Mass Shootings Are a Tragedy, Inner City Violence Coverage is a Travesty

In light of recent tragic shootings like the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Salinas, California, and today’s shooting at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, we are reminded that we are in an overall uptick in ‘mass shootings’ in the USA in recent years.

From San Bernardino, California, to Parkland, Florida, and many more, these events tear at the fabric of our nation, put us on edge, cause political discourse, and ruin families and lives. We also will never forget the horrific and mysterious events that unfolded in Las Vegas, Nevada at a 2017 country music festival, where 58 people plus the killer died. And who can forget Sandy Hook, Connecticut?

Over this year’s fourth of July weekend alone, 5 people were killed and 63 wounded in Chicago, IL. This is almost considered business as usual in that city as it makes headlines for a day or two, then goes away, with very little politicization.

President Trump tweeted out about today’s shooting in El, Paso:

SEE TWEET FROM @realDonaldTrump BELOW:

Today’s shooting in El Paso, Texas was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2019

Beyond the gun control debate, beyond the grief, and beyond the scary likelihood that things like this will probably continue to happen, it would be remiss of us as a nation to forget about the murders that happen every single day in our inner cities across the country.

One such city in the news lately is Baltimore, Maryland, where Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings spoke today to try to prop up the failing city in the wake of a Trump-Cummings tweet feud. USA Today ranked Baltimore the ‘Nation’s Most Dangerous Big City‘ in 2018. According to that article, in 2017 there were 5,738 homicides in the nation’s 50 biggest cities. Also cited, 343 in Baltimore alone, more murders than Las Vegas for 2017, INCLUDING the deadly mass shooting.

From USA Today:

Las Vegas Police reported 141 homicides for 2017 in its official tally but did not include the Oct. 1 mass shooting at an outdoor country music concert that left 58 dead.

SEE SPEECH TODAY FROM ELIJAH CUMMINGS ON BALTIMORE, MD IN VIDEO BELOW:

The message to be portrayed is that every death is a tragedy. Every murder is a life taken. Every reason behind it has a back story, a radicalized or problematic person, or a culture of drugs, crime, and violence. No murdered human being is less important than another, no matter how the news spins it.

In the wake of recent tragic events, please pray for the victims if you are religious, if not, keep them in your thoughts. But also please pray every day that the culture in our nation’s major cities, cities seen as global shining lights, can be improved as well. Ask that if we can ever find a way to reach beyond political back and forth in the midst of tragedies, let it be such that we treat everyone the same, and put all the effort we can the best way we know how into preventing these tragedies and supporting victim’s families.