Discussion for article #237646
I want to hear from the uncle who gave this disturbed young man the gun.
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I believe it was the father who gave the son that âgiftâ.
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No family will admit that their criminal progeny were âraised to be like this.â Itâs clear that he wasnât raised to not be like this, and that in itself is enough of an indictment.
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CNN is saying just now that this disturbed young man bought the gun. Looks like more detail is needed for all to know how he got hold of that weapon. I want to know who the hell taught him to be a racist. Howâd he go down that evil path?
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NYT reported that he bought the gun with money that was given to him. Oddly, in no stories today was there any mention of the parents.
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Appears he was a loner, could be one of those conspiracy nuts who looks at Alex Jones type sites all day. Many people get captivated by that drivel. I would note that many times racists raise kids who take the opposite viewpoint, and vice-versa. Iâm not ready to condemn the family unless more info surfaces that they are racists.
And as you said a huge issue is the procurement of the gun.
Yes he was
I donât think he is smart enough to pick that particular target on his own.
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Wasnât raised in a vacuum, or without human contact.
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All Iâve heard of the parents is âŚâno interviewsâ.
Just as an aside: Iâve heard many times on various blogs that things are changing and that the Fox News crowd is dying out, racism/sexism doesnât resonate with the younger generation (at least, like it once did) and our side will prevail.
I am told things are changing and that itâs getting better. And maybe thatâs true.
But there are STILL too many young ones that listen to the hate and the anger and coopt it as their own. Even if their immediate family doesnât instill it in them, some young ones insist on carrying the mantel of viciousness against âthe Other.â Because they heard it somewhere and it made sense to them, resonated with them.
Americans will never get rid of this horror. I think Jon Stewart said it best.
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Law enforcement understandably wants and needs to know everything about this kid and the events and people in his life leading to the murders. And that exploration takes time. Yet I wonder whether weâve lost touch with the palliative effect on society of swift, definitive justice delivered to the perpetrators of such terror. Even if he eventually is handed a death sentence, which only the most anti-capital punishment advocates would protest for killing 9 innocent people, heâll be alive for another decade or more. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people and lived 6 years after the crime. Executing Roof wonât bring anyone back, but justice to the victims and their loved ones shouldnât see him living for years (or decades) after his deeds.
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Fox News will engage in entire 30 minute segments regaling their audience that the demise of the nation will eventually come because of âThe Takersâ. And we all know who THEY are, donât we?? GOP Prez candidates proudly use the same terminology and phrases in their stump speeches and TV appearances. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Gee, I wonder where Roof and his ilk get their ideas?
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I totally understand the sentiment here, but I think the problem is who gets to decide? We donât want to put the decisions for who gets âswiftâ justice and who doesnât in the hands of the state. That would be a policy that would just scream abuse me. The processes are to protect the rights of the perpetrators and sometimes it sucks. But those processes also protect everyone else from the power of the state. Weâve seen that abused anyway time and time again. I donât think giving the state more power when they struggle to wield what theyâve got now is a good idea under any circumstances.
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I donât disagree. However, some circumstances flummox the average citizen. One of them is the commission of a mass murder where there are eyewitnesses backed up by camera images and a mountain of forensic and incriminating evidence, yet the murderer lives for years or decades after their crime. If it isnât the decision of the state then who does make the decision? No one? Saying the involvement of the state in executing a person inherently contaminates the process merely by their very participation leads to wondering âOK, then what qualifies the state to even administer the investigation and trial?â If not the state, then who?
This is the uncle who reported the father had given him the gun. Initial reports seemed to suggest the uncle had given it, but later updates made clear the uncle had said the father had given the gun.
All the current reporting confirms Roof received the gun from his father. He would have been unable to purchase the gun himself, because federal background check laws prohibit people facing felony charges from buying firearms and Roof is awaiting felony drug possession charges.
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What can u possibly say when someone in your family blows away 9 innocent people, and people of the cloth while they where in a church as well?
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I thought he had already served time for the drug possession charges? I believe he had charges pending for trespassing at the mall parking lot. Either way the uncle and the father donât want their fingerprints anywhere near this.
I have a vague, and admittedly unfounded, suspicion that Roofâs father possesses beliefs and ideas similar to those allegeldly held by his son.
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