I say all the time, that it’s a sad, sad world we live in these days. The state of this country, in particular, that we live in is disheartening, to say the very least.
But that statement never rings more true than in the wake of a mass shooting.
Over the weekend, an 18-year-old White male opened fire on a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, in a predominantly Black community, where he killed 10 innocent people and injured additional human beings. The shooter was motivated by nothing more than hate and racism. His 100+ page “manifesto” that was discovered online heavily relied on the same “great replacement theory” rhetoric and ideologies we’ve seen peddled by the likes of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson over the year. (Just in case you hadn’t caught on yet, the “great replacement theory” is White supremacy with a digestible bow on it.)
Before the bodies were barely even counted on Saturday afternoon, the Right was already out with their torches and pitchforks, screaming from the rooftops: “It’s not our fault! He was mentally ill! You cannot take our right to racism away!”
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Disturbing? Yes. Surprising? Absolutely not.
However, what I did find absolutely gut-wrenching, was the response that these victims were allegedly subjected to while in the midst of an active mass shooting, as they tried to call for help.
Buffalo’s local 2 WGRZ recently interviewed the assistant manager of the TOPS supermarket that was shot up by the assailant on Saturday. Letitia told the news outlet during the live phone interview that she called 911 in an effort to get help, as the gunman was inside the building and actively firing and killing people around her. However, all she was met with was hatred and vitriol by the dispatcher on the other line — who allegedly yelled at the supermarket assistant manager for whispering on the phone call and ultimately hung up on her, forcing Letitia to call her boyfriend while an active mass shooter was in the building, and ask him to call 911 for her.
“I try to call 911 and I was whispering because I could hear him (the shooter) close by,” Letitia explained as she told 2 WGRZ what she went through on Saturday. “And when I whispered on the phone the 911, the dispatcher, would start yelling at me, saying, ‘Why are you whispering? You don’t have to whisper.'”
“I’m trying to tell her, ma’am, he’s in the store,” Letitia went on to describe. “He’s shooting. This is an active shooter. I’m scared for my life. And she said something crazy to me and then she hung up in my face and I had to call my boyfriend and tell him to call 911.”
People called for help and this was the response… pic.twitter.com/EFLG2gJn28
— India Walton From Buffalo (@Indiawaltonbflo) May 16, 2022
It is a sad… SAD world that we live in.
Featured image via screen capture
