OVER less than 13 hours two mass shootings left at least 29 dead and 53 injured in the United States. On Saturday morning, a gunman opened fire into a crowd at a Walmart store and around the nearby Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas. Then early Sunday, a shooter attacked a crowd outside a popular bar in Dayton, Ohio. One suspect was in custody in the El Paso case. In Dayton, police officers killed the gunman. Both attacks follow a week in which Gilroy, California; Brooklyn, New York; and Philadelphia were each struck by gun violence.
International media quoting El Paso police Chief reported that it appeared to have “a nexus at this point in time to a hate crime.” Law enforcement officials said the gunman in El Paso posted a screed online less than 30 minutes before the attack on an extremist website which was against anti-immigrant and anti-government policy. Meanwhile, US Attorney for the Western District of Texas said his prosecutors were investigating Crusius “with a view towards bringing federal hate crime charges … and federal firearms charges which carry a penalty of death.”
We believe El Paso’s incident is not a domestic terrorism case. It’s a genuine hate crime. On the other hand, Dayton shooter was wearing body armour and carrying ammunition magazines for the .223-caliber rifle used in the attack. That means, he was also physically and mentally prepared for committing a hate crime. The Dayton shooter had made a “hit list” and “rape list” targeting classmates while in school earlier.
Mr Trump has condemned both attacks, saying that: “Hate has no place in our country and we’re going to take care of it.” But we think his statements over the massacres are highly contradictory. Already democratic politicians have blamed Trump’s rhetoric for stoking hate in the country. It’s very painful that Mr Trump’s rhetoric has created a climate of hate across the America. The recent shooting incidents are nothing but “toxic brew of white nationalism”, especially in America which is allegedly encouraged by President Trump.
We do condemn all kinds of violence in any part of the globe. The US government must take appropriate steps, including amendment of domestic gun law, to prevent such heinous acts in the future.
