Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/14/missouri-rep-hears-about-todays-shooting-on-live-tv-and-his-response-says-it-all-video.html
…
2 Likes
So disappointing. KC is usually pretty chill, known for NOT rioting after sports wins, and we have had 2 other Super Bowl celebrations and a World Series celebration with no major issues.
The details are sketchy, but it happened shortly after the Chiefs left the stage to the west of Union Station. 10 people were injured with one dying at the hospital. Two people were tackled and taken into custody shortly after. And it sounds like it stemmed from an argument, but I am sure more solid details will emerge later.
4 Likes
Yeah, I’ve been super proud of our home city for the way the fans have reacted to the past 5 years, especially in light of how other championship fans have behaved historically. Of course this has nothing to do with the team, but it’s still gut-wrenching and horrifying. It was always there simmering below the surface, but Missouri has gone quite fucking nuts since I left around 2002. I mean, this is the state that smacked down John Ashcroft in his prime in favor of Jean Carnahan, the Democratic widow who succeeded her husband to office. I’m hoping they snap out of this tailspin soon. KC is one of the greatest cities in America.
7 Likes
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
I voted in that election! RIP Jean. I shook Mel’s hand, twice, when he was governor.
Yes, it is.
4 Likes
I presume that Trump, et al., will blame Taylor Swift as part of their stochastic terrorist campaign. 
3 Likes
I’m sure that you all noticed as I did, that the Rep. managed to avoid the elephant in the room…too many guns in too many hands of too many unhinged and dangerous people.
It should not be necessary to spend millions of dollars to protect our population from gun nuts while trying to celebrate a happy event. Goddamn these cowardly pols!
10 Likes
And although I hate to judge before all the facts are in, it’s beginning to look like 800 good guys with guns couldn’t stop 1 or 2 bad guys with guns.
13 Likes
That looks exactly like what we saw in the in the background behind the talking heads. (At least 50 armed officers on camera where there to storm the tunnel, and I bet hundreds more off camera were mobilizing too.)
1 Like
I lived in Lees Summit and Blue Springs for 11 years. I loved KC. But between the anti-trans laws being passed in Missouri and the complete lack of any gun laws, I just don’t think I can move back there, which I had wanted to do after law school. I just can’t do it. I wouldn’t feel safe there. I moved to Missouri in 2008, and it was a fairly purple state at the time. I can’t believe how much it’s changed in such a short period of time.
I checked in with my friends who still live there, and I think only one of the was at the parade and he’d already left by the time the shooting happened. He, a gay man, is blaming this on weak on crime Democrats and now says he’s going to start voting Republican. Fucking privileged asshole.
11 Likes
It definitely seems to have embraced MAGA. I know that the Ozark area was always pretty deep red. I have heard some real horror stories. And that has infested more of their state politics. I moved back to Kansas a couple years ago, which has its issues too, but not nearly as bad. 
You might want to remind him that the KCPD is controlled not by the city, but the state. And ask him who again is running the state?
8 Likes
I would, but the last time I challenged him on something, he threw a fit, and I just don’t have the energy. I honestly wouldn’t keep him on my friend’s list, but there are some mutual friends involved and I don’t need the drama that would accompany unfriending him.
ETA: Meh…maybe I will say something. It could be fun, lol.
ETA2: Nevermind. He came home to find two of his dogs attacking another of his dogs (they’re all fairly small dogs) and apparently they damn near killed him. Not a good time to call him on his bullshit. I’ll just let it go.
4 Likes
Kansas City Mayor Says 800 Officers Were At Parade, But With Guns ‘Almost Nothing Is Safe’
What’s important to understand is that events would have been an awful lot worse if no-one had been armed.
5 Likes
I’m already gearing up to hear from Rethugilcan congressentities about how our Forefathers, in their unfathomable wisdom in including the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights (actually the ONLY Amendment they care about), would’ve wanted citizens to protect themselves with all the shoulder-to-air missile launchers that at some point will flood the streets. Hey, if ya just read the 2nd Amendment, they’ll say.
7 Likes
Watching this video a day after the fact, I was thinking about what a normal person would say on hearing the news. “Was anyone hurt? Do you have any word on victims?” These are supposed to be your people -and not a word of concern about them.
8 Likes
It is? Why did the state get control?
2 Likes
This is always the way with ammosexuals. Talk about anything but the easy availability of firearms in the U.S. They’ll use the passive voice, as if the injuries just happened spontaneously. Or they’ll attempt to shift the focus.
15 Likes
It is really weird history. In a nut shell: racism after the Civil War started it, and corruption in the 1930s continued it.
There have been efforts recently for the city to control its own police force - which may or may not be a good thing. I think the mayor, Quinton Lucas, is a pretty decent guy who is trying.
6 Likes
I remember when Mark Alford was an anchor. He used to tease the meteorologist Don Harmon on air relentlessly. Don later committed suicide.
5 Likes
is there a missing /s here? the shooters were stopped by unarmed people
guns make everyone’s lives more dangerous. we see this plain fact again
6 Likes
Oh man. I don’t really remember Mark Alford teasing Harmon, but I didn’t watch a ton of local news, and probably wasn’t paying attention.
But I do remember Harmon and when he committed suicide. 
Mark Alford has gone on to be a total shit bag in the House of Representative for Missouri.
1 Like
