Thursday, President Obama gave a speech about the shooting that occurred in Charleston, SC which left 9 people dead. This act was described as a hate crime involving a 21-year-old white man who pointed a gun at a member of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. During the President’s speech he called the act a “tragedy”, and cited his advocacy for Americans to enact stricter gun laws to stop such crimes against humanity.
“Once again innocent people are killed partly because, someone who wants to do harm has no trouble getting a gun….. At some point, we as a country must reckon with the undeniable fact that this type of mass violence does not occur in any other developed country. It does not occur anywhere else with this frequency. It is in our power to do something about it.
When the President talks about frequency, he may be referring to mass shootings that occurred during his presidency alone:
- 13 people killed at Fort Hood Texas, November 2009
- 6 people killed and 13 injured in Tuscon, Arizona, January 2011
- 12 people and 17 injured at the Aurora, Colorado Movie theater, July 2012
- 6 people killed and 4 injured at a sikh temple in Wisconsin, August 2012
- 20 kids and 6 adults died at the bottom of the sandy hook, December 2012
- 12 people die on a Washington Navy yard, September 2013
- 3 people were killed and 16 injured in a second attack in Fort Hood Texas, April 2014
- 2 teenagers were killed and 3 injured in the June 2014 Seattle school shooting
- 9 people died in Charleston, SC, June 2015
That is the sum of 89 people, including adults and kids whose lives were ended by acts of senseless violence. The president refers to the numerous killings as “tragedies” but with, as he has stated, the high frequency of occurrence is it enough to call them Terrors?
Many of the shootings listed are alleged to have taken place because of the person’s extremist views or for political purposes. These include the 2009 Fort Hood shooting suspected of militant Islamic religious beliefs, the Tuscon, Arizona shooting implying political motives as the target was a congressman, the Wisconsin shooting was perpetrated by a white supremacist, and the newest killing in Charleston, SC committed by Dylann Roof is speculated as white supremacists.
CNN’s national security analyst Peter Bergen noted additional attacks, all in the last year, that allegedly had motives that would qualify under terror.
• In April 2014, a 14-year-old boy and his grandfather were shot and killed at the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City and then a third person was killed in a Jewish retirement community. Shouted “Heil Hitler” when caught
•June 2014, a couple killed 2 cops in an ambush at a pizza restaurant in Las Vegas and another at a Walmart. The shooter has white supremacist gear.
•September 2014, a police officer died at the Blooming Grove police barracks in Pennsylvania. Police testimony shooter “had made statements of intent to kill law enforcement officers as well as committing acts of mass murder”
•November 2014, a police officer was killed in Tallahassee, Florida. According to local police, the killer had planned the ambush, held anti-government political views and had previously made threats against the police.
At this time Americans are grieving and deeply disappointed by the Man who has admitted to police today that he wanted to start a “race war”. With complete disregard for places of fellowship and worship, he deliberately targeted a historic, predominantly African American Church that was once part of an underground railroad.
Muslim extremists aren’t the only groups that have fallen under terror. There are specific target communities in this country who are being terrorized.
Call it tragedy, call it genocide, call it bloodbath, or call it terror, whatever it’s, this must be straightened out. We must ask ourselves, how many more will must submit to this senseless killing before this 3rd countries of the world unite and find a solution.
Roof was however charged with “9 counts of murder and one count of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.” The first trial date was set for 23 October 2015 at 14.00 and the second trial date was set for 5 February 2016 at 09.00. The bonds are set for 1 million dollars
Source
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/opinions/bergen-charleston-attack-terrorism/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/06/18/president-obama-responds-to-mass-shootings-bwilliams.cnn
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-main/index.html
