Former US President Barack Obama released a public statement regarding the recent Boulder shooting that killed 10 people.
The president spoke about how the recent killings were driven by a combination of disaffection, misogyny, as well as racism. Moreover, the news came recently as officials from Colorado identified the 21-year-old gunman as a Syrian-born immigrant named Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa.
He was charged yesterday on 10 counts of murder that took place inside a grocery store in Boulder in Colorado. The gunman first killed two victims at the store’s parking lot and then went inside to hunt down 8 more victims. News reports suggested how the gunman opened fire using an automatic rifle that he purchased last week.
The news caused a stir in the nation, with President Biden appearing live for an emergency press conference where he called upon the Senate for stricter gun laws. In the same way, he urged for the complete ban of weapons and stricter background checking in the country to prevent such incidents from taking place in the future again.
Still, authorities failed to mention what was the gunman’s actual motive.point 185 | However, his brother did speak to the Daily Beast and mentioned how he was very ‘anti-social’ since his high school days.point 298 |
On the other hand, the gunman’s sister-in-law also mentioned how she saw Ahmad playing with a gun recently.point 96 | But little did she know about his intentions regarding the mass shooting massacre.point 166 | 1
Obama went on to link the recent mass killings with discrimination via a message that he posted through his Twitter account. This was in line with the recent wave of killings that took place in both Colorado and Atlanta.
“It will take some time to root out the real disaffection, misogyny, as well as racism involved that actually fuel plenty of these senseless acts,” he mentioned.point 261 |
Obama also supported Biden’s decision for stricter gun laws by claiming, “We can make it harder for all of those with hate in their hearts to purchase weapons of war.point 149 | ”point 156 | 1