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Forty-nine dead, 53 injured in Florida nightclub shooting
June 12, 2016 - 10:25am
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/florida-pulse-nightclub-shooting-1.3631419
Some media are pointing out that it was an LGBT club. Others (like CBC) not. And there have been conflicting reports as to motive.
A family member has come forward to say the mass murderer was enraged when he recently saw two men kissing.
http://nypost.com/2016/06/12/florida-gay-club-mass-shooter-angry-about-t...
Horrible thing to see any day, but the day after Pride, especially.
... not pointing it out in the headline, that is. It is in the body of the story. But considering many people don't get past the headline it is a downplaying of the motive.
There will always be "motives". And, at least in the United States, there will always be "means". God bless America.
Deadliest Mass Shooting in US History: 50 Dead, 53 Injured in Orlando Gay Club Massacre (and vid)
https://www.rt.com/usa/346339-gay-club-orlando-shooting/
"With 50 people dead, the Orlando shooting has become the deadliest massacre in US history..."
CP24 Toronto has interviewed someone from CSIS who is linking this with jihadi terrorism, echoing some US authorities.
#Orlando
Well you could call it fundamentalist homophobic terrorism; fundies of many faiths are brothers in their hatred of LGBT people. It is a horrible crime, and one that must not be forgotten. We will have to wait for more details...
I'm not sure how one can so easily, and so quickly, delve into the mind of a dead stranger and draw conclusions.
What I am sure about is that any law-abiding citizen, or not, has a sacred right to amass secret arsenals in that brutal country to the south of us. And use them to commit mass murder. Sometimes the victims are queer, sometimes they're kids, sometimes they're women, sometimes they're racing and spectating, sometimes going for a night out at the theatre, or attending class at university, mostly they're just anybody anywhere.
There are two reasons for all of these mass murders:
1. Did I mention it's a brutal society? Human life, especially that of marginalized people at home and abroad, is considered disposable.
2. Closely connected with #1, owning, carrying, and using guns is considered as a human right.
And those who perpetuate #1 and #2 hold all the economic and political power in the land. When that power structure comes crashing down (which it inevitably will), whether through the empire rising up or through internal revolution, it will unfortunately end as it endures. Violently.
What a depraved society. They're just awash in death. They bathe themselves in blood and lecture the rest of the world on how to live - when they're not bombing a country into democracy, that is.
Will the day come when the UN, sadly, identifies that country as a failed state and takes pity on the American people? When will the rest of the world, tired of the block-headed ignorance, fondness for hate, romance with death help the American people overcome their social illness? Don't we do it with an individual that keeps hurting themselves? Isn't it time we did it with that country?
In Ancient Rome a slave named Androcles took pity on a lion. The result was completely unexpected. Perhaps it is time that the rest of the world played that role with this dangerous lion and help remove the sliver that's driving it mad.
We certainly have to wait to draw conclusions, but that does not mean that it is wrong to speculate that homophobia could well be a driving force in this horrible crime. That could be the case even if the shooter turned out to be gay himself...
I agree that we must wait to draw conclusions, but it is normal for humans to ask questions. Homophobia often turns violent.
Here's my take.
The U.S. is murderously homophobic. The U.S. is murderously Islamophobic. And misogynist, and racist, and anti-worker. And murderously imperialist and colonialist. And the first and only state to slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians with nuclear weapons continues, 71 years later, to have collective orgasms over the sight of a firearm. And Obama couldn't even say: "Whoops, sorry about Hiroshima & Nagasaki!"
To delve into the motives of a dead stranger risks placing the blame for U.S. criminality on a handful of individuals who have committed mass murders. It's reminiscent of the NRA's "guns don't kill people - people kill people" mantra. In this case, it's not just some homophobic individual who kills LGBTQ folks - it's the United States.
Obama is still president. He leaves no legacy that I can discern. Just imagine if, today, he said: "That's it - I'm doing something, and to hell with anyone who disagrees!" Or just imagine if Hillary Rodham (who starting calling herself "Clinton" when her spouse became president) said something like that!
Like, actually doing something. Or even, actually, promising to do something.
Pardon my skepticism. Nothing will change. Nothing whatsoever. Except maybe more repression under the guise of "combatting domestic terrorism".
Aside from the fact that the probable motive WAS identified (see link in original post), the simple fact that it was directed at LGBT people makes it a hate issue.
Same as with violence against women and non-whites.
Doesn't matter that there may have been other factors like guns, religion or the American psyche or anything else. Let's not forget the central point here of who was murdered.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-orlando-shooting-is-deadly...
No doubt the Westboro Baptist Church will applaud but clearly there are religious-political connections in this crime beyond any generic homophobia associated with either mainstream Christianity or Islam.
The FBI investigated (obviously unsuccessfully) :
We'll have to wait for further confimation of these claims, but for ISIS homophobic crimes are high in their requisite list of atrocities.
And if he was just a terrorist why wouldn't he have chosen a straight bar, rather than the one group that the community at large is going blame for getting themselves shot. Or complaining too much.
(and people are doing that).
It was also reported that his ex wife said he was in no way a religious person.
There's no doubt this was a vile, anti-LGBT i.e. homophobic attack but you have to ask: Why was he so homophobic that he'd murder 50 strangers because of their sexual orientation? Fact is that Abrahamic religions are all virulently anti-gay; there's little doubt in my mind that religion played a part in yesterday's attack ... he did, after all, pledge allegiance to ISIS / ISIL / Daesh while the attack was underway:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/
Nobody is born hating any identifiable group: it's taught, and religion does a lot of that sort of teaching.
Nora Loreto tweeted:
But the delving into a dead stranger's "intent" will continue - from which nothing good will come. This is a hate crime against LGBTQ people. It is a crime of the unrestrained firearms cartel against innocent civilians. It is a crime against humanity by the United States and its economic/political elites - the ones who are getting ready to replace Obama by another of their own.
The time for all victims of this brutal society is to mourn, then to rise up. They have done it before and they can do it again. If not, then nothing will change. Because the rulers are immune to mere shock and horror.
Florida governor Rick Scott refuses to acknowledge the LGBT community was targetted:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/rick-scott-refuses-on-cnn-to-acknowledge...
"Just a terrorist" is a rather meaningless phrase which nobody here has said. His homophobia almost certainly preceded his other motives and connections, not that it makes any difference to the outcome,
If it is a meaningless phrase it is one many are using. The FBI. Obama. Donald Trump. The first caller on cross country jerkoff.
Rather than an argument for prohibiting citizens from having access to automatic weapons, I'm betting it will somehow become an anti-immigration argument.
I somewhat disagree, though I would say causitive factors rather than "intent". It is important to consider the origins of violence whether by state, culture, group or individual. Calling it a "hate crime" (I don't disagree) is in itself attrbuting the workings of a dead strangers psyche and, in Canada at least, its determination in court is important.
I agree about destructive role of the firearms industry, but it couldn't have prevailed as long as it has without the approval of a sizable portion of the US populace, as well as the powerful lobby.
As it happens, this week was also marked by a number of news reports of people being mauled or killed by pit bulls.
But whenever the topic of banning pit bulls comes up, the first line of rebuttal is always "It's not the DOGS, it's the OWNERS!!!".
Which is kind of funny since guns really, actually DO require a human to pull their trigger, but dogs can act of their own accord.
I think the left misses the point. Islam believes homosexuality is punishable by death. Shar'ia law demands it. Therefore, the LGBTQ community is incompatible with the larger Muslim community. So the left needs to choose sides. You can't claim that the crime committed yesterday in Orlando is purely homophobia and a hate crime without accepting that it is caused by the religion of the perpetrator. I love how the left is quick to accuse fundamentalist Christians with horrible views, but gives fundamentalist Muslims with the same (or more extreme views) a complete pass as if they cannot be faulted for those views.
I despise the fact this has happened. I despise that the LGBTQ community was targeted. I despise the a complete lack of weapon control laws in America make it too easy to acquire firearms. But I will not ignore the INTENT. A fundamentalist Muslim who openly pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi and ISIS and kills 50 people because of his religions beliefs must be called out for that. And the community that CREATED him must be called out. But don't try to claim a general dislike of homosexuals in western culture caused this - the views of homosexuality by non-Muslim Americans had NOTHING to do with this.
So it's all Islam, and non-Muslims have nothing to do with this.
And the governor of Florida can't even manage to bring the words out of his mouth.