Donald Trump Blames Classmates for Not Reporting School Shooter
The POTUS sparked outrage among Parkland shooting survivors when he posted a tweet on February 15 implying that it was the shooter’s surrounding community to blame for the death of their 17 classmates and teachers.
Three students who said they knew the teenager accused of carrying out the deadly school shooting claim they previously reported him to school administrators, BuzzFeed reported on Saturday. On February 14, Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 people with a semiautomatic rifle. This is what President Trump tweeted in response to the event.
Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign – there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018
Needless to say, the President was called out by numerous people for his tweet.
Please do not tell me that you are blaming the victims. wow. despicable. And for your knowledge, he was reported to the FBI after commenting threats on a video
— Haley (@haley_rose21) February 18, 2018
They DID report it, again and again and again, so yes, they “knew” it but also reported it. Do you just love blaming victims, ANY victims? What’s wrong with you?
— Jane (@cjsgoing) February 17, 2018
He went on to hold a press conference to speak about the Parkland shooting later that day.
In times of tragedy, the bonds that sustain us are those of family, faith, community, and country. These bonds are stronger than the forces of hatred and evil – and these bonds grow even stronger in the hours of our greatest need. https://t.co/bu140nscez pic.twitter.com/OoTXMCSexB
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2018
During his speech, he offered to help those affected by the tragedy to help ease their pain. The next day, he flew to Florida to visit the students who were injured during the shooting.
Nonetheless, critics are skeptical about the motives behind Trump’s words and actions. During a rally this past Saturday, high school senior Emma Gonzalez called out Trump, saying, “If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association.”
Currently, students are planning a March for Our lives and National School Walkout to call on Congress to end gun violence.
Hi guys! I am a junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in English Writing with certificates in Public and Professional Writing and Digital Media. On campus, I am involved in Her Campus, The Pitt News, and Delta Phi Epsilon.
