More than 50 people have been killed and over 200 injured in a gun attack in Las Vegas, Nevada, today.
It has become the worst such attack in recent history with the death toll still mounting but the federal government has breathed a sigh of relief after the announcement that the slaughter was carried out by a lone wolf gunman and not a “terrorist”.
Pauline Watson, 23, lost her mother in the horrendous attack upon a Las Vegas music festival this week. A fan of country music, she attended the Mandalay Bay festival with her husband of 32 years, who is critically injured. The trip of a lifetime for the Rochdale family turned into tragedy.
Pauline was kind enough to speak to the Rochdale Herald via a satellite link:
“We are still processing it really. The grief, it’s a funny thing. It leaves you numb. Shocked. But the one true source of comfort throughout this has been the constant reminders by the US media, and certain sections of twitter, that this attack was not terror, no matter how terrifying we found it.
“The US political commentators are incredibly well connected. They were able to confirm that an acid attack in Stratford, London, was definitely terror related even after the British police said it wasn’t. The same people are now able to confirm that this event leaving 50 dead and 200 wounded so far was definitely not terror related.
“Initially, reports were confusing as many wise voices on twitter were saying that Stephen Paddock was in fact a Muslim convert, and that irrespective of how white that name sounds, the MSM would use that name. Cat Stevens is the main argument used. My mother would have liked that, she enjoyed his music, and she also liked cats.
“Then many other equally wise voices were saying that he was clearly a left wing nutjob and probably antifa or something, given how the victims of this mass shooting were country music fans. The implication I assume is that country music fans embrace a wider lifestyle, like driving a pickup truck, standing for the national anthem whilst flying a confederate flag, and the occasional lynching.
“But now, less than 24 hours after the attack, it has been confirmed beyond doubt that the attacker was a white man with mental issues which means he was a lone wolf attacker rather than a terrorist.
“I accept it is possible that these people have no idea what they are talking about and are merely hopping onto a trending hashtag as a way to promote their ideology. But why would anyone milk a tragedy such as this for retweets and likes? I fully support them and I expect them to criticise any satirical news site that would criticise them for taking this approach.”
One commentator reported that whilst he supported the assailants 2nd amendment right to own a fully automatic machine gun he was, at the same time, torn between his right to bear arms and his right not to be shot by a lunatic with a machine gun.
More on this story as it unfolds.
