Running shooting thread 2023

Mississippi

Baptist hospital locked down after parking lot shooting - The Dispatch

 

"Over decades, politics, money and ideology altered gun culture, reframed the Second Amendment to embrace ever broader gun rights and opened the door to relentless marketing driven by fear rather than sport. With more than 400 million firearms in civilian hands today and mass shootings now routine, Americans are bitterly divided over what the right to bear arms should mean.

The lawmakers, far from the stereotype of pliable politicians meekly accepting talking points from lobbyists, served as leaders of the N.R.A., often prodding it to action. At seemingly every hint of a legislative threat, they stepped up, the documents show, helping erect a firewall that impedes gun control today."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/us/politics/nra-congress-firearms.html

 

I hadn't seen anything on this, but to be honest, I've been staying away from the thread. Sometimes, I've just had enough of reading about these nightmare events. I think it is important to pay attention to the legal process in these cases.

A jury found the shooter at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh of all 63 counts against him. They are deliberating in the sentencing phase now. It will either be the death penalty or life in jail with no possibility of ever getting out. Frustratingly enough, the defense actually called for a mistrial during this phase due to a procedural issue. I get they have a job to do, too, but damn. If I remember correctly what I've heard and read, the families of the victims have advocated against the death penalty.

Pittsburgh synagogue shooter's fate remains undecided, deliberations to resume Wednesday

 

Jury recommended death.

 

Pittsburgh synagogue shooter should be put to death, jury decides

Apparently, my memory failed me. Most of the family members wanted the death penalty. Some of the testimony from loved ones of the victims is just heart breaking. I don't fully understand the process here, but the jury recommendation does not guarantee that a death sentence will be carried out.

Some of you may remember me writing about this shooting when it happened. My first home as a child was a few blocks from Tree of Life. I attended services and Hebrew school there. My daughter's baby naming was there. In fact, that was the last time I was inside that building. By the way, the ceremony the shooter attacked was a baby naming.

I first learned about the shooting when one of my cousins, who still lives in Squirrel Hill, posted about it on social media. I still remember quickly texting the people I know who are still part of the congregation there. I remember the relief when they all responded. None of them were in the building when it happened.

So yes, this one hit me differently than all of the other mass shootings. I'm glad he was convicted. Even though there was never any doubt of his guilt, the families deserve that verdict. I'm not sure how I feel about the sentence. Part of me wants him to rot in prison for a long time. Part of me wants him to get mental health treatment. If he really is mentally ill, as his defense claimed, maybe that would help him truly understand the horror of what he did, but I doubt it. He hated Jewish people. He hated immigrants. He targeted Jewish people who were involved in a program helping immigrants. Do I want him dead? I honestly don't know. If anybody deserves the death penalty, it's him. I certainly won't shed any tears if it happens, ut I doubt it's going to make me feel any better when I think about what he did.

 

If anybody doubts that statement, I believe Richard Baumhammers is still on death row 23 years after being convicted and sentenced to death for a shooting spree in 2000. I'm not sure. In a quick search, the most recent update I found was this article from 2020.

Edit: Here is more on what happens next for the Tree of Life shooter.

 

Give him life without parole and let him discover what gen pop is like. It's a tougher sentence anyway, in some ways.

 

True. I hope spending the rest of his life on death row as he exhausts his appeals doesn't end up being easier on him than that, but ultimately, this is what most of the families of the victims wanted, so I'm good with that.

 

I'm pretty sure I've voiced my opposition to the death penalty here previously:

it's not a deterrent (that was the policy advocated according to my criminal law class 1st year);

it costs a huge amount to fund the death penalty appeals;

it's historically been applied in a racial discriminatory fashion; and

the families later report that after the death, there's very little satisfaction.​

 

Not to be snide, but it's so much better when a lifer without chance of parole realizes he's in a tiny, iron cage and is stuck there until he croaks.

 

I don't know if I agree with this -- I'm always conflicted about the death penalty issue -- but this is really well said, like, bam!

 

A 9-year-old shouldn’t have to fear being shot for being a kid