News Updates
- From the Washington Post: "A gunman in a high-rise hotel overlooking the Las Vegas Strip opened fire on a country music festival late Sunday, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds of others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history."
- The perpetrator has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, NV. He was found dead in the hotel room where the shooting originated from, the victim of an apparent suicide. Authorities searched for a woman named Marilou Danley, who was a suspected accomplice, but upon questioning, have found her to be innocent of any involvement. The motive is still unclear.
- The shooting has left at least 50 dead and more than 400 injured, with the death count surpassing that of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June of 2016.
- Police area treating this as a lone-wolf incident, and are not investigating this as terrorism.
- Despite the fact that under Nevada law, mass shooting is defined as terrorism, law enforcement has said it is not being treated as terrorism because “We don’t know what his belief system was at this time.”
Frames
- Undermine Collective Blaming - Be Careful Not to Support It: Whatever the identity of the shooter, we need to understand which narratives it may feed into and about which groups. I see in comments on Fox News there is already a narrative that it is lefitst thugs/intimidators/Alt-Left. I also see references to BLM and Muslims. Depending on the identity of the shooter and the stated motive, it may feed negative sentiment targeted at one of these groups, and the idea that the entire group is to blame for the actions of this one individual (it sounds like it’s just one person). This is one of the primary things to push back on from the get-go: no matter who the shooter was, as much as possible, response should seek to push back on a narrative of collective blame (the idea that a whole group - whether Muslims, liberals, etc. - is responsible or approves of this action). Some types of things to consider in order to do this:
- Who is making public statements? Can you show people across group lines making public statements together denouncing the shooting (the action itself)?
- As much as possible, talk about the shooter as an individual, rather than a member of a group. Talk about things like a history of violence, if it exists, that show that this person is not a “normal” member of a particular group nor representative of that group, but should instead be grouped together with other shooters (for example, does this person have a similar history to any other mass shooters/people who have engaged in public and political violence?).
- Emphasize that - liberals, Americans, Muslims, etc. - stand in solidarity with the victims, against the violence.
- Be sure not to feed into any narratives of collective blame
- Push back on meta-perceptions that whatever larger group the shooter belongs to hates Americans/Republicans or sees them as less than human. This will depend a bit on what we learn about the shooter, but may include statements about being heartbroken for anyone injured and their family, keeping them in thoughts and prayers, loving this country and our institutions, etc. This may be sensitive, but is something to consider.
Talking Points
- Our thoughts are with the victims and with the injured in Las Vegas. This senseless and horrific act has taken innocent lives in the largest act of mass violence in modern U.S. history.
- This shooting was a senseless act, but we should be thoughtful in our response. Regardless of the shooter’s identity, we have a responsibility to rise above the blame game. Pointing fingers at a particular race, religion, ideology, or ethnicity in moments like these, ignores our shared community and the fact that we are stronger when united and weaker when divided.
- The notion that an entire group is to blame for the actions of any individual is offensive to our principles as Americans and as humans. Whether the shooter is a white nationalist, a politically motivated attacker, or a purported Muslim, the underpinning motivations are often the same: a deranged adherence to a violent ideology and a deep-rooted attempt to gain control over the lives of others.
- We all need to stand against divisive political rhetoric in a shooting like this. Perpetrators of violence must be held accountable for their actions, rather than given even more power to divide this nation. We must not give in to this divisiveness - we are one nation, indivisible, and our moments of strength as a country are steeped in the fact that we can come from different countries, different faiths, different ideologies and still stand united against tyranny, against injustices, and FOR the good of all people. We must live up to the ideals that as a country we aspire to.
- We need a President who will take real action to prevent acts of mass violence in this country, not one who tweets his condolences from afar and looks for bogeymen abroad instead of fixing real problems at home. It is reckless leadership to use opportunities like these to further divide Americans instead of uniting them under a common goal of ending mass violence in the United States, no matter where it comes from.
- In moments like these, when our political processes are most under attack, we must find rational solutions to the problem of mass violence. Discriminatory policies steeped in bias against people of an entire race, religion, or political ideology make us weaker, not stronger. Instead, we MUST seek concrete preventative measures: providing more funding for mental health assistance, stricter criteria on who can and cannot have access to guns, and funding for domestic violence prevention (many perpetrators of acts of mass violence - irrespective of ethnicity or religion - are either perpetrators or victims of domestic violence). We must investigate acts of terror based on evidence - it makes us safer, it is more effective and it is the right thing to do.
- Perpetrators of mass violence are often seeking control over a society in which they feel helpless. Whether that takes the form of Dylan Roof shooting people in a church in Charleston, Omar Mateen shooting revelers in a gay night club in Orlando, violent protestors in Charleston, or Stephen Paddock killing 50 people and injuring at least 400 more in Las Vegas, we must look at acts of terror individually to find common patterns between all mass shooters, in order to seek solution-based policies that actually work.
- The media has a responsibility to report the only the facts on all acts of mass violence within the United States and abroad. We must not let coverage divide us by calling some acts "terrorism" and other acts not. Violence is violence and is always wrong -- no matter the motive.
Social Media Analysis
The topline takeaway from the social media conversation at 10am ET is that "this is terrorism too" angle is definitely the top trend in Twitter commentary, with calls for more gun control running second.
Top three most RT'd:
- @BarackObama: Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy.
- @Harry_Styles: Woke up to the heartbreaking news from Las Vegas, my thoughts are with everyone and their families. Love. H
- @RealDonaldTrump: My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
Other interesting tweets from top 100 most RT'd
- @jbouie: That Las Vegas authorities have ruled out terrorism at this early stage is another example of how the idea has all but been racialized.
- @SaysHummingbird: Let's be clear. Las Vegas shooter is nothing but a terrorist. Yes, a white terrorist. Yes, that exists. #PrayForTheWorld #GunControlNow
- @bottrill QT @DailyMirror: Massacring 50+ people and injuring 200+ is terrorism. It incites terror. Terrorism can be perpetrated by white people too.
- @Independent Police have said the white gunman in Las Vegas isn't a terrorist. State law defines a mass shooting as terrorism https://t.co/iVTgv8vuuK
- @DavidLetternan Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was NOT a “lone wolf”, he was NOT “mentally ill”, he was a TERRORIST. End white privilege today.
