By Rickey Hampton, Editor and Founder of The African-American Athlete
Sadly, I am not surprised by any of the aspects that are in play regarding the horrible tragedy that occurred in Las Vegas Sunday night.
Actually, I don’t know how anyone could be.
Let’s face it, as Americans, we live in the most violent country in the world. And of late, thanks to the racist president and those who embrace his hatred, we live in one of the most divided countries in the world.
Now, couple all the simmering animus with laws that make it astonishingly easy for people to get their hands on weapons of war, and use them to wreak havoc, and you have recipe for the disaster we have in Las Vegas, or worse.
In addition to all of the above, I am also not surprised that the shooter, Stephen Paddock, was not a Middle Eastern terrorist, not a Muslim, but a white man.
I knew he was white even before the reports hit the public. The dead giveaway was the racist president wasn’t tweeting about Muslim bans, and radical Islam. On the rare occasions when these actors _ who are all evil regardless of their affiliation _ are radicalized, the racist president can’t stop tweeting. If Paddock would have been a Muslim the racist president would have gone on a tweet storm,
However, despite all the rhetoric we hear from the racist White House about Muslim bans to prevent these so-called killers from invading us, a group of the most dangerous terrorists live right here in America. Paddock joins a long list of white men who have brought domestic terrorism to our communities. From Tim McVeigh, who blew up the Oklahoma Federal Building, to Dylan Roof, who shot up a Charleston Church, white domestic terrorists have spread their violence throughout America.
Paddock sprayed a crowd of 22,000 with round after round of bullets, killing 59 people so far, and causing more than 500 injuries, before taking his own life. Because of the power and technology of the cache of weapons Paddock had, all he had to do was just aim and shoot. It took no real skill set for him to kill and maim innocent people.
Of course, instead of addressing the real issues of our country, gun laws, the racist president will continue to spew his racist rhetoric. He will continue to talk about Muslims coming to get us, while men who look like Stephen Paddock are free to commit murder and mayhem. And, unfortunately, that comes as no surprise, either.
