It is circulating online that the shooter was transgender, if that turns out to be true, I fear for what this crime will be used to justify.
From the New York Times:
Investigators have identified the attacker as Robin Westman, 23, who is believed to be a former student at the school, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. The suspect’s mother is a retired employee of the school, the official said.
and
According to court records, Robin Westman’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, submitted a petition to change her child’s name in November 2019. A judge granted the petition in January 2020 and wrote in an order making the name change official, “Minor child identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.” At the time, Robin Westman was 17.
Charlie Kirk has been shot and killed in Utah. (For those who might not be aware, he was the founder/leader of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that advocates for conservative views on college campuses, and he was an unofficial advisor to the Trump administration.) He was in the middle of a public event, answering questions about how many trans people have committed mass shootings when he was shot in the neck.
A couple of years ago, he said:
I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.
-- Source: Snopes
The shooter hit the carotid artery from 100-200 metres away - must be a professional hit. Clearly gun violence in red states is out of control and they should deploy the National Guard in Utah.
A nasty piece of work who should have been locked up for inciting hatred by public statement of his views. But, the last thing we need in any of our nations is for any of these vile, dangerous scum to become martyrs (especially, as in this case, being shot but even prosecution in courts and fines/imprisonment has that unfortunate effect).
I was pretty shocked by how he was represented in the news last night - you'd never know he's said a controversial thing let alone some of the extremist hate and prejudice he's come out with. I knew because I had a social media timeline full of Americans talking about it but if you weren't following American politics you'd have no idea from that coverage what sort of person he was.
A nasty piece of work who should have been locked up for inciting hatred by public statement of his views.
I couldn't disagree more. I don't want to be locked up for my views, including expressing rage at and hatred for the current regime. Just hating people should not be a crime.
I love the first amendment, and I think the second ought to be repealed. Or at minimum properly interpreted, not misreading or ignoring the militia clause.
From an American point of view Canadian and British takes on this are well into Orwellian thought crime territory.
Only the point of view of Americans who're pig ignorant of Canadian and British takes.
Fuck you too!
Yeah well, you piss and moan constantly about people outside the US having opinions about it so why not lead by example and STFU about things in other countries you clearly don't understand?
A nasty piece of work who should have been locked up for inciting hatred by public statement of his views.
I couldn't disagree more. I don't want to be locked up for my views, including expressing rage at and hatred for the current regime. Just hating people should not be a crime.
Which is why I didn't say anything about his (or your) right to hold whatever views he liked, no matter how much I disagree with them. The issues are with the public statements he has made, which we must assume are an expression of what he actually believes. Statements that incite people to hate others, to the point of denial of their rights (eg: his views on returning to racial segregation) or calling for some people to be killed (eg: he has said that homosexuals should be killed), are what should have had him locked up. It doesn't matter who someone calls others to kill, that's not something anyone should be allowed to say.
From an American point of view Canadian and British takes on this are well into Orwellian thought crime territory.
Depends on the Canadian/Brit - I have to say that I don't have a problem with the First Amendment and would certainly appreciate similar protections in the UK. I'd much rather have that than the way wealthy people can bully people via the courts here for hurting their feelings. I don't think it's incompatible with protections for marginalised people, lots of states have comprehensive protections.
I don't have a problem with gun ownership per se either, especially in a country like the US that has Actual Wilderness with Actual Dangerous Animals. I don't think regular people should have assault weapons etc, but hunting for food for eg is no problem imo. There are lots of rural liberal hunters in the US.
Comments
A couple of years ago, he said:
As Alan said, a nasty piece of work.
I couldn't disagree more. I don't want to be locked up for my views, including expressing rage at and hatred for the current regime. Just hating people should not be a crime.
Only the point of view of Americans who're pig ignorant of Canadian and British takes.
Fuck you too!
Yeah well, you piss and moan constantly about people outside the US having opinions about it so why not lead by example and STFU about things in other countries you clearly don't understand?
Depends on the Canadian/Brit - I have to say that I don't have a problem with the First Amendment and would certainly appreciate similar protections in the UK. I'd much rather have that than the way wealthy people can bully people via the courts here for hurting their feelings. I don't think it's incompatible with protections for marginalised people, lots of states have comprehensive protections.
I don't have a problem with gun ownership per se either, especially in a country like the US that has Actual Wilderness with Actual Dangerous Animals. I don't think regular people should have assault weapons etc, but hunting for food for eg is no problem imo. There are lots of rural liberal hunters in the US.