Replies to post #444115 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[BOREALIS]

WHITE HOUSE: A Proclamation on Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Allen, Texas

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/05/07/a-proclamation-on-honoring-the-victims-of-the-tragedy-in-allen-texas/


https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/texas-mall-shooting-live-updates-rcna83297

[rooster]

So this is George Zimmerman all over again the he’s a white hispanic crap!

[fuagf]

John Oliver on ‘stand your ground’ laws: ‘Rosetta Stone for justified homicides’

"Why so many mass killings? Families, experts seek answers"

No doubt SYG laws contribute to the problem.

The Last Week Tonight host delves into the proliferation of the redundant, dangerous laws, which provide wide cover for gun violence

Adrian Horton @adrian_horton

Tue 18 May 2021 01.55 AEST
Last modified on Tue 18 May 2021 02.07 AEST


John Oliver: ‘Stand your ground laws have contributed to a society where vigilantes with guns feel they have the right to decide what is safety, who is a threat and what the punishment should be.’ Photograph: YouTube

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver discussed one corner of endemic gun violence and the influence of the gun lobby in the US: so-called “stand your ground .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/07/why-the-days-of-stand-your-ground-self-defense-laws-may-be-numbered ” laws, which provide legal cover for shootings in which the perpetrator claims justified fear.

Stand your ground laws, which have proliferated in numerous states in the past 15 years, were already redundant upon passage. Many states already had self-defense laws on the book with “duty to retreat” caveats – you couldn’t resort to using deadly force if you could afford to safely avoid it or de-escalate a confrontation.

“The key thing stand your ground laws did was remove that duty to retreat from public places,” Oliver explained. “Basically, extending the ‘castle doctrine’” – the legal theory extending self-defense to one’s property – “to anywhere you have a legal right to be. If you have a reasonable fear someone might hurt you, you have just as much right to shoot them in the street as you would if they were coming through the window of your house.”

Stand your ground laws “can make determining questions of guilt incredibly difficult”, Oliver continued, “because it all comes down to perceived fear, whether you legitimately saw someone as a threat, and that is definitionally subjective. What I am afraid of – snakes, clowns and Tilda Swinton – might not be what you are.”

Stand your ground provide wide cover for acts of violence – they’ve been successfully invoked, Oliver pointed out, for shootings in arguments over dog weight, or over the volume of music in a car. “The fact is, we now know overall that not only do stand your ground laws not deter crime, they may actually increase violence,” Oliver said, citing a 2020 report from the Journal of the American College of Surgeons which found homicides increased by 10.8% in states with stand your ground laws; the homicide rate went down by 2.3% in states without the laws.

“And if you’re thinking well, come on, you can’t draw a straight line between these specific laws and people’s actions, in some cases, you very much can,” Oliver added, pointing to the case of Joe Horn .. https://www.texasobserver.org/joe-horn-and-castle-doctrine-shootings-in-texas/ , one of the first people to employ the stand your ground defense in Texas. In 2007, Horn called 911 to report a burglary at his neighbor’s house, and discussed shooting the intruders with the dispatcher. Though the dispatcher warned Horn 14 times not to shoot the intruders, Horn cited the new Texas stand your ground law, claimed it was his right to go outside and defend himself since “I’m not going to let them get away with it”, and shot and killed the two men. He was never arrested, and was never charged with a crime.

“He was explicitly told that property is not worth shooting people over, which is obviously true, and certainly not your neighbor’s property,” Oliver fumed. “If I found out my neighbor shot and killed two people to save my PS5, I would move tomorrow. I know they’re hard to get your hands on, but Jesus Christ, calm down. I don’t want your blood console.”

The laws have also spawned a “cottage industry” of specialized self-defense legal assistance, including memberships, money for legal defense and cards provided by the US Concealed Carry Association with tips on how to speak to 911 after shooting someone.

“They’ve essentially created a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Oliver said. “It seems all you have to do is memorize a few key phrases, and you too could be free to shoot with impunity. It’s basically Rosetta Stone for justified homicides.”

“You probably know where this is going, because while most civilian shootings involve people of the same race, when cases involve shootings across racial lines, there are significant disparities in whose fear gets believed.” To quote the Ohio representative Stephanie Howse, a black woman, on the state house floor in opposition to its ‘stand your ground’ law in 2018: “What do you do in places and spaces when your presence – literally your face, your face! – causes someone to be fearful of you…This is a bad idea for people that look like me.”

“That is just one of the things that make these laws so dangerous,” Oliver said. “They can exalt a white person’s fear over a black person’s life.

“Stand your ground laws have contributed to a society where vigilantes with guns feel they have the right to decide what is safety, who is a threat and what the punishment should be,” he continued. “They have turbo-charged everything from road rage incidents to pointless disputes over dog weight.”

What is to be done? The answer, Oliver concluded, is straightforward: don’t pass any more ‘stand your ground’ laws, and repeal the ones on the books. “They’re redundant solutions to a made-up problem and they are actively doing harm.”

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/may/17/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-recap-stand-your-ground-laws

[fuagf]

Fourth of July overshadowed by 16 mass shootings across US

"Why so many mass killings? Families, experts seek answers"

Fifteen people were killed and 94 injured across 13 states as well as Washington DC

Ed Pilkington in New York and agencies
Wed 5 Jul 2023 14.54 EDT
First published on Wed 5 Jul 2023 09.08 EDT


Police investigate the scene of a shooting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 3 July. Photograph: Yong Kim/AP

All links

From the nation’s capital to Fort Worth, Texas, from Florin, California, in the west to the Bronx, New York, in the east, the Fourth of July long weekend in the US was overshadowed by 16 mass shootings in which 15 people were killed and nearly 100 injured.

Fourth of July is a US celebration. Why is it the riskiest day for mass shootings?
Read more > https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/04/fourth-of-july-riskiest-day-for-mass-shootings-in-the-us

The Gun Violence Archive .. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/ , an authoritative database on gun violence in America, calculated the grim tally using its definition of a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people excluding the shooter are killed or injured by firearms.

The tragic bloodletting was recorded .. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting .. from 5pm on Friday until 5am on Wednesday across 13 states as well as Washington DC. Texas and Maryland both entered the register twice.

In one of the final catastrophes to mar the weekend honoring the nation’s founding, nine people were injured in a drive-by shooting in Washington in the early hours of Wednesday. The victims included two children aged nine and 17. All injuries were reported as non life-threatening.

Police said shots were fired from a dark-colored SUV at a house party in the north-east quadrant of the city shortly before 1am on 5 July. The SUV “fired shots in the direction of some of our residents who were outside just celebrating the fourth of July. It appears that the shooting was targeted”, said ..

#Update: Assistant Chief Leslie Parsons provides an update on the multiple people shot in the 4700 block of Meade Street, Northeast.

Have info? Call 202-727-9099 or text 50411 pic.twitter.com/1aJ50vlK6y

— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) July 5, 2023

.. Leslie Parsons, the assistant police chief.

Hours earlier, Joe Biden issued a Fourth of July statement .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/07/04/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-gun-violence-across-america/ .. from the White House in which he lamented the “wave of tragic and senseless shootings in communities across America”. The president said he and the first lady, Jill Biden, “grieve for those who have lost their lives and, as our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day when our communities will be free from gun violence”.

Biden repeated his call for “meaningful, commonsense” gun control reforms including a renewed ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and an end to gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.

By the reckoning of the Gun Violence Archive, the US is on track for one of the worst years of mass shootings. The database has identified 350 such incidents so far this year and warns that should the pace remain steady through the second half of the year, the final total for 2023 could reach 679: about double that recorded in 2018.

The archive’s tally of mass shootings over the 4 July weekend involved incidents in: Washington DC .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/washington-dc , Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland (twice), Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas (twice).

One of the youngest victims of the weekend was a 14-year-old boy who was killed early on Wednesday in a shooting .. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=666308482203718&set=a.220279903473247 .. at a fourth of July block party on Maryland’s eastern shore. Six others were injured in the incident in Salisbury.

Two people were killed and 28 wounded, including 15 children, in a mass shooting in Baltimore, Maryland .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/02/baltimore-shooting-dead-and-dozens-injured-in-us-city , on Sunday. Videos recorded at the scene showed teenagers scrambling to get away from the gunfire. On Wednesday, police were still searching for the shooters, who were thought to have opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon.

In a statement ..

My statement on the mass shooting in Salisbury and the scourge of gun violence in our communities: pic.twitter.com/4ULY6kcEZX

— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) July 5, 2023

, the Democratic governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, said: “In just a few days, two mass shootings in our beloved state have taken lives and ripped at the fabric of our communities.”

Expressing condolences to victims and families and thanks to first responders, Moore said: “this scourge of gun violence is not something that any one community or any one group is wrestling with … I speak for everyone when I say that we have had enough.”

Late on Tuesday, another outdoor party in Shreveport, Louisiana .. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/louisiana , exploded in gun fire, leaving three people dead and 10 wounded.

Tabitha Taylor, a local councilwoman, told CBS News .. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shreveport-july-fourth-mass-shooting/ .. she was livid.

“Now we are the victim of a mass shooting in our community simply because individuals decided to come in and disrupt a good time that individuals were having,” she said.

“A family event that has gone on for years in our community has been disrupted by gunfire because somebody decided to pull their guns and do this. Why, why?”

One of the injured was in critical condition, Angie Willhite, a Shreveport police sergeant, told reporters on Wednesday, adding that others who were injured were expected to survive. No arrests had been made.

“We are struggling with getting information from those who were present,” Willhite said. “We’re not getting a lot of cooperation. We’re going to hope for some quick and immediate cooperation that will lead us to the people we’re trying to find.”

Biden decries gun violence as shootings across US mar Fourth of July festivities
Read more > https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/04/pennsylvania-texas-fourth-of-july-shootings

The greatest fatality in a single incident over the long weekend was seen in Philadelphia, where five people were killed .. https://6abc.com/philadelphia-mass-shooting-kimbrady-carriker-kingsessing-people-shot-in-philly/13459020/ .. when a shooter wearing a bulletproof vest and bearing an assault rifle went on a random rampage on Monday night.

The youngest person to die was 15. A two-year-old boy was shot four times in the legs and a 13-year-old was shot twice in the legs. On Wednesday, both were listed in stable condition.

The 40-year-old suspect was arraigned on five counts of murder as well as charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons counts of possession without a license and carrying firearms in public, prosecutors said.

Philadelphia police identified the victims killed on the streets as 20-year-old Lashyd Merritt; 29-year-old Dymir Stanton; 59-year-old Ralph Moralis; and 15-year-old Daujan Brown. All were pronounced dead shortly after the Monday night gunfire.

Joseph Wamah Jr, 31, was found in a home early on Tuesday, also with bullet wounds. Investigators believe Wamah was the first victim killed but was not found by family members until hours later.

Associated Press contributed reporting

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/05/fourth-of-july-mass-shootings-gun-violence

[fuagf]

One person dead and at least 21 others injured after shooting near Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade

"Why so many mass killings? Families, experts seek answers"

Related:
Mass shootings and violence leave dead and injured across the US this weekend
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172167898

GuNs KiLl -- "Opinion - A Gun-Filled America Is a World of Fear and Alienation"
A white man fatally shoots 3 Black people at a Florida store in a hate crime, then kills himself
[...]Teen killed in shooting at Oklahoma high school football game: Police
[...]Ex-cop was gunning for estranged wife, then shot randomly, killing 3 and wounding 6 at O.C. bar
[...] U.S. saw 26 mass shootings in first 5 days of July alone, Gun Violence Archive says
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172706572

Posted 12h ago, updated 2h ago

With videos

VIDEO -Chaos unfolded at the Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City after a deadly shooting.

* In short: Shots have been fired near a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Missouri.
* Authorities have confirmed one person was killed and at least 21 others were injured.
* What's next? Police have taken three people into custody to conduct an investigation.

Eleven injured minors are undergoing treatment after 22 people were hit by gunfire in Kansas City, Missouri, during a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs, authorities say.

The Kansas City fire and police departments confirmed one person died and at least 15 others suffered life-threatening injuries after the incident unfolded on Wednesday (local time).


A woman was rushed to an ambulance after the shooting. (AP Photo: Reed Hoffmann)

Radio station KKFI said one of its employees, Lisa Lopez-Galvan, was the woman killed.

"It is with sincere sadness and an extremely heavy and broken heart that we let our community know that KKFI DJ Lisa Lopez, host of Taste of Tejano lost her life today in the shooting at the KC Chiefs' rally," the station posted on social media.

In the latest press conference, Police Chief Stacey Graves said three people were in custody, after police had earlier said two of them were armed.

She said at least 22 people suffered gunshot wounds and the motive for the shooting was "still being investigated".

"I'm angry at what happened today. The people who
came to this celebration should expect
a safe environment," she said.

VIDEO - Police and emergency services are responding to an incident near a Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City.

Five injured people were taken from Union Station to the University Health hospital in Kansas City, according to a spokesperson there.

A local fire department official said five people were initially listed in "serious" condition and another in "non-life threatening" condition.

Authorities are still sorting out the exact number and details of casualties.

Children's Mercy Kansas City treated a dozen patients, including 11 minors, with nine of the patients suffering gunshot wounds, a hospital spokesperson said.

VIDEO - Kansas City police say they have three people in custody "and under investigation for today's incident".

"Shots were fired west of Union Station near the garage and multiple people were struck," Kansas City police had said earlier on the social media platform X.

"We took two armed people into custody for more investigation."

Chief Graves said she was aware of reports that some fans may have participated in the pursuit and capture of at least one of the suspects, but that was unconfirmed.

Some 800 law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, were already at the scene when the shooting took place.

Shots were fired west of Union Station near the garage and multiple people were struck. We took two armed people into custody for more investigation.

— kcpolice (@kcpolice) February 14, 2024

President Joe Biden, who was briefed on the shooting and received updates throughout the day, said the tragedy "cuts deep in the American soul" and called for Congress to take action to prevent gun violence.

"And I ask the country to stand with me," Mr Biden said in a statement. "To make your voice heard in Congress so we finally act to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them."

Shooting 'absolutely a tragedy'

Eyewitness video posted on social media platforms showed chaos outside the train station with dozens of uniformed police officers, weapons drawn, running into the building as scores of bystanders fled in the opposite direction.

A woman attending the Super Bowl victory parade with another attendee described the terror after the shooting began.

"All of a sudden, people started crushing forward.
Everybody started running. There was
screaming," she said.

"We didn't know what was happening but this day and age, when people run, you run. And so I put my hands around her and we tried to push through so people wouldn't run on top of us."


The incident took place during a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo: Reed Hoffmann)

All of the Chiefs players, coaches and staff who attended the victory rally were accounted for and safe, Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

"This is absolutely a tragedy, the likes of which we never would have expected
in Kansas City, the likes of which we'll remember for some time," he said.

A statement from the National Football League said: "We are deeply saddened by the senseless shooting that occurred in Kansas City today following the Chiefs' celebration. Our thoughts are with the victims and everyone affected."

Missouri Governor Mike Parson and his wife were in attendance when shots were fired near the train station, but were safe and secure following the incident, he said in a message posted to X.

On Sunday, the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime to win the Super Bowl, 25-22.

ABC/wires

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-15/people-shot-during-kansas-city-chiefs-super-bowl-parade/103468994