun laws to taking greater action in communities throughout the country to stop mass shootings before they happen.
Source: Violent Far-Right Extremism Is Fueling Mass Shootings in America – Mother Jones
In Australia, Murdoch allows Andrew Bolt to promote violence. He wrote that he wished young white Christians had the same commitment the Barcelona bombers had in fighting for their beliefs, to their deaths. In fact,Bolt called Australian youth “gutless” for their lack of fight. If that wasn’t a clarion call to violence what is? Had a Muslim done the same or an Indigenous Australian they’d have been arrested for incitement.
We saw the expression on Bolt’s face when two pranksters glittered him. It was full of potential GBH on Bolt’s part while a joke on the two young men trying to escape his reaction. Yet, the story was spun to make Bolt look like the hero/victim crying ANTFA ANTIFA in his defense. Who and where is that mysterious “terrorist” organization ANTIFA today that organization that Bolt couldn’t identify the leaders of back then, but said was a fully-fledged “organization” like ISIS among us.
He’s been little more than Newscorp’s foghorn blowhard influencer, and recruiter for the Australian Right. Just as Tucker Carlson is at Head Office Fox News, Fox Corp in America. This shooting in Buffalo had the same characteristics as the NZ massacre where the shooter’s hero was Brett Cotteral a regular guest on Andrew Bolt’s shows and promoted by him as a great modern-day Australian patriot.
Carlson, meanwhile, has been at the forefront of popularizing various often contradictory conspiracy theories, mostly intended to portray the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as noble patriots and lambaste any Republican who dares say otherwise. While these GOP leaders and media personalities are generally careful to avoid direct calls for violence, their overall message of sympathy and support for right-wing terrorism is undeniable. So Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo, while horrifying, is really no surprise.
Trump has torn up the record books when it comes to mass- shootings and numbers killed during his term in office. (ODT)
Key points:
Guns were the weapon used in all bar eight of the mass killings to take place
The number of people killed was 211, just 13 shy of 2017 when the worst massacre in US history took place
The Walmart shooting in El Paso, Texas saw more people killed than any other mass killing this year
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA—In the hours following a violent rampage in Virginia in which a lone attacker killed 12 individuals and injured four others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place. “This was a terrible tragedy, but sometimes these things just happen and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them,” said Michigan resident Mark Butler, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half of the world’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the past 50 years and whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations. “It’s a shame, but what can we do? There really wasn’t anything that was going to keep this individual from snapping and killing a lot of people if that’s what they really wanted.” At press time, residents of the only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past eight years were referring to themselves and their situation as “helpless.”
via ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
The Christchurch massacre was built on existing far-right memes that fueled a live-streaming gunman’s viral aspirations.
and
For now, the Annapolis shooting is being treated as a local incident and not one that involves terrorism, a law enforcement official said.
It’s as if the NRA is one step from saying ‘schools are the problem in America close them’. All the paid for Right solutions can be heard on FOX NEWS. Leave the other media what’s Left. (ODT)
In a tweet at the time of his election, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch called North a “total warrior for freedom” and “the last person that anti-gun advocates would want as the new president of the NRA board.”
via Pro-gun lobby blames ‘drugged’ students and abortion for shootings
As Capitol Police arrived in the hall and told the students they would be arrested unless they left, one protester replied, “We don’t mind getting arrested.”
“One arrest, four arrests, a thousand arrests isn’t going to stop us until no more children are dying in their schools because of unnecessary guns in the hands of wrong people,” said one student as the police detained four members of the group who had refused to disperse.
Days after the Parkland shooting, Trump said that elected officials should be ready to “fight” the powerful NRA lobby group. Early this month he embraced that group, telling its annual meeting in Dallas “your Second Amendment rights are under siege” and, as long as he was President, their guns would never be taken away.
Gunman kills 4 at Waffle House near Nashville
(CNN)A massive manhunt is underway for the gunman accused of killing four people early Sunday at a Waffle House near Nashville, Tennessee.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has added 29-year-old Travis Reinking to its “Top 10 Most Wanted” list after he allegedly opened fire at the restaurant in Antioch, southeast of Nashville at 3:19 a.m.
Reinking’s alleged motive is unknown and authorities warn that he may still be armed with a rifle and a hand gun.
It is worth considering the broader context of gun violence in the US. Large-scale mass shootings make up a small fraction of that violence. Of the approximately 33,000 gun violence deaths each year, only about 1.5% come from mass shootings. Two-thirds of gun violence deaths are from suicide. This chart does not show the people who are injured by guns each year in the US – more than 70,000 of them.
via Not your imagination: mass shootings now happen more frequently in the US | US news | The Guardian
Officials have said they found the suspect dead in his car surrounded by multiple weapons. US federal law bans people who have been dishonourably discharged from buying a firearm.
In the wake of the tragedy in Las Vegas, a criminologist reviews recent research to dispel common misconceptions about mass shootings.
Stephen Paddock’s arrival at the Las Vegas hotel wouldn’t have surprised anyone. Four days later, more than 59 people would be dead at the music festival outside his hotel room.
Source: 22 guns, 10,000 bullets: How a killer got his arsenal of firearms into a Las Vegas hotel
Police said situation is now contained but reported at least five deaths after shooting near an industrial area.
Source: Multiple deaths reported in Orlando, Florida shooting | News | Al Jazeera
A cold-blooded and methodical killer took a casual approach to life and death in the streets of Dallas.
Source: Dallas shootings: How a peaceful protest became a crazed massacre of policemen
A man who says he was Omar Mateen’s lover has claimed the mass murderer acted out of “revenge” after finding out one of his partners was HIV positive.
Source: Orlando shooter Omar Mateen ‘seeking revenge on HIV lover’ claims ‘Miguel’ on Univision
Radicalised and radicalising, Hanson represents a crop of anti-Muslim agitators currently running for Parliament. Incredibly, in a video released in the wake of the Orlando tragedy, her rhetoric has extended anti-Muslim politics to an even darker place, writes Max Chalmers. If Pauline Hanson was brown, there would be government taskforces trying to make connections withMore
Source: After Orlando, The Danger Of Pauline Hanson Becomes Apparent – New Matilda
CIA Director John Brennan has told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Orlando shooter Omar Mateen had “no direct link” to the self-proclaimed Islamic State or any other extremist network, although Brennan said Mateen was inspired by ISIS. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has asked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for data from multiple Facebook accounts allegedly associated with Omar Mateen. In the letter, Senator Johnson claimed Mateen had posted on Facebook calls for the U.S. and Russia to stop bombing campaigns against ISIS.
Source: CIA Director: No “Direct Link” Between Omar Mateen and ISIS | Democracy Now!
A journalist’s recent Facebook status update destroying the myths about the Orlando shooter is quickly going viral.
Source: The Shortest and Most Powerful Explanation of the Orlando Shooter I Have Ever Seen
Though Americans continue to argue over what caused the horrific massacre in Orlando, one survivor provided insight into why Omar Mateen actually did it.
Source: Orlando Attack Hostage May Have Revealed Motive Behind Shooting
Fifty people were killed last night, the deadliest mass shooting in US history. This marks 998 mass shootings in the 912 days since Sandy Hook.
Source: Pulse Nightclub Massacre Marks Nearly 1,000 Mass Shootings since Sandy Hook
Was Orlando gunman Omar Mateen motivated by Islamic extremism or confusion about his own sexuality?
Source: Orlando shooting: Was gunman Omar Mateen a political extremist or repressed gay man?
The FBI investigation into the Orlando shooting massacre that left 49 people dead at an LGBTQ club has taken an unexpected twist after evidence emerged the gunman was a regular patron of the club. On Monday morning, FBI Director James Comey said the shooter, Omar Mateen, was likely radicalized online, but that no evidence has emerged he received outside help in the attack. Comey said the FBI first interviewed Mateen in 2013 after co-workers said he made “inflammatory and contradictory” remarks about terrorism.James Comey: “We then interviewed him twice. He admitted making the statements that his co-workers reported, but explained that he did it in anger because he thought his co-workers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim. After 10 months of investigation, we closed the preliminary investigation.”During a phone call to police on Sunday morning, Mateen expressed support for the self-proclaimed Islamic State, but Comey said at other times he also expressed solidarity to groups fighting against ISIS, including Hezbollah and al-Nusra Front. Witnesses who were trapped in the club’s bathroom with Mateen during the attack said he also spoke about a need to stop the U.S. bombing in Syria. The FBI has begun investigating multiple claims that Mateen might have been gay himself and frequented the Pulse nightclub. The claims have come from numerous people, including his ex-wife, a former high school classmate and several club patrons. Meanwhile, solidarity vigils have been held across the country and around the world for the 49 victims of the attack, most of whom were young and Latinx. We’ll have more on the massacre after headlines.
Source: Report: Orlando Shooter Frequented the LGBT Club He Targeted | Democracy Now!
The second wife of the Orlando gunman has reportedly told federal agents she knew in advance about the attack that left 49 people dead and tried to talk her husband out of going ahead with it.
In a new article for Rolling Stone, journalist Soraya Chemaly writes, “The Washington Post reported Monday that ‘although family members said [Omar] Mateen had expressed anger about homosexuality, the shooter had no record of previous hate crimes.’ But that depends on how you categorize domestic violence.” Mateen’s ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, has come forward to describe how Mateen beat her and held her hostage. ThinkProgress reports that between 2009 and 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings started with a shooter targeting his girlfriend, wife or ex-wife. Just this month in California, a UCLA doctoral student gunned down his professor, prompting a lockdown on campus. But first, Mainak Sarkar allegedly killed his estranged wife in Minnesota, climbing through a window to kill her in her home. Last year alone, nearly a third of mass shooting deaths were related in some way to domestic violence. We speak to writer Soraya Chemaly. Her recent article in Rolling Stone is called “In Orlando, as Usual, Domestic Violence was Ignored Red Flag.”
Even if the Orlando shooter embraced the ideology of ISIS, the pattern of his atrocity is distinctively American
Our national attachment to dominance models of manhood is a major reason why we have so much violence
Source: Overcompensation Nation: It’s time to admit that toxic masculinity drives gun violence – Salon.com
Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the Orlando mass shooting may be nothing more than a propaganda move to capitalize on a massacre perpetrated by a lone-wolf attacker who could have had no direct links to the terror group, security experts told RT.
The ex-wife of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen said he repeatedly abused her, was emotionally unstable and displayed signs of bipolar disorder. She added that he sometimes expressed anger towards gay people.
Late last year my partner and I were travelling overseas for work. One night, with an early train booked for the next morning, we were out, and feeling lazy. We decided to take an Uber back to the apartment we were renting. I pulled out my phone, which told me I had received a message from a friend: “You kids still in Paris? Mass shootings happening in the 10th. Stay safe.” We were in Paris, and we were about to head back to just near the 10th arrondissement, where we were staying.
For Arab and Muslim Americans, every report begins an anxious wait for the attacker’s identity to be revealed.
Source: When is a mass shooting more than a mass shooting? – Al Jazeera English
The global security firm and employer of the man who killed at least 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando has said it is “shocked and saddened” by the mass murder and is working with law enforcement. Omar Mateen worked with private security group G4S Secure Solutions as a private security officer in Florida. The role requires 28 hours of classroom training by a licensed instructor. Officials said he had two firearms licenses, a security officer license and a statewide firearms license, all expiring in September 2017.
Using data from shootingtracker.com, PBS recently updated a map which documents all of the mass shootings that occurred in the United States in 2015. They define mass shootings as “incidents when at least four people are killed or wounded, including the gunman.” It’s a pretty disturbing sight. This type of gun violence seems particular to […]
There is no indication that the shooters who killed 14 people in California are part of a larger terrorist group, the White House says.
Another. The latest sick and blood-soaked manifestation of American “liberty” – this one in San Bernardino – was the second mass shooting in a day, the third since Planned Parenthood, the 355th in the year’s 336 days, and the 1,042nd since Sandy Hook; we have a Mass Shooting Tracker to tell us. Skip the hollow thoughts and prayers. We will be steeped in murderous death, abetted by a “toxic infatuation” with guns and too many lying, craven, NRA-funded politicos, until gun control controls guns.
Source: We Have Too Many F*cking Guns | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community
As many as 10 people killed and 7 more injured at Umpqua community college in Roseburg as President Obama gives exasperated appearance at White House
![Researchers have found that about 20 percent of mass murderers have been severely mentally ill [Elaine Thompson/AP Photo]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2017/11/11/2901b7a6696a47a68e0a814b35e12106_18.jpg "US: 'Most mass shootings not committed by mentally ill'")
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