On May 24, 2022, an armed man entered a Tops Friendly Market, a supermarket located in an East Side Buffalo community. The man killed ten people and wounded three others. It shouldn’t matter, but all ten of the people killed were Black. The shooter was White; he was apprehended and taken alive into custody. His social media posts imply he targeted that zip code in general, and targeted that establishment in particular, to maximize the number of Black folks he could kill.
When selecting a topic last week, this episode crossed my radar, but I elected to go in another direction. Yesterday, just ten days later, another gunman launched a deadly attack, this one at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen students and two adults were killed during the incident. The shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a Hispanic surname, was killed by law enforcement officers, according to officials. He also shot his grandmother before going to the school. Texas Rangers reported she was airlifted to the hospital and was “still holding on” last night.
Yesterday was the 144th day of 2022. Through yesterday, there had been at least 212 mass shootings, sixty-eight more mass shootings than days so far this year. CNN and the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) define a mass shooting as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.
Last night President Biden issued televised remarks in response to the Uvalde shooting. During his appearance, he said:
“There’s a lot we don’t know yet. There’s a lot we do know. Parents who will never see their child again, never have them jump in bed and cuddle with them. Parents who will never be the same. To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away.”
He implored lawmakers to “turn this pain into action" as he ticked through some of the mass shootings since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when he was vice president.
"I am sick and tired of it. We have to act. And don't tell me we can't have an impact on this carnage. Why do we keep letting this happen?
"Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?”
Former President Obama also weighed in, saying:
“Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies—and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space.”
Michelle and I grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear. We’re also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook—and ten days after Buffalo—our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.
It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy—a quieter but no less tragic one—for families to wait another day. May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.”
I opted not to write about the previous shooting, not because it wasn’t important, but because I was confident nothing would fundamentally change, despite the many thoughts and prayers extended to the victims and their families. Today I relented and wrote a post about yesterday’s senseless slaughter because, well because as a blogger who chooses what content to share, based on my personal interests and inclinations, not those of the marketplace, like influencers, I can. It’s what I do. To that end, I urge you to push for change. Why, you ask? Because…“It Happened Again: It’s Not Going To Stop Itself!”
I’m done; holla back!
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For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/24/us/uvalde-texas-elementary-school-shooting/index.html
http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2022/05/its-time-to-break-it-down-on-may-24.html
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