The day following, an entire city is in shock and an entire country is under the impression of a deadly killing spree that will go down as one of the most momentous in the long American history of deadly gun abuse: 17 dead, 15 injured, many of them in an unstable one Condition – that is the preliminary balance of this insane act by a 19-year-old, who apparently wanted to take revenge for having been expelled from the school because of disciplinary problems, among other things because of his affinity for weapons.
While the country is trying to reconstruct the events, the president initially practiced speechlessness. The New York Times reported that he was urged by employees to speak publicly until late in the evening. However, Trump preferred to remain silent. Trump tweeted on Thursday morning that there was every indication that the perpetrator was mentally disturbed – something that had to be reported to the authorities. It was not until 5:30 p.m. Central European time that the President assured in a television speech that he wanted to devote special attention to the psychological problems associated with acts of violence. No teacher and no student should be in danger in an American school.
Republicans rally once morest tightening gun laws
The President’s speech made no mention of tightening gun laws, nor did his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is also considered an advocate of lax gun laws. Sessions said vaguely that they would of course react to the problem.
Politically, nothing will probably change following this assassination attempt either – not only President Trump himself, but also the Republicans as a whole are united in blocking any form of tightened gun controls. The powerful gun lobby of the NRA, the National Rifle Association, has a firm grip on conservative political Washington. While the Democrats are once more calling for tightening of gun laws, the Republicans are also going underground to the media.
So the horrified public can only follow the reports of eyewitnesses, who are still in shock. Who was this assassin, who knew him, they are asked. One young man says he is a strange guy who got kicked out of two private schools, who was a hunter who wanted to join the military, who showed off his weapons.
The FBI announced that the assassin announced his attack on YouTube last year without being able to be identified. The reporters want to know what happened in the classrooms. A schoolgirl says that her geography teacher pushed her into a locked classroom. Then he was shot by the gunman.
Ex-FBI investigator breaks off interview in tears
For many, it remains incomprehensible how cold-blooded the 19-year-old assassin was: He set off a fire alarm so that the students crowded out of the classrooms and he had a clear field of fire. Even experts experienced in violence, such as former FBI investigator Philipp Mudd, lost their nerve in the face of this unbelievable potential for aggression – he broke off a CNN interview in tears. “Can this country never understand that we can’t accept something like that,” he asked.
But the pressure will probably not be enough this time to bring the gun-loving public and their political representatives in Congress to their senses. Unless a surviving student’s desperate appeal sparks a long-overdue widespread protest movement: Something is wrong in this country, said student David Hogg. Politicians should look in the mirror and finally do something.
