In Poway, north of San Diego, at a synagogue, a 19-year-old man carried out a shooting up the last day of Passover. One person died in the shooting and several others were injured at what can only be called a "hate crime" says the Poway Mayor, Steve Vaus. The Palomor Medical Center received four patients from the shooting. One was a 60-year-old woman who died at the hospital. Two others, a 34-year-old man and a girl were issued into the hospital with shrapnel injuries. And the fourth person was a 57-year-old Rabbi who suffered what seems to be defensive wounds to both index fingers. The doctor says the man is likely to lose his right index finger. Through all of the chaos, the Rabbi called for peace and unity. Even after being the hit, the he kept praying says an eye
witness. The alleged shooter, John Earnest made a post before the shooting, summarizing his inspirations for is action. In the post, it talks about hating of Jewish people and killing of Jewish people. There were also multiple references to other attacks on houses of worship, including the attacks on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and the ChristChurch mosque shooting in New Zealand. This shooting is seen as a anti-Semitic attack, shown through the copycat like posts made that are very similar to the ones made about the Anti-Semitic shooting in New Zealand. In response to this devastation, President Trump made a formal announcement at the White House, condemning this attack. Other groups spoke up against the attack, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League spoke, talking about the attacks on these sacred places representing the violation on peoples values as Americans. Whether it's a church, a synagogue or a mosque, its takes working together to prevent Anti-Semitism.
Reaction: When I first heard about the shooting I didn't know what to think. It felt like there was just several shootings occurring recently, nothing more to look into. But when I started researching it didn't occur to me how horrifying these attacks are and how much correlation they have with each other. As I dug deeper, these attacks seem to become worse and worse with every piece of information gathered. It was said that these attacks just played out a show basically for the audience online who seem to agree with the actions of the attackers. Never would I wish this on anyone.
Connection: This article connects to World War 2 and the Holocaust were Anti-Semitism was used against the Jewish people. Especially highlighting the "Night of Broken Glass" or Kristallnacht when Nazi ransacked Jewish business and killed Jewish people. Like Kristallnacht this shooting clearly demonstrates the idea of Anti-Semitism against the Jewish community as the man shot up the synagogue and killing people.
Questions:
If the government acts on this attack what might they do?
What could social media companies do to prevent message like this?
Why hasn't the US invoked stricter laws surrounding gun control?
I think that it is terrible that this 19 year old man would hate Jews so much that he would go out to kill or injure as many as possible. It is terrible that he disagrees so much with their views that he is willing to take other people's lives to gain attention and to gain support for his views. Another horrible part about this crime is that many others agree with this viewpoint, as shown by all of the other attacks on Jews or other religious minorities around the world. The government can't control extremist views and terrorist attacks, although they might be able to have surveillance or security in order to protect synagogues and mosques until the immediate threat is over. Another way the government could help to prevent attacks like this from reoccurring would be to have tighter gun laws regarding the background checks of the purchaser. Social media checks should also be implemented in order to make sure there is no Anti-Semitic messages or other hate speech on social media platforms. Also, evaluations and questionnaires should be filled out in order to make sure the guns and ammunition will be used for the correct things. According to the second amendment, people should have the right to bear arms, but since there is such a problem with gun violence and mass shootings, there should be more monitoring in place as well as harsher consequences for gun related crimes. A problem with cracking down on mass shooters is that many of them suicide before the cops reach them or before being arrested. This is not good because that means that the killers get away with what they wanted to do as well as dying under their own terms with a planned out decision to suicide. This is a hard solution to fix, but something has to be done in order to prevent more shootings. Social media platforms can help by monitoring hate speech on their platforms and reporting them to the authorities so that the police can be aware of possible threats regarding actions against the organizations the people talk about on social media. Also, social media platforms should not spread the word about the shootings except for mourning the victims because many times the killer(s) want attention, and the social media world talking about shootings is giving the killers exactly what they want. These shootings are a huge deal, but if people did not give the attacker the enjoyment of knowing that the shootings affect many people, then hopefully the number of attacks like those would decrease. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/us/poway-synagogue-shooting.html
ReplyDeleteWhat happened in Poway is absolutely terrifying and horrific. Attacks such as these have been becoming more and more frequent as the levels of anti-semitism have been rising in the US along within most of Europe. Many say that this is just another example of why guns should be completely banned and taken away but I believe this isn’t a good solution. As this man who carried out the crime had such a hatred for jews that he would have gone through with the act with really any weapon be it a knife or another sharp object. One of the main reasons this attack was mitigated was because the assailant was shot at. An off duty Border Patrol agent opened fire scaring off the suspect which soon lead to the arrest of that suspect. (https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/california-synagogue-shooting-live-updates/index.html) So if it wasn’t for a responsible person carrying a gun, there most likely would have been much more casualties. In my opinion I feel that places of worship should have at least one armed guard especially on high holy days to insure the safety of the worshipers inside. As I am sure if that man saw a armed guard at the front door he would have not gone through with the act. The fact that the man posted on social media his intentions before he even went through with the act demonstrates how we should always be aware of posts like that and immediately alert authorities. As if this post was seen earlier, all of this could have been prevented. Now going back to guns I do agree that background checks should be more thorough but guns should not be taken away. As in this situation if guns were banned all together, then the suspect would have most likely illegally purchased a gun and the man who bought a gun legally and shot at the suspect wouldn’t have been able to do what did.
ReplyDeleteKayla Li
ReplyDeleteWhen I initially heard about the attack, I was concerned about how much I wasn't shocked about its occurrence. At this point, these types of hate crimes and shooting have become somewhat of a regular which shouldn't be the case. From January to November of 2018, there were 307, yes 307 mass shootings. According to the federal government, mass shootings are defined was four or more individuals being murdered within a time frame. These numbers are absolutely devastating and it's awful that the government hasn't made gun regulation reforms, mental health rehabilitation, and more complex screenings. While states such as Florida, California, and New York have made major reforms to the ways guns are purchased and used, the Federal government has not passed new legislation since 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Under this law, dealers and manufacturers of firearms exempt from negligence claims (Source: https://www.gunstocarry.com/federal-gun-laws/). In terms of social media, I believe these platforms would benefit from algorithms that alert a control system if a post is made containing specific words or phrases. From there, an operator could investigate the post and take further action as needed. Actions such as these may prevent tragedies from occurring in the future.
These mass shootings and terror attacks seem to be a daily occurrence. Under circumstances where hate crimes against people of certain religions or races seem to be almost normalized, the frequency of anti semitic incidents in the United States have increased 60% after Donald Trump was elected president (https://www.theguardian.com/commentis
ReplyDeletefree/2019/apr/30/san-diego-terrorist-attack-was-a-reminder-that-
antisemitism-is-alive-and-deadly). After such a dramatic increase in hate crimes in general as well, there should be immediate action from the government to pass rules and regulations, like what the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, had done after the Christchurch shootings.
Even after more than 300 mass shootings in 2018, the government refuses to pass regulatory laws. I believe it has a large part to do with Trump being supported by the National Rifle Association as well as being a 2nd amendment enthusiast. The money they make altogether from gun sales and donations from gun lovers inhibits their will to make common sense gun laws to save lives. In the long run, I think everyone could benefit from gun regulations, and we can move on from our fear of mass shootings.
Gun control has and will continue to be a controversial topic for many people. The main issue is that many believe guns only benefit the security and help prevent crime in the country. The U.S. can't implement these laws if a large amount of people want to posses guns. Unfortunately, people like John Earnest will keep using their guns for intended violence rather than in self defense. Creating stricter gun laws won't have much affect if people are still allowed posses ion of them. The only plausible solution is to rid of the possession of all guns from those without a permit for hunting or other necessities. This way, there won't be any guns in the first place, which means shootings won't happen. Some people are so hateful of other races of religions that it's not safe to allow them to posses guns. They disregard the consequences of their actions and commit crimes like these. Our society as a whole is the only thing preventing stricter gun laws.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that statement that the possession of guns for anyone will always pose problems and that it is an issue that can't really be dealt with. However, ridding all gun possession breaks the rights of the citizens of America and will raise a thousand problems. I don't oppose the idea of a gunless America but the means to get to that point are almost impossible.
DeleteIn our time social media is vastly used and is a major platform where people advocate their opinions and project their daily life. With the large amount of people on there, there are bound to be some with harmful intentions. Just like any other major event social media should be monitored for suspicious activity. Suspicious activity includes anything from bullying to posts like the ones from John Earnest. Although many believe that guns aren't the reasons of these shootings if guns weren't available as easily, the number of shootings and risk would for sure go down. https://www.vox.com/2019/3/21/18272741/new-zealand-assault-weapons-ban-us-gun-laws: In New Zealand after one shooting the government realized that regulating gun control was vital. After tighter laws in 2015 the entire country had 8 gun homicides compared to the large number of 13,000 in the US. A big reason although that US doesn't implement tighter gun control is the revenue it brings in. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/gun-industry-contributes-dollar513b-to-us-economy-research-shows/ar-AAvuCzz. The gun industry contributes 51.3 Billion to the US economy. Why would people sitting in AC office bother to change laws when from their view its just money. They don't realize the fear and deaths it implements throughout society. Overall I think the government needs to pay more attention to these instances from our eyes, and pay attention to large platforms such as social media for suspicious activity.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis attack shows that anti-Semitism is still very much a concern. However, I disagree with the notion that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens will solve the problem. Every time a shooting occurs, politicians seize on our fear to cry for more gun control. After Parkland, fifty more laws restricting gun access has been passed...and have things improved? No. Schools have been gun-free zones since it was introduced by Joe Biden in 1999, and we all see the upwards trend in school shootings. Criminals are not going to care if a school or restaurant or wherever are "gun-free" or not. What makes people think that more laws will stop them? Last time I checked, shooting and killing people is pretty illegal. Criminals are not about to turn in or register their weapons. Drugs are illegal...yet we still have a drug problem. What we never hear about are the good citizens with guns, like Jeanne Assam and moms that use them to defend her kids and other people (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/15/mom-shoots-kills-attacker-brazil-school-during-mothers-day-event/610530002/). Passing even more gun laws is the same as taking away cars from safe drivers in order to prevent drunk drivers.
ReplyDeleteSocial media companies should see what people are posting online and be able to inform the police or authorities that a person is a potential threat. This event and the shooting in New Zealand were both posted online and authorities or police were never informed (https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3002436/new-zealand-shooting-more-200-users-watched-live-stream-video). The government should also keep an eye out for threats if they are publicly announced. The government needs to have tighter gun laws. This is a recurring conflict in the United States as well as internationally and there are more than 36,000 people that die in a year in the United States because of gun crimes (https://everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-america/). The only way to move forward is to create laws that will help prohibit gun violence.
ReplyDeleteThese mass gun shooting and acts of terrorism are starting to become normalized mainly in the US, but also in many other parts of the world. Many of these are not done randomly but instead influenced by their hate towards people of a certain race of religion. Within recent years the amount of gun shooting has increased massively between the last couple of years. Even with all this happening you might wonder why has the government not tried to create stricter gun control laws? This is due to the citizens of America, if you ask someone here who possess a gun why they have one, their answer would be that they have one to protect themselves. We have the thought here that if you possess a gun, your chances of being in danger will decrease a lot. Another reason is that a large population of the US have guns. If we implemented stricter gun control laws, there would be an outcry from these people. Some laws that we should implement that would lead to less shooting but still not restrict all, is to do background checks on people who do want to purchase guns, increase the age to buy guns as many of these shooters are between the ages of 18-21, and the banning of assault guns. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/6-proposals-reduce-gun-violence-how-they-work-n851736)
ReplyDeleteI think that this crime should have been labeled terrorism rather than a hate crime. This horrific event is further evidence of the US government continuing to turn the other way in the events of mass shootings. According to Wkipedia, we have had 105 mass shootings in the US in 2019 alone. However, there have been no changes in gun control laws and the government refuses to take action against gun violence. I do think that social media has helped spread awareness for gun violence because these news stories spread to people that may not otherwise know, especially people in our age range and students in general. It is important for us to speak out about the lack of changes on gun control in the US. It is terrible that the media has almost normalized these shootings and we are starting to see them as "normal" in the news. The US hasn't invoked stricter laws simply because such a large part of the US owns guns and supports gun rights. Something must be done because these shootings are absolutely unacceptable.
ReplyDelete-Grace Callan
DeleteIt is absurd that the US government hasn't passed any legislature or laws for gun control. Some may say that guns keep us safer, but the fact is that without guns on the market we wouldn't need guns to keep us "safe". The most important thing that people should worry about is keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them, not arming those who should. The only thing that guns bring is death, they are made for no other purpose and to say otherwise is a blatant lie. The US should look to Switzerland, and what types of gun laws they have. Based off of Switzerland not having any shootings for the past ten years, we can see how stricter gun laws benefit the community as a whole. Social media companies should have rigorous screenings of what information goes out to the public, because of what it insights. Facebook has done good in this department, seeing as they have blocked Alex Jones and Tomi Lahren, because of what they have said.
ReplyDelete-Rumi