Retired carpenter Greg Zanis puts up 58 crosses to honour Las Vegas victims
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Friday, October 06, 2017 11:58 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, October 06, 2017 12:05 PM EDT
LAS VEGAS — An Illinois man known for honouring the victims of mass shootings around the country installed 58 white crosses on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday.
Greg Zanis drove nearly 2,000 miles from the Chicago area to install the crosses on a patch of grass near the iconic “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, not far from the site of the Route 91 Harvest country music festival where 58 people were killed on Sunday night.
Zanis, a 66-year-old retired carpenter, made his first cross 20 years ago when his father-in-law was killed.
“That just changed my life,” Zanis said. “My first cross was for somebody that I loved. And when I put up these crosses here, I always think of my personal loss here too. Always.”
Zanis has become well-known for erecting more than 20,000 of the markers over the past two decades, including after the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings and the massacre at an Orlando nightclub.
The crosses, which Zanis said took him two days to cut and paint, feature a red heart.
He plans to keep the tribute up for 40 days before giving the crosses to the families of the victims.
Retired carpenter Greg Zanis puts up 58 crosses to honour Las Vegas victims | Wo
'Fifty nine meat eaters dead. How many animals will live because of this?'; Vegan biz owner apologizes for Vegas shooting posts belittling victims
'Meat eaters or not, no one deserves to die like that,' Delinda Jensen says in apology
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Friday, October 06, 2017 12:35 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, October 06, 2017 01:04 PM EDT
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The owner of a vegan food truck says she regrets a Facebook post in which she appeared to dismiss the deaths of “meat eaters” in the Las Vegas massacre.
Delinda Jensen, 60, of Wilkes-Barre, said she’s received death threats and had to shut down her business after her post Monday night started going viral, sparking intense backlash both online and off.
Jensen wrote: “Yes I am jaded. Fifty nine meat eaters dead. How many animals will live because of this?” In a second comment, she used an expletive to say she didn’t care about “carnists.”
A gunman killed 58 people at a country music concert Sunday night, then killed himself as police closed in.
Jensen, a former adjunct history professor, called her post “a moment of stupidity” and apologized for it in an interview with the Times Leader newspaper in Wilkes-Barre.
“Was it poorly written? Absolutely. Do I regret it? Yes. I am so sorry I wrote that,” she said Thursday. “Meat eaters or not, no one deserves to die like that. I wasn’t celebrating the death of those people.”
Jensen said she became a vegan two years ago and started the Mother Nature Vegan Cuisine food truck with her son. She said she was trying to make the point that she believes animals are tortured and killed unnecessarily for their meat.
Jensen has since deactivated her Facebook account, hidden her food truck and cancelled her bookings, and installed a security camera at her home. Her son said people have driven by their home, shouting threats and obscenities, and they have called police several times out of fear for their safety.
Death threats follow local vegan’s Facebook post about Vegas shootings - Times Leader
'Fifty nine meat eaters dead. How many animals will live because of this?'; Vega