This week marks one year since a gunman entered a school and killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde, TX. All of the students killed were between the ages of 9 and 11 years old. In any self-respecting society, this kind of crime would result in noticeable changes to existing gun laws, but alas, America is truly exceptional in this regard.
The attack and its aftermath were marked by law enforcement authorities consistently giving inaccurate and conflicting accounts on the efforts made to stop the teenage gunman armed with an assault rifle. We were initially led to believe that brave cops had done all they could to rescue innocent children from being slaughtered. Turns out that was all a lie (surprise!).
A pretty damning report by Texas lawmakers put nearly 400 officers on the scene from a variety of federal, state and local agencies. The report laid out how these heavily armed officers stood around and waited for more than hour to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman. Police were rightly accused of failing “to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety”, which truly sums up the mentality of most pigs. At least five officers who were put under investigation after the shooting were either fired or resigned, although a full accounting remains unclear.
Meanwhile, the governor of Texas/living garbage patch Greg Abbott, waved off any attempts to tighten gun laws in Texas, just as he’s done after the mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart in 2018. Because changing the laws might change the outcomes, and we’re not interested in all that. It’s so much easier sending out thoughts and prayers a few dozen times a year.
Side Items
Minnesota Mosques Under Attack: A fire last week at a mosque in St. Paul, MN, was at least the fifth such act of vandalism against Muslim houses of worship in the state so far this year. The suspect in the latest fire was a Muslim who claimed to be protesting homelessness, not really sure how he rationalized that one. Some of these attacks are believed to be copycat acts as many mosques are struggling financially to protect themselves, including the recent fire at the Oromo American Tawhid Islamic Center which didn’t even have security cameras. Instead, a minority community is constantly forced to reckon with their vulnerability and realize they’re always under threat of attack
Sorting Through Grandpa’s Belongings: An Indiana family was going through an older relatives belongings when they happened upon a hand grenade and pulled the pin for unknown reasons. The grenade exploded, as they typically do, killing a father and injuring his two teenage children