According to the Dayton police, the death toll in the horrific shooting near a bar in the Ohio city has risen to nine, while others have sustained injuries. With the tragic incident coming as the second in just 24 hours, following a massacre at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas that took the lives of 20 innocent people, an all-embracing social security debate is gaining momentum.
Under the hashtag #Daytonshooting, many rushed to recall perturbing statistics across the US on mass shootings and began resorting to slurs, as nothing appears to be changing over time:
Others straight away put the blame on the government, calling for storming the White House “instead of the Area-51” – something broadly trending in a viral online craze.
The gun legislation issue was naturally also on everybody’s lips, with calls for more effective laws with this regard renewed and becoming increasingly persistent:
Some, however, struck back, arguing that owning guns in attacks involving “white supremacists” doesn’t help:
Thoughts and prayers are all good and well, many have come to state, but by far not enough to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future:
Others directly addressed politicians “who use racism [and] hate speech to whip up rage and fear”, seeing this as the root cause of the shooting episodes:
…whereas one argued that the El Paso shooter had stated in his manifesto that “he held his beliefs long before Trump was elected”:
Another, meanwhile, called for getting at least a slight idea of what the history of Texas is like and who the territory belonged to first:
…while others suggested the US would be better off borrowing the gun policies from other developed countries:
The vicious circle between the opposing agendas of Democrats and Republicans agendas over the gun control issue and its repercussions was also brought up:
In the wake of the El Paso shooting on Saturday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has opened a domestic terrorism probe, which, according to the police, may be classified as capital murder and a hate crime targeting Hispanic people. The shooter reportedly posted a manifesto online before assaulting people inside Walmart, describing a detailed plan to separate the US into territories according to race.
US President Donald Trump condemned Saturday's mass shooting at a Walmart in Texas as “not only tragic”, but an "act of cowardice", adding that "there are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people".