Democrats condemn Trump, white nationalism after two mass shootings

By Doina Chiacu and Pete Schroeder

 

A Tv news reporter gets emotional at the site of a mass shooting where 20 people lost their lives at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, U.S. August 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two mass shootings that killed 29 people in Texas and Ohio reverberated across the U.S. political arena on Sunday, with some Democratic presidential candidates accusing President Donald Trump of stoking racial divisions while he said "hate has no place in our country."

 

Dozens were also wounded Saturday and early Sunday in shootings within just 13 hours of each other in carnage that shocked a country that has become grimly accustomed to mass shootings and heightened concerns about domestic terrorism.

 

The first massacre occurred on Saturday morning in the heavily Hispanic border city of El Paso, where a gunman killed 20 people at a Walmart store before surrendering. Authorities in Texas said the rampage appeared to be a racially motivated hate crime and federal prosecutors are treating it as a case of domestic terrorism.

 

Across the country, a gunman opened fire in a downtown district of Dayton, Ohio, early on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding at least 26 others. The assailant, identified as Connor Betts, a 24-year-old white man, was taken down by police within 30 seconds but authorities still did not know why he launched the attack, the city's police chief said.

 

 

 

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday extended his condolences to the 29 people killed in Texas and Ohio over the weekend and said that such violence 'has been going on for years' in the U.S. and it had to be 'stopped'. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that "hate has no place in our country" after two mass shootings killed 29 people in Texas and Ohio.

Trump, speaking to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey, said he will have a statement on Monday about the shootings. The president said he had spoken to the FBI, Attorney General William Barr, and members of Congress about what can be done to prevent such violence.

 

The El Paso shooting sent shock waves onto the campaign trail for next year's presidential election, with most Democratic candidates repeating calls for tighter gun control measures and some drawing connections to a resurgence in white nationalism and xenophobic politics in the United States.

 

Several 2020 candidates said Trump was indirectly to blame.

 

"Donald Trump is responsible for this. He is responsible because he is stoking fears ad hatred and bigotry," U.S. Senator Cory Booker said on CNN's "State of the Union."

 

Speaking to reporters on the airport tarmac in Morristown, New Jersey after spending the weekend at his golf resort nearby, Trump said: "Hate has no place in our country, and we're going to take care of it."

 

In his first public comments on the shootings, he said he had spoken to the FBI, Attorney General William Barr and members of Congress about what can be done to prevent such violence, adding that "we have to get it stopped." But he offered no specifics, except to say he would make a statement on Monday morning.

 

The Republican president did not address accusations by critics about his anti-immigrant and racially charged rhetoric, though he earlier called the El Paso shooting a "hateful act" and "an act of cowardice."

 

"This is also a mental illness problem, if you look at both of these cases," Trump told reporters. "These are really people that are very, very seriously mentally ill."

 

Trump ordered flags at half-staff in honour of the victims.

 

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney rebutted the Democrats' allegations and attributed the shootings to "sick" individuals.

"There's no benefit here in trying to make this a political issue, this is a social issue and we need to address it as that," he said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

 

Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said Mexico would request, if necessary, extradition of the person responsible for the El Paso shooting. Mexico will consider litigation over an act of terrorism towards Mexicans in the United States.

 

It was a personal issue for Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman who returned to El Paso after the attack in his hometown. Asked on CNN if he believed Trump was a white nationalist, he responded, "Yes, I do."

 

"Let's be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is," O'Rourke said. "He is an open avowed racist and is encouraging more racism in this country."

 

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said he agreed that Trump was a white nationalist.

 

"It gives me no pleasure to say this but I think all of the evidence out there suggests that we have a president who is a racist, who is a xenophobe who appeals, and is trying to appeal, to white nationalism," Sanders said on CNN.

 

"Clearly Donald Trump does not want anybody shooting down innocent people," Sanders said, but his talk about invasions and calling Mexicans criminals risks leading unstable people to take up arms.

 

'HISPANIC INVASION'

A hallmark of Trump's presidency has been his determination to curb illegal immigration. Trump has drawn criticism for comments disparaging Mexican immigrants and referring to the flood of migrants trying to enter through the U.S. southern border as an "invasion."

 

In recent weeks, critics also accused Trump of racism after his attacks on members of Congress who belong to racial or ethnic minorities. Trump has denied he is a racist or that he encourages white supremacists.

 

The White House cannot shirk its responsibility in shaping public discourse, said Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. "There's no question that white nationalism is condoned at the highest levels of our government," he told "Fox News Sunday."

 

"He's spoken about immigrants as being invaders. He's given license for this toxic brew of white supremacy to fester more and more in this country, and we're seeing the results of that," Julian Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, said on ABC.

 

While authorities were still investigating the motive of the El Paso shooter, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the rampage appeared to be a hate crime. Police cited a manifesto they attributed to the suspect, Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old white man, as evidence the bloodshed was racially motivated.

 

The statement called the Walmart attack "a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas." The manifesto also expressed support for the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March.

 

The shooting renewed attention to domestic terrorism. FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate hearing in July the majority of the domestic terrorism the FBI has investigated were "motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence."

 

Former Vice President Joe Biden launched his presidential campaign with a reminder of Trump's response to the deadly 2017 attack at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when he said there were "fine people" on both sides.

 

Biden refrained from attacks on Trump on Sunday, instead calling for action to end "our gun violence epidemic."

 

The carnage ranked as the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, after a 1984 shooting in San Ysidro, California, in which 21 people died.

 

Despite several high-profile mass shootings in recent years, gun control has proven to be an intractable debate within the U.S. Congress, as lawmakers have failed to advance any significant policy changes to combat them.

 

Trump, in response to a question about what could be done about the gun problem, told reporters he was "talking to a lot of people" and more needed to be done but gave no specifics.

 

Republicans and some moderate Democrats have resisted placing additional restrictions on gun ownership, and efforts to improve mental health services or establish new ways to identify potential shooters before they act have not gained traction.

 

Democratic leaders in Congress responded to the pair of shootings with a call for action. They urged Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold an emergency session to debate gun control legislation. McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Pete Schroeder in Washington; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Bedminster, N.J., Michelle Price, Susan Cornwell and Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Lisa Shumaker in Chicago; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Frances Kerry, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Grant McCool)

 

 

 

"Hate has no place in our country, and we're going to take care of it."

 

Says the man who rode to power on the politics of hate, resentment and spite.

 

Better pedal back on the "no hate" message Donald.........it'll lose you votes.

 

 

The El Paso mass shooting is clearly a  case of white nationalist/white supremacist domestic terrorism. Yes, strangely, predictably, this president isn't going there with that language. Imagine for a moment how quickly this president would be going there with an incident of Islamist terrorism in a case with a tiny fraction of the evidence to support that charge. Something stinks really YUGE.

 

Quote

 

On guns and white nationalism, one side is right and one is wrong

 

When one side proposes ways that human beings might begin to solve a deadly problem while the other side leaves it up to God, you know which side is right.

When one side proposes solution after solution to contain gun violence — and offers compromise after compromise to get something done — while the other side blocks action every time, you know which side is right.

When the president of the United States and his most incendiary media allies fuel hatred of those who are not white while his opponents say we should stand in solidarity with one another, you know which side is right.

 

 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-guns-and-white-nationalism-one-side-is-right-and-one-is-wrong/2019/08/04/ef2bdbc2-b6e5-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html

 

 

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Across the country, a gunman opened fire in a downtown district of Dayton, Ohio, early on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding at least 26 others. The assailant, identified as Connor Betts, a 24-year-old white man, was taken down by police within 30 seconds but authorities still did not know why he launched the attack, the city's police chief said.

One of the victims was his sister, who was murdered alongside a male victim, boyfriend according to some reports, in a car. 

 

Ohio shooting: Sister of gunman among Dayton dead https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49229054

In sick desperation the democrat candidates and mainstream media attempt tp turn this into a political issue. The democratic core voters are smarter than that, the fringe radicals further alienate their core. Corey Booker is disgusting with his statements.  

The gunman's manifesto also said politicians of both parties were to blame:

 

 

Quote

 

The writer of the manifesto also suggested that Democrats in the United States have a strategy to gain a permanent majority by embracing the growing Hispanic population, a notion that has gained currency on right-wing radio shows for years.

 

The manifesto said the gunman planned to use an AK-47-style rifle, which has been frequently used in mass shootings. The four-page document said politicians of both parties were to blame for the United States “rotting from the inside out,” and that “the heavy Hispanic population in Texas will make us a Democrat stronghold.”

 

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/patrick-crusius-el-paso-shooter-manifesto.html

3 minutes ago, metisdead said:

The gunman's manifesto also said politicians of both parties were to blame:

 

 

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/patrick-crusius-el-paso-shooter-manifesto.html

That conspiracy theory charge that democrats are for "open borders" (which they aren't) in order to grow the democratic party voting base is currently a very mainstream republican party talking point. 

26 minutes ago, daoyai said:

In sick desperation the democrat candidates and mainstream media attempt tp turn this into a political issue. The democratic core voters are smarter than that, the fringe radicals further alienate their core. Corey Booker is disgusting with his statements.  

I disagree. Democratic party core base votes see "trump" for what he is. A man that correctly sees white nationalists and white supremacists as a core part of HIS base. In fact, the FBI (which ideally should never be politicized) has been weak on fighting domestic white nationalist terrorism because they are afraid to be too aggressive because they well understand that the people they are looking at are generally part of the current president's core base. This is a very messed up situation indeed. 

 

 

Quote

 

FBI faces skepticism over its efforts against domestic terrorism

 

The FBI insists it is fully engaged in combating the threat of violence from white supremacists, but some former federal officials charge that the government is still coming up short in the face of a strain of American terrorism that now seems resurgent.

 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-faces-skepticism-over-its-anti-domestic-terror-efforts/2019/08/04/c9c928bc-b6e0-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html

The Washington Post says the shooter was aware that automation was eliminating jobs already, and he saw immigrants as competition for the scarce jobs that will be left. So what you've really got is somone who's afraid, and fear is a much more powerful emotion in my mind than is "hate". Fear makes you grab at straws. Leaves you easy pickin's for groups and ideologies which foster hate and pick scapegoats.

 

If only someone was talking about the fear that stems from a society based upon scarcity rather than abundance. About automation and the distortions, displacements and disaffectedness it will is bringing about. If only someone were offering solutions that put humanity first and that bridges the chasm that this 4th Industrial revolution is causing.

 

 

big surprise, the Democratic party is getting money from the NRA.  under the table. 

by making this a "political issue" it will go absolutely nowhere. 

 

easy.  "it's not a real issue, it's a political agenda". 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"Hate has no place in our country, and we're going to take care of it."

How can Trump "take care of it" when he is a prime mouthpiece of hate speech?

 

There are many more followers than leaders in society. Quite possibly, in the El Paso mass murder, the perpetrator, Trumps follower, interpreted Trumps words as orders to act.

 

Just a theory. Note the emphasis on "Quite possibly" please.

48 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

That conspiracy theory charge that democrats are for "open borders" (which they aren't) in order to grow the democratic party voting base is currently a very mainstream republican party talking point. 

The joke is that South and Central American communities tend to be socially conservative and Christian. So if the Republican party were less racist they'd probably vote for them anyway.

Gun control will stop mass shootings?  Obama and all the other Presidents could not enact gun control so why hold any President responsible.  The congress proposes legislation, laws.  Clearly it is the fault of both Republicans and Democrats in the congress.  

 

The truth?  Gun control has nothing to do with mass killings.  You can do that with fertilizer like Tim Mcveigh killed 168 Bill Clinton was President I think.  

20 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Gun control will stop mass shootings?  Obama and all the other Presidents could not enact gun control so why hold any President responsible.  The congress proposes legislation, laws.  Clearly it is the fault of both Republicans and Democrats in the congress.  

 

The truth?  Gun control has nothing to do with mass killings.  You can do that with fertilizer like Tim Mcveigh killed 168 Bill Clinton was President I think.  

Gun control has as much to do with mass shootings as water does with drowning.   

    Every time there is one of these mass shootings I think, and hope, that finally America will have reached the tipping point and, finally, that significant, strong gun control legislation will be passed.  However, likely it will just be more useless talk, talk, talk and no action.  I don't recognize the America I left and Trump, with his constant hate-filled and racist rhetoric, is encouraging these horrific acts.  A despicable President.

1 minute ago, newnative said:

    Every time there is one of these mass shootings I think, and hope, that finally America will have reached the tipping point and, finally, that significant, strong gun control legislation will be passed.  However, likely it will just be more useless talk, talk, talk and no action.  I don't recognize the America I left and Trump, with his constant hate-filled and racist rhetoric, is encouraging these horrific acts.  A despicable President.

When Mcveigh killed 168 innocent people with fertilizer and Clinton was President did you want to get rid of fertilizer?

Does the President make laws?  Do gun laws eliminate mass shootings?  

 

Who makes laws? 

What will eliminate mass shootings when there are 250,000,000 guns in America?

6 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

When Mcveigh killed 168 innocent people with fertilizer and Clinton was President did you want to get rid of fertilizer?

Buyers of ammonium nitrate must now be registered and screened through terrorist data bases.

20 minutes ago, newnative said:

    Every time there is one of these mass shootings I think, and hope, that finally America will have reached the tipping point and, finally, that significant, strong gun control legislation will be passed.  However, likely it will just be more useless talk, talk, talk and no action.  I don't recognize the America I left and Trump, with his constant hate-filled and racist rhetoric, is encouraging these horrific acts.  A despicable President.

Trump et al always brings up mental illness when the shooter is white.  I wonder if Trump agrees with his Chief of Staff Mulvaney....

 

".... These are sick people. You cannot be a white supremacist and be normal in the head. These are sick people.”

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/04/mick-mulvaney-donald-trump-el-paso-shootings-1445705

 

 

 

Many people dont want or does not know history. First amendment is to protect citizens. If you disarm citizens, then arm gangsters, thug police and all enforcenent agencies who may all turn against or supress you then "what would you do"? Give them flowers?

100 MILLION legal LAW ABIDING registered gun owners who have done nothing illegal should not be punished because of the odd nutcase.

Otherwise your argument is that we must treat law abiding Muslims the same and blame the whole of the Muslim population for the odd nutcase that blows people up.

Surely all you Liberals here are not suggesting we do that 

are you ???

45 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

Buyers of ammonium nitrate must now be registered and screened through terrorist data bases.

I believe most farmers would pass that screening thereby making it absolute nonsense.  McVeigh was a sergeant in the army and a gulf war vet.  I'm sure he could have worked a farm and bought fertilizer.  Not saying it's a bad idea or registering guns is a bad idea but there are 250,000,000 guns out there.  Both parties know this and that the talk is only a political issue.  If the congress wants to change something they could do it tomorrow - Trump would not veto.  But the congress on both sides don't want to do anything because they know it won't work.  

2 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

The Washington Post says the shooter was aware that automation was eliminating jobs already, and he saw immigrants as competition for the scarce jobs that will be left. So what you've really got is somone who's afraid, and fear is a much more powerful emotion in my mind than is "hate". Fear makes you grab at straws. Leaves you easy pickin's for groups and ideologies which foster hate and pick scapegoats.

 

If only someone was talking about the fear that stems from a society based upon scarcity rather than abundance. About automation and the distortions, displacements and disaffectedness it will is bringing about. If only someone were offering solutions that put humanity first and that bridges the chasm that this 4th Industrial revolution is causing.

 

 

Excellent post.

Automation has already eliminated millions of jobs, and will eliminate millions more in the near future, yet no one in governments around the world are putting any energy into it, preferring to concentrate on climate change, and using the fear of it to make political capital.

12 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

I believe most farmers would pass that screening thereby making it absolute nonsense.  McVeigh was a sergeant in the army and a gulf war vet.  I'm sure he could have worked a farm and bought fertilizer.  Not saying it's a bad idea or registering guns is a bad idea but there are 250,000,000 guns out there.  Both parties know this and that the talk is only a political issue.  If the congress wants to change something they could do it tomorrow - Trump would not veto.  But the congress on both sides don't want to do anything because they know it won't work.  

Sensible post.

58 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

When Mcveigh killed 168 innocent people with fertilizer and Clinton was President did you want to get rid of fertilizer?

      Nice deflection and, unfortunately, that is all we ever get--whether the Democrats are in power or the Republicans.  251 incidents of gun violence in America so far this year involving 4 or more victims.  And, its only August.   How many with fertilizer?

      America always gets hung up on the second amendment 'right to keep and bear arms'.  Nowhere does it say they can be assault rifles capable of shooting a hundred rounds a minute.  Nowhere does it say high capacity magazines are a right.  Hard to kill 20 or 30 people quickly before you're put down if you are limited to owning a handgun that fires a small number of rounds.  And, no, you don't need an assault rifle to go deer hunting.

52 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Trump et al always brings up mental illness when the shooter is white.  I wonder if Trump agrees with his Chief of Staff Mulvaney....

 

".... These are sick people. You cannot be a white supremacist and be normal in the head. These are sick people.”

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/04/mick-mulvaney-donald-trump-el-paso-shootings-1445705

 

 

 

Uh oh.  I think he just said his boss is not normal in the head.  Well, we all knew that.  

2 hours ago, metisdead said:

The gunman's manifesto also said politicians of both parties were to blame:

 

 

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/patrick-crusius-el-paso-shooter-manifesto.html

It did, and it also spewed line after line of hate that is in complete alignment with Trump’s platform of race baiting.

 

When the President panders to white supremacists, vilifies immigrants and employs race baiting to cement his base, his words have consequences.

 

Lets not forget his response to the murder at Charlottesville, he’s a man who sees good people on both sides, when one side are neo-nazis.

 

3 hours ago, daoyai said:

In sick desperation the democrat candidates and mainstream media attempt tp turn this into a political issue. The democratic core voters are smarter than that, the fringe radicals further alienate their core. Corey Booker is disgusting with his statements.  

You must be on drugs. This is a political issue because it is all being promoted and encouraged by the Dummy in the White House. Trump is the White-Nationalist/Supremacist in Chief, The Racist in Chief, The Liar in Chief, The Serial Assaulter of Women in Chief. His base and the entire GOP are unabashedly complicit. Disgusting situation. Just when you thought nothing could make a Dumbocrap seem like a good alternative, along comes Donny.

2 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

The Washington Post says the shooter was aware that automation was eliminating jobs already, and he saw immigrants as competition for the scarce jobs that will be left. So what you've really got is somone who's afraid, and fear is a much more powerful emotion in my mind than is "hate". Fear makes you grab at straws. Leaves you easy pickin's for groups and ideologies which foster hate and pick scapegoats.

 

If only someone was talking about the fear that stems from a society based upon scarcity rather than abundance. About automation and the distortions, displacements and disaffectedness it will is bringing about. If only someone were offering solutions that put humanity first and that bridges the chasm that this 4th Industrial revolution is causing.

 

 

What I read in this mass killer’s ‘manifesto’ is a white supremicist filled with hate looking for more reason’s to hate.

 

His view of automation reducing the number of jobs, just another reason to hate and kill immigrants/people he thinks are immigrants.

 

There are no excuses for his crimes, there is an explanation, hatred, a hatred that is being stoked for political gain.

.....

People are offering solutions to automation, but that’s not today’s discussion.

2 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

The Washington Post says the shooter was aware that automation was eliminating jobs already, and he saw immigrants as competition for the scarce jobs that will be left. So what you've really got is somone who's afraid, and fear is a much more powerful emotion in my mind than is "hate". Fear makes you grab at straws. Leaves you easy pickin's for groups and ideologies which foster hate and pick scapegoats.

 

Except that his "fear" is imaginary.  These hate groups prey on people who are disenfranchised, powerless, and lonely.  Crusius (the shooter) wasn't exactly a model citizen.  He was rather aimless and lazy, the perfect recruit for these hate groups who give these wayward individuals someone else to blame for their lot in life.

 

"While he worked as a bagger in a local supermarket, “working in general sucks,” he wrote in the profile, adding that he is “not really motivated to do anything more than what’s necessary to get by.”

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/breakingnews/suspect-in-el-paso-massacre-didnt-hold-anything-back-in-police-interrogation/ar-AAFkDxU?ocid=wispr