In his remarks on today’s naval yard shooting in Washington, D.C., the president said that the victims are patriots who faced, ‘unimaginable violence that they wouldn’t have expected here at home.’
With at least 6 people dead and one shooter also dead, and with two more shooters potentially still at large, the president’s remarks were cautious, sympathetic, but respectful of the fact that not all details are known.
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Obama said, “I’ve been briefed by my team on the situation. We still don’t know all the facts, but we do know that several people have been shot and some have been killed, so we are confronted another mass shooting. And today it happened on a military installation in our nation’s capitol. It’s a shooting that targeted our military and civilian personnel. These are men and women who were going to work, doing their job protecting all of us. They’re patriots, and they know the dangers of serving abroad, but today they faced the unimaginable violence that they wouldn’t have expected here at home. So we offer our gratitude to the Navy, local law enforcement, and the doctors who responded with skill and bravery. I’ve made it clear to my team that I want the investigation to be seamless so that federal and local authorities are working together, and as this investigation moves forward we do everything in our power to make sure that whoever carried out this cowardly act is held responsible. In the meantime we send our thoughts and prayers to all at the navy yard who have been touched by this tragedy. We stand with families who need our love and support.”
People are going to draw all kinds of conclusions, but for now what we know according to federal officials is that 12 people have been shot, and four have died from their wounds. Possibly, 4 police officers were shot. After each of these dreadful mass shooting incidents the same question always gets asked. What can we do to make the violence stop?
When our military personnel and civilians aren’t safe going to work, there is a problem. The problem should no longer be ignored, downplayed, or buried beneath a mountain of political rhetoric. Our political, civic, and cultural leaders need to stop looking the other way, come together, and address American’s rampant culture of violence.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
