Late Sunday night, a deadly shooting took place at the Route 91 Harvest Festival around the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. In response, President Donald Trump wasted no times sounding off on social media.
Trump on Vegas shooting
In what has now been confirmed as the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States, hundreds of shots were fired into a large crowd of people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. The festival was completing its third and final night, taking place at Mandalay Bay at the south end of the Vegas strip on Sunday night.
Hundreds of rounds were unloaded, causing chaos in the process, as on-the-ground videos were quickly uploaded to the internet and went viral throughout social media. Shortly after 10:30 p.m. local time, police were forced to shut down part of the Las Vegas BLVD, as they rushed to the scene. As of press time, 50 fatalities have since been reported, with more than 400 left injured as a result of the incident. According to the most recent reports, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada has been identified as the shooter. Poker player Dan Bilzerian was in the area at the time of the shooting and reported via his Instagram story what he saw first hand. "Holy fu*k, this girl just got shot in the fu**ing head," Bilzerian said, as he explained the horror of what had gone down around him just minutes before.
As seen on his Twitter account on October 2, Donald Trump gave his thoughts on the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017
Taking to his Twitter feed on Monday morning, Donald Trump made sure to address the shooting around the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas.
"My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting," Trump tweeted, before adding, "God bless you!"
#LasVegas latest
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 2, 2017
• At least 50 dead
• Over 400 injured
• Lone gunman, Stephen Paddock, found dead in hotel room
https://t.co/riGzMAKqiz pic.twitter.com/zjktApe1nB
Next up
Not long after Donald Trump sent out his tweet, critics of the president lashed out on social media, with many pushing back due to the fact that the shooter was a white male.
"My guess is that we see more tweets by Trump talking about NFL players kneeling than we do about this TERRORIST attack today!" Ed Krassenstein tweeted out.
Say it Donald, RADICAL DOMESTIC TERRORISM! YES, White people can be TERRORISTS!
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) October 2, 2017
It's about time that WE, as a country come to the realization that in order to protect our fellow Americans, we must take measures to secure our country from within, focusing less on our outside threats and more on internal threats. WAKE UP already!
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) October 2, 2017
Is it time for gun reform?
— Vikki V (@MissVikkiV) October 2, 2017
This was the Deadliest Mass Shooting in United States History-Perpetrated by a White, American Man.
— Fiona Adorno (@FionaAdorno) October 2, 2017
Can we talk about #GunControlNow?
"Do you condemn white male domestic terrorists?" another tweet added.
"Now what are you going to do about gun laws?" Emma Kennedy replied.
Was it TERRORISM?! If a Muslim was involved you’d call it out immediately!
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TaIbertSwan) October 2, 2017
We must also address the metastatic cancer of domestic terrorism.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 2, 2017
"Have you noticed that this was a white male, not a Muslim?" an additional tweet pointed out in reference to the shooter's race. "The worst mass shooting in the history of America and because a WHITE male who’s not a Muslim is responsible you can’t call it TERRORISM!" Bishop Talbert Swan added. As the backlash continued to pour in, critics of Donald Trump were not holding back in offering their thoughts.
