Tag: guns
Trump: 'I Don't Mind' If Someone Shoots Reporters At Rally

Trump: 'I Don't Mind' If Someone Shoots Reporters At Rally

During his rally in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania Sunday, Donald Trump said he wouldn't care if reporters were shot, according to Rolling Stone.

Speaking to a MAGA crowd in the town of Lititz — and "pointing to his far right" — Rolling Stone reports, the GOP nominee said, "I have a piece of [bulletproof] glass over here. And I don’t have a piece of glass there."

He added, "I have this piece of glass here. But all we really have over here is the fake news, right? And, to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news, and I don’t mind that so much. I don’t mind. I don’t mind that."

Trump was pointing to the reporters in front of him as he made the statement.

Journalists and political experts responded to the ex-president's comments immediately.

Vanity Fair contributor Adrian Carrasquillo replied: "Pretty terrible stuff here"

Conservative Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell added: "Another day, another Trump 'joke' about being cool with someone shooting at the media. It’s all so disgraceful."

Spectrum News national political reporter Taylor Popielarz said: "An example of why a growing number of news crews hire private security when covering Trump campaign events."

The Tennessee Holler founder Justin Kanew wrote: "Can’t wait to hear how they try to semantics and context their way out of this one"

University of North Carolina criminal law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick commented: I’m looking forward to hearing from the anti-anti-Trump crowd why it’s totally fine for a presidential candidate to say he would not mind someone shooting members of the media. My money is on 'this is just Trump’s crass way of criticizing the press' or 'context shows it’s a joke'"

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Jeffrey Michael Kelly

Arizona Gunman Accused Of Firing At Democratic Field Office Had Huge Arsenal

Police in Tempe, Arizona have arrested a man they believe is responsible for a spate of shootings at a Democratic field office in the pivotal battleground state. The alleged shooter's cache of weapons and ammunition suggests he may have been planning a politically-motivated mass shooting.

Phoenix-based ABC affiliate KNXV reported Wednesday that 60 year-old Jeffrey Michael Kelly has been arrested in connection with three different shootings reported at the campaign office since September. Democrats have since closed that office and moved operations to an undisclosed location out of concern for the safety of workers and volunteers.

Kelly has since been charged with unlawful discharge, shooting at a non-residential structure, terrorism, and criminal damage. He is also accused of "hanging suspicious bags of white powder from several political signs lined with razor blades," according to KVXN.

The Democratic field office was targeted in three separate shootings on September 16, September 23 and October 6. Witnesses reported a silver Toyota Highlander SUV near the scene. No one was in the office at the time of the shootings, and no deaths or injuries were reported in either incident.

According to Phoenix-based outlets KTVK and KPHO, Kelly allegedly used Google Maps to search the location of the field office, and he was also reportedly seen posting "anti-Democratic ideology signs" in several locations near his home.

KVXN further reported that when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched Kelly's home, they found a massive arsenal of weapons, including 120 firearms, approximately 250,000 rounds of ammunition and a grenade launcher, in addition to body armor. Maricopa County Deputy County Attorney Nena Bhatia said it's likely Kelly was planning a mass shooting.

"The state and law enforcement believe that this person was preparing to commit an act of mass casualty with the guns he had, and that his progression of violence was escalating," she said.

While the types of guns and caliber of ammunition investigators seized have not yet been disclosed, it's worth noting that an AK-47 in its fully automatic setting is capable of firing 600 rounds a minute. This means that without even counting for time to reload, it would take approximately seven hours to fire 250,000 rounds of ammunition continuously.

Kelly is currently being held on a $500,000 bond, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. His next court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Vance Blasted Over Photo Of Him Next  To Swastika At Gun Show

Vance Blasted Over Photo Of Him Next To Swastika At Gun Show

Before he was the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee or the junior U.S. senator from Ohio, JD Vance was photographed at a gun show on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks just feet away from framed Nazi memorabilia.

In the photo, which Vance tweeted on September 11, 2021 without comment, the Hillbilly Elegy author is seen holding his infant child while looking at a table displaying several revolvers of various calibers. One vendor at a nearby table is seen sitting next to framed Nazi memorabilia, including a flag bearing a swastika, and two different Nazi war ensigns known as "Reichskriegsflagge" and a variety of Nazi war medals. One of the guns on the table Vance is standing over is a Luger pistol commonly used by Nazi soldiers during World War II.

Journalist Carlos Berrios Polanco, who publishes the Heavy Weather newsletter, noticed the photo of Vance on Friday night and tweeted: "They really did not do any social media vetting or clean up on this guy at all. Kind of hilarious if it wasn't so bleak."

The photo of Vance shocked several others on X/Twitter after Polanco's tweet.

"Pretty cool photo of JD shopping for some guns and/or framed swastikas," comedy writer Lon Harris tweeted. "Solid guy, seems like a good pick."

Writer and producer Grant Pardee (known for the 2016 series Nuclear Family) sarcastically observed that Vance was simply being "relatable" by "bringing [his] infant to a gun show" to "browse fetishized Nazi memorabilia." Writer Daisy Gardner (of 30 Rock fame) simply tweeted: "Nazi s—. Literal Nazi s—."

"It's so out in the open. We must stop them with all we can do," tweeted Methodist pastor Daniel Russell.

Vance has been embroiled in a tsunami of negative news coverage ever since he was officially selected as former President Donald Trump's 2024 running mate. He spent Friday trying to explain comments he made in 2021 lamenting to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the government was being overtaken by "childless cat ladies." The Ohio senator has also been the subject of memes mocking him over a debunked rumor that he committed a sex act with a couch.

When Vance proposed in 2022 that American adults without children be taxed at a higher rate than parents, he angered MAGA influencer and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who called the idea "f—ing idiotic."

"You want me to pay more taxes to take care of other people's kids? We sure this dude is a Republican? Sounds like a moron," Portnoy tweeted. "If you can't afford a big family don't have a ton of kids."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Shop our Store

Headlines

Editor's Blog

Corona Virus

Trending

World