Trump Calls Las Vegas Massacre ‘an Act of Pure Evil’
ISIS angle has not been confirmed yet.
President Donald Trump addressed the nation this morning concerning the shooting in Las Vegas that killed more than 50 people and injured over 400. He called it “an act of pure evil” and assured everyone that the FBI and the DHS are working with local officials. He also praised the Las Vegas authorities for their quick actions.
Here is the transcript of Trump’s remarks:
My fellow Americans, we are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief.
Last night a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more.
It was an act of pure evil.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are working closely with local authorities to assist with the investigation and they will provide updates as to the investigation and how it develops.
I want to thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department and all of the first responders for their courageous efforts and for helping to save the lives of so many. The speed with which they acted is miraculous and prevented further loss of life. To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired, is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful. It shows what true professionalism is all about.
Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one, a parent, a child, a brother or sister. We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you. And we ask god to help see you through this very dark period.
Scripture teaches us the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. We seek comfort in those words, for we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve. To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and pledge to you our support from this day forward.
In memory of the fallen, I have directed that our great flag be flown at half-staff. I will be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, first responders, and the families of the victims. In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has.
We call upon the bonds that unite us, our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence, and though we feel such great anger, at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today. And always will. Forever.
In times such as these, I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope.
Melania and I are praying for every American who has been hurt, wounded or lost the ones they loved so dearly in this terrible, terrible attack. We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace, and we pray for the day when evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear.
May god bless the souls of the lives that are lost, may God give us the grace of healing and may God provide the grieving families with strength to carry on. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you.
No Terrorist Connections
Authorities have not released any details about the shooter Stephen Paddock, but the Islamic State has claimed responsibility. From The New York Post:
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Las Vegas rampage, saying without offering evidence that the shooter had converted to Islam a few months ago, according to reports.
“The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition,” the terror group’s news agency Amaq said in reference to the US-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East.
“The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago,” Amaq added, according to Reuters.
However, the FBI has stated that Paddock does not have any “connection to an international terrorist group.”
More About the Killer
Authorities have said that Paddock recently “made several large gambling transactions in recent weeks,” but did not know yet if they are in losses or wins.
Paddock’s two brothers have no idea why their brother decided to do this. From NBC News:
Eric Paddock of Orlando, Florida, said he had “no idea” why his 64-year-old brother committed the shooting.
“Mars just fell into the earth,” he told NBC News. “We’re completely dumbfounded.”
Eric Paddock said his brother was retired and was “just a guy” who went to the hotels, gambled, and went to shows.
His brother Bruce, who admitted he hadn’t spoken to Stephen in 10 years, described him as a laid-back guy and “made money through apartment buildings, which he owned and managed with his mother, who lives in Florida.”
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Comments
Sounds unlikely, though stranger things have happened. If true, I wouldn’t want to be an Isis member with a known location.
If he did convert, I suspect it was as an excuse to shoot rather than out of conviction. Some people just want to kill.
His girlfriend is Indonesian or Asian from reports………
No ISIS supporters in Indonesia or other parts of Asia!
Q.E.D. No investigation required.
If she turns out to be a christian, we should ban all christians from entering the country? No sense taking any chances.
Ok, right now – back it up. Howe Em the law or order banning all muslims. You know very well you can’t because you know very well it doesn’t exist.
But you’d like there to be one, wouldn’t you. And yet you wouldn’t like there to be one against Christians if a few of them turned out to be terrorists.
FYI
CBS Senior Legal VP, Hayley Geftman-Gold, Fired For Callous Las Vegas Victim Statement…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/10/02/cbs-senior-legal-vp-hayley-geftman-gold-fired-for-callous-las-vegas-victim-statement/
” Shooter’s … father was Patrick Benjamin Paddock, a bank robber …on FBI Most Wanted list..
“It appears Stephen Craig Paddock’s companion Marilou Danley is Filipino.
*Note* there is a currently massive conflict inside the Phillipines between radical islamists and the government of Rodrigo Duterte.
The southern Philippines has a long history of conflict, with armed groups including Muslim separatists, communists, clan militias and criminal groups all active in the area.
Three groups comprise the Muslim separatists – the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf. The MILF and the Abu Sayyaf are breakaway factions of the MNLF……
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/10/02/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-stephen-craig-paddock/#more-139287
Those gun fire sounds came from automatic rifles. Those are illegal to own for the vast majority of people and for those legally owning one the costs to acquire the license is in the thousands of dollars. He brought many rifles and ammo for this crime. That suggests he was motivated by politics, ideology, religion to do this horrible act of terror. If this concert was a hip hop event, the likely motivation would be race. For a country western event the likely motivation is ideology against American traditional values and culture. Who does that? The far left lunatic fringe or a group like ISIS.
Did he know Eric Holder?
Or an NFL player?
So taking a knee during the national anthem is tantamount to shooting 600 people.
They’re orders of magnitude apart in intensity and seriousness, but they both express the same sentiment: contempt for the USA.
Yes, automatic rifles are expensive and a hassle to get legally, but this guy had money. He got his pilot’s license in 2003, had an instrument rating, and owns two airplanes. He also had an Alaska hunting license. Gambling in Vegas was a hobby. He had the means to procure auto rifles, legally or illegally. His family reports he was apolitical. I agree that it’s too early to speculate beyond the sparse facts now available.
Yet no information about which were weapons used, or whether they were obtained legally.
We just don’t know enough at this point.
I have read reports that his companion was of Indonesian heritage via Australia. It could provide a possible lead to investigate a terror connection in what otherwise is a senseless tragedy. I won’t speculate on this further. I just don’t know.
I will say I have seen disaffected Caucasian males without any overseas or military backgrounds or exposure to militant networks that way start to radicalize when they struggle in relationships and fall in with an Islamic woman who have a strong influence on them, a very conservative Islamic outlook, and cut them off from other viewpoints. It’s a bit scary to watch. I suspect that this kind of thing will cause trouble in the future, without in anyway saying I have any evidence that is what happened here.
Really? Just how many have you seen? 1,2,20,100? Just curious. I’ll bet you haven’t personally seen even 1.
Perfect response from POTUS at this point. And I am not, or was not a fan.
Really? All the things he has said during his long and very public life didn’t make you a fan, but this did? This was a statement written by a committee and read from a teleprompter. It could have been made by Hillary Clinton and I doubt you would have become a fan.
Hillary would NEVER have said this
Too much God and not enough call for gun control for any prog to say.
Yellowbelly’s heroes killed 100 million + last century.
Yellowbelly doesn’t care about anyone dead in LV.
Yellowbelly is only interested in some political gain and disarming you so you can be one of the next 100 million the leftists will murder.
There are so many things that are purely speculation now I hate to even keep reading about it, but simply waiting another day for the gossip to die down. But the weirdest thing I have seen that seems true is that ISIS is claiming responsibility, saying he converted a few months ago. Although the fact they are claiming that seems true, the claim itself may not be.
does anyone remember this number of stresses on the USA, not including WW 1-2 etc, in so short a time in a new admin (9 months) ?
DJT has few in gov’t that has his (and OUR) back.
the (D) and RINOs are just licking their chops,
the loony left shout gun control, don’t invade my space with other thoughts, the NFL diss the American Flag and anthem.
the NORKS, Iran, ISIS, Putin, Chinese, EU are all against us and at the sme time dependent on us……
Video of shooter at Anti-Trump protest.
Entire shooting incident will be down the memory hole in 24 hours.
That video has disappeared from reddit, but to the best of my knowledge, the guy in the video has not come forward to say it isn’t him.
What if it is absolutely, unequivocally proved he was a Trump supporter? Will you change your views in the slightest? No?
Then what relevance does it have?
People, here, seem to be twisting themselves in knots to prove the guy wasn’t a conservative. Feeling a little uncomfortable? He clearly wasn’t in favor of gun-control.
I want to know, if possible, what his twisted motivation may have been. Was he just crazy? Was he driven by some ideology? I’m interested in the truth, wherever it leads.
Look, people are trying to come up with a reason why a seemingly successful man, who has exhibited no previous violent tendencies, would embark upon a mission to shoot up a bunch of innocent people at a country music festival.
The video is an interesting article, if the man in the video is Paddock. Even if the man is Paddock, this does not prove that anti-Trump sentiment was a significant cause for his behavior.
But, embarking upon a complex plan to shoot a large number of people at an open air music festival is so bizarre, by the standards of our society, that people really want to know what Paddock was using for justification for his actions.
He clearly wasn’t in favor of gun-control.
Criminals love gun control. It doesn’t inhibit them in the least, and it’s a golden opportunity to make money dealing in contraband.
You want to bet that if you look at him the guy who shot scaling, that Bernie bro, was in favor of gun control? For a person willing to do something like this ideological consistency is not the top item on their list.
Im now waiting for the left to come out defending evil.
Or, trying to say that Republicans/conservatives are evil, so therefore the guy must have been a Republican/conservative.
“A top lawyer for CBS said she is “not even sympathetic” to victims of the Las Vegas shooting because “country music fans often are Republican,” when discussing the tragic mass shooting that occurred in Las Vegas late Sunday night.”
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/10/02/top-cbs-lawyer-no-sympathy-for-vegas-vics-probably-republicans.html
Typical liberal response.
To CBS’ credit, they’ve fired her.
But, but, but I thought it was wrong to fire someone for exercising their first amendment rights. Isn’t that what they’re telling us about the NFL players? What’s the difference?
The FBI, which has yet to confirm that Trump has no ties to Russia, is able in a few hours to confirm that the shooter has no ties to ISIS.
That is because they have evidence that Trump had ties to Russia.
Which would be the only thing not leaked since November.
They have nothing but idiots who think they do
There’s very little information on the shooter’s motives which seems odd to me. The MSM hasn’t reported anything, but also isn’t labeling him a domestic right wing terrorist which suggests to me that there’s a potential progressive/anarchist or muslim jihadi connection. My first thought was honestly Harper’s Ferry – i.e. this is the kind of asinine & useless act an anarchist would do if they wanted to start a civil war in the US.
His facebook and twitter accounts were offline within minutes. Pretty much proof he wasn’t the conservative right wing nutjob they’re looking for.
You got it!
As was pointed out on LI’s last thread on the Las Vegas shooting (paraphrasing):
If he were a right-wing/libertarian, Trump-voting, TEA Party supporter, the MSM would be all over that. You can bet your next paycheck they thoroughly examined all his Facebook groups, likes, and timeline activity, minutes after learning his name. The way they’re reporting leaves two possibilities: either he was really-and-truly non-political, or he was a leftist.
As an aside, does anyone else find it particularly despicable that with 50 people dead and 400 wounded, the MSM is putting so much effort into determining the suspect’s political affiliations?
Why does it ALWAYS have to be about politics!?
(I know, I know. They’re itching to find that one mass shooter in a million who is a right-leaning Christian, instead of “Progressive”/socialist/communist/anarchist atheist/Muslim.)
Well, people do want to understand the nature of this crime.
That bears repeating (what you said Archer).
“No known political affiliation” = Leftist
I assumed it was a Leftist-Prog as soon as I hear that sad news this morning.
As an aside, does anyone else find it particularly despicable that with 50 people dead and 400 wounded, the MSM is putting so much effort into determining the suspect’s political affiliations?
His political affiliations were known by the MSM within minutes. The word you’re looking for is hiding not determining.
If this remains consistent with other mass shootings, the one thing we can count on is his political affiliation … Democrat! For all their hyperbole it is that party that these psychopaths call home.
I appreciate all of your comments looking for the explanation for this horror but we must realize that EVIL exists and there will never be an end to it. Humans possess the intelligence and the ability to carry out the worst crimes imaginable that only nature can top. Finding the “Reason” behind this will not solve anything. Gun control will not solve it and accusing any group will not solve it. Like the tragedies of the past, knowing the reason why has made no difference. It is sad to see people like hillary make political statements about this horrible event but we can expect many more to offer their distorted view of it. I know we all are pained by the survivors who have to live with their burned in memories of this horror but the dead are free and cannot suffer any longer.
Quite right. Evil exists, and looking back to find the “reason” — to find the “sense” in that which by definition is “senseless” — only serves to distract us from the present. “Hindsight” and “retrospection” are good for learning, but not at the expense of the here-and-now.
Here on Earth we have three options when it comes to dealing with evil: assist it, ignore it, or resist it.
Given the particulars of this attack, I don’t see how it could have been resisted effectively, but that’s not what I’m getting at.
Here’s my point: Evil acts like this come in pairs; there are always two rounds. First there’s the event itself, and second comes the blame game and resulting attempts at “common sense” laws and restrictions. The first round is over, Praise God. Don’t get so distracted looking for the “reason” that you’re unable to recognize and resist the second.
Evil can be overcome, but it must be recognized, faced, and fought against. THAT’s the reality, and we have to be present — in the present — to do our part.
Determining the reasoning of a person who commits anti-social acts of this caliber is always important. The simply dismiss the man’s motivation as being “evil” does no one any good. It is like saying that birds can fly because they are birds. Accepting this as the reason that birds can fly would preclude human beings from developing the airplane.
Paddock had a reason for doing what he did. By the standards of the rest of society, it is very likely that this reason will be considered a sign of insanity. But, that makes it no less important. Ignorance is not bliss. It only provides a false sense of security; until you get eaten by the tiger that you have chosen to ignore the existence of.
As time goes on, we should get a better idea of what reasoning allowed, or caused, Paddock to commit this act. We may never understand it. We may never get a complete picture of what comprised that reasoning. But, we should get a better understanding about where Paddock’s head was at, as we get more information. And, that will prove useful in the future.
I wish you were right about the reason Paddock did this but it won’t make any difference. He had a clean background and was not a poor man resisting the “Man”. He has a reason for what he did but it will not change anyone else’s behavior. The unabomber, Timothy McVeigh, the Orland shooter, the airplane bombings and all of the killings by known terrorists make no difference for the next act. Any large event is a ripe tomato for the next killer and there is nothing anyone can do about it. This is the result of a free society. If we want to live in fear not of a killer but of our own government then we can vote that in by following the Demorats siren call. It pains me to say that there is no cure for this type of act. All big events and places like malls will always be vulnerable and they cannot be protected completely.
Something CAUSED this man to shoot up a country music festival, for no apparent reason. Aren’t you the least bit curious what that reason was? I certainly am.
If this erratic behavior was the result of some organic disorder, psychosis, then we may be able to identify and treat people with similar disorders before they engage in similar behavior. If this was ideological, then it would be nice to know if there was an external causative source that can be addressed. If this was an attack upon this country by a foreign power, then for sure we want to know about it.
In the current era of media propaganda, fake news and ideological journalism, it is striking that the media decided, almost immediately, that this was the act of a lone gunman whose motivation could not even be speculated upon. While this position is admirable, report only the facts, it is strikingly at odds with the tone and tenor of journalism displayed for the last year. It is almost as if the media does not want to look too closely at this man, or his motivation.
This will result in significant changes to what venues are chosen for events as well as the security arrangements in place at such events; something which should have been done years ago. So, yes Virginian, the likelihood of this type of attack CAN be mitigated. But, it takes a complete change in the mindset of the American People. This nation is under attack from both without and within. Our government is doing pretty much all that it can to forestall attacks upon the American people. And, quite honestly, we really do not want them to invade our privacy more than they already are. So, the people are going to have to adjust their habits and mindset to face the dangers of the modern era. And, if we know where potential attacks are coming from, then we can take steps to stop those attacks.
“Finding the “Reason” behind this will not solve anything.”
Nonsense.
Was this a Muslim Terror attack?? ISIS claims he was a “soldier” of theirs, there are claims he’s a recent convert, and questions about the girlfriend being an influence in radicalizing him.
IF this was Muslim Terror, then it is one in a LONG series of attacks and there are MORE TO COME. This is definitely a problem that needs to be solved.
Was this another Leftwing Terror attack, like the assassination attempt on Congressman Scalise?? There’s video of the shooter having been at an anti-Trump rally. There are reports of him having “Antifa” propaganda in the hotel and at his house.
IF this was yet another Leftwing radical terror attack, then it is one in a LONG series of such attacks and there are MORE TO COME. This is definitely a problem that needs to be solved.
Questions about the motive and background of the shooter are absolutely relevant. Precisely because he was most likely motivated by one, or both, of the above and is part of a movement that has encouraged other attacks and continues to encourage more.
Dismissing this as an isolated “evil” will simply increase the likelihood of the next attack succeeding – because nothing will have been done to “solve the problem” and prevent more such atrocities being perpetrated.
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CBS Legal Executive: Las Vegas Victims Had it Coming for Being “Republican Gun Toters”
BRANDON MORSE // Posted at 12:30 pm on October 02, 2017
Sunday’s Las Vegas shooting has so far left over 50 dead and more than 500 injured, marking this as the most deadly shooting in modern history. However, according to a CBS legal executive, these victims had it coming.
As first reported by the Daily Caller, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a top legal executive at CBS, posted on Facebook that attendees of the country music concert had it coming, since country music fans are often Republican gun owners.
In Geftman-Gold’s post, she seemingly references Sandy Hook, which she blames on Republicans, and uses this as her reasoning that Jason Aldean fans deserved to be gunned down.
“If they wouldn’t do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing,” Geftman-Gold wrote on Facebook. “I’m actually not even sympathetic bc country fans often are Republican gun toters.”
The CBS executive has been fired for her intemperate statement. She was a vice president and senior counsel, a Columbia law graduate.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/10/02/top-cbs-lawyer-no-sympathy-for-vegas-vics-probably-republicans.html
I think Obama claimed to have gone to Columbia also…….
And now unemployed.
“However, the FBI has stated that Paddock does not have any “connection to an international terrorist group.”
Credibility level = ZERO
Why do they do this?? Within hours, they come out with a definitive statement that they can’t possibly back up.
Why not just say, “We are not aware of any connection to…”, and then go on to say that they are investigating all possible motives?
Oh, right, because that’s precisely what they are NOT doing. They decide, from the start, that this is NOT going to be Muslim Terror attack, even if it turns out that it really is, and they will do everything they can to make sure that the “investigation” fits their pre-determined narrative.
Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence that the FBI will reveal what they find in the shooter’s home and electronic communications.