Thoughts, prayers & politics: Left & Right twist El Paso shootings to promote their agendas

RT
Sun, 04 Aug 2019 17:29 UTC

© Briana Sanchez/The El Paso Times via AP

People arrive at MacArthur Elementary looking for family and friends as the school is being used a re-unification center during the aftermath of a shooting at the Walmart near the Cielo Vista Mall, Saturday, Aug. 3, in El Paso, Texas. Multiple people were killed and one person was in custody after a shooter went on a rampage at a shopping mall, police in the Texas border town of El Paso said.

A shooting at a Walmart in Texas, where 20 people were killed, plunged the US into sorrow but also rekindled a political debate. The incident has become a case in point for gun control advocates, including presidential hopefuls.

A majority of high-profile politicians have relayed their condolences to the victims of the shooting rampage, refraining from pinning the blame on US President Donald Trump or his administration directly, like some did in the wake of the New Zealand mosque massacre in March, when they accused the US leader of inciting anti-Muslim violence with his rhetoric.

Instead, an array of Democratic presidential candidates, including frontrunner Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Rep. Kamala Harris (D-Ca) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) used the occasion to drum up support for tougher gun control, while scolding Republicans for inaction.

Several Democratic candidates still attempted to drag Trump into the picture. Speaking at the AFSCME Public Service Forum in Las Vegas, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who has just qualified for the next Democratic debate in September, fell short of blaming Trump but got as close to it as it gets.

She brought up the story of a Somali-American girl who was told to go back "where she came from" by an alleged Trump supporter, before saying "this hate is fueling a lot of these shootings and it is fueling a lot of other crimes."

Others took on white nationalism, which is being investigated as a possible reason for the shooting. Another Democratic hopeful, Pete Buttigieg, said one of the reasons was "domestic terrorism, almost all of which is inspired by white nationalism," which is in turn the Trump administration's fault.

"A lot of this is... whether we allow people to be pitted against each other by maneuvers like the peak white identity politics being practiced out of this White House," he said.

Many lower-profile progressives were even less discreet in their choice of words, squarely blaming Trump for instigating violence with his "racist border propaganda."

They were joined by several outspoken Hollywood celebrities. Actor John Leguizamo argued that Trump's rhetoric was "triggering all this violence" against the Latino community.

Republicans, led by Trump, have limited their response to the incident to mostly good wishes and prayers.

....Melania and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the great people of Texas.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2019

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), however, turned his attention to the issue of mental health, often invoked by conservatives during mass shootings.

The shooting took place on Saturday afternoon at a Walmart in El Paso on the US-Mexican border. A total of 20 people were killed in the attack, and a further 26 were injured. It has been reported that the gunman left an hate-filled manifesto, inspired by the one written by the New Zealand mosque attacker, but targeting Hispanics.

Comment: The case is now being framed as "domestic terrorism":

"We are treating [the El Paso shooting] as a domestic terrorist case, there's a statutory definition of domestic terrorism .... this meets it. It appears to be designed to intimidate a civilian population," US Attorney for Western District of Texas John Bash said at a press conference, Sunday.

He added that "we're going to do what we do to terrorists in this country, which is to deliver swift and certain justice."

The shooter, earlier identified in the media as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, was said to be cooperating with the investigation.

The suspect is believed to have bought the firearm used during the rampage legally, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said.

Prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty for the suspect.

The El Paso massacre took place early on Saturday when the suspect, armed with an AK-style rifle, stormed a local Walmart shooting people in the parking lot and inside the store. At least 20 people were killed and 26 more injured.

A "manifesto" was posted online before the rampage, apparently detailing the shooter's extreme-right views and branding the attack a response to the "Hispanic invasion" of Texas. The document is yet to be directly linked to the shooter, police said on Sunday.

In the meantime normal people did what normal people do, comfort each other and help:

Local media reported that blood donation centers were"overwhelmed" after hundreds answered the calls from police and city officials for people to donate blood for the victims.

Residents and reporters at the scene shared videos on social media of people standing in long lines outside and inside the facilities. Some stood for hours, waiting for their turn to help the victims.

"I went to go donate blood but the facility didn't have room for any more cars and the streets were flooded with people trying to get in," one person wrote.

"My mother and I went to donate blood and there is a line of hundreds of people around the block. All standing in 101 degree sun," another Twitter user said. "People can be wonderful."

Sandra Ramirez, an anchor at the local KTSM 9 News channel, said that volunteers were bringing pizza, water and energy drinks to people enduring the heat to stand in lines in front of the blood donation centers.

Transport service Lyft, meanwhile, had offered free rides to people wishing to donate blood in El Paso.

The inflow of donors helped nonprofit Vitalant to receive more than 240 units of blood for the victims in just one day, the organization said.