False Opportunism
A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed Monday, and two females–ages 16 and 18–were wounded. Reports indicate that a car with six juveniles, aged 14 to 17, drove by East High School in Des Moines and opened fire. Police say the 15-year-old boy who was killed was not a student at the school and was targeted in the fatal shooting.
It’s a tragic situation to be sure. But it was not a school shooting as so many with agendas have noted.
That includes the office of the president. A statement was issued under the name of President Biden yesterday, apparently ignoring the actual facts of the case. The presidential statement invoked the Parkland, Florida school shooting from four years ago, as well as one in Michigan three months ago.
“Our young people should be safe in and around school, in their neighborhoods and in their homes,” the statement read. “That too many cannot is a stain on our national character and an urgent call to action.”
True enough, but to compare real school shootings…where someone with a gun went into a school and shot people…to the Des Moines case which was a drive-by shooting that hit a non-student standing on school property is false opportunism, especially when the statement goes on to promote a White House strategy from last year to reduce gun violence.
Reducing gun violence, fine. But to say this was a school shooting in an attempt to score political points is an affront to those who were victims of a real school shooting.
Again, no parent should hear that shots were fired near where their child goes to school. No one should be targeted and gunned down on any street in Iowa. But trotting out tired talking points that don’t fit the facts undermines the chance for any real progress. Yes, both sides do it. But it’s why nothing gets done, and why citizens tune out.
