And again... (Another US Shooting)

spaminator

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Uvalde schools look to fire Chief Arredondo after shooting
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jake Bleiberg
Publishing date:Jul 20, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation

UVALDE, Texas — Facing massive public pressure, Uvalde’s top school official has recommended the firing of the school district police chief who was central to the botched law enforcement response to the elementary school shooting nearly two months ago that killed two teachers and 19 students.


The South Texas city’s school board announced Wednesday that it will consider firing Chief Pete Arredondo at a special meeting Saturday. Arredondo has been accused by state officials of making several critical mistakes during the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

School officials have previously resisted calls to fire Arredondo. The announcement comes two days after a meeting where the school board members were lambasted for more than three hours by members of the public, who accused them of not implementing basic security at Robb, of not being transparent about what happened and of failing to hold Arredondo to account for his actions.

Confronted with parents’ vociferous demands to fire Arredondo and warnings that his job would be next, Superintendent Hal Harrell said Monday that the police chief was a contract employee who could not be fired at will. The agenda for Saturday’s meeting includes the board discussing the potential firing with its lawyer.


Arredondo, who has been on leave from the district since June 22, has faced blistering criticism since the massacre, most notably for not ordering officers to immediately breach the classroom where an 18-year-old gunman carried out the attack. If fired, Arredondo would become the first officer ousted from his job following the deadliest Texas school shooting in history.

Although nearly 400 officers from various agencies were involved in the police response that took more than an hour to confront and kill the shooter, Arredondo is one of only two known to have faced discipline. His attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The move to potentially fire the chief follows the release of a damning 80-page report by a Texas House committee that blamed all levels of law enforcement for a slow and chaotic response. The report found that 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school, with more than half coming from state and federal agencies, but that they “failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety.”


According to the committee, Arredondo told lawmakers he didn’t consider himself the on-scene commander in charge and that his priority was to protect children in other classrooms. The committee report called that decision a “terrible, tragic mistake.”

Body camera footage released by the Uvalde officials shows Arredondo in the hallway trying multiple sets of keys on other classroom doors, but not the one where the massacre took place. The classroom door could not be locked from the inside, but there is no indication officers tried to open the door while the gunman was inside.

“Our thought was: ‘If he comes out, you know, you eliminate the threat,’ correct?” Arredondo told the committee, according to the report. “And just the thought of other children being in other classrooms, my thought was: ‘We can’t let him come back out. If he comes back out, we take him out, or we eliminate the threat.”‘

Arredondo, 50, grew up in Uvalde and spent much of his nearly 30-year career in law enforcement in the city. He took the head police job at the school district in 2020 and was sworn in as a member of the City Council in a closed-door ceremony May 31. He resigned from his council seat July 2.
 

spaminator

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 26, 2009
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Uvalde schools look to fire Chief Arredondo after shooting
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jake Bleiberg
Publishing date:Jul 20, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation

UVALDE, Texas — Facing massive public pressure, Uvalde’s top school official has recommended the firing of the school district police chief who was central to the botched law enforcement response to the elementary school shooting nearly two months ago that killed two teachers and 19 students.


The South Texas city’s school board announced Wednesday that it will consider firing Chief Pete Arredondo at a special meeting Saturday. Arredondo has been accused by state officials of making several critical mistakes during the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

School officials have previously resisted calls to fire Arredondo. The announcement comes two days after a meeting where the school board members were lambasted for more than three hours by members of the public, who accused them of not implementing basic security at Robb, of not being transparent about what happened and of failing to hold Arredondo to account for his actions.

Confronted with parents’ vociferous demands to fire Arredondo and warnings that his job would be next, Superintendent Hal Harrell said Monday that the police chief was a contract employee who could not be fired at will. The agenda for Saturday’s meeting includes the board discussing the potential firing with its lawyer.


Arredondo, who has been on leave from the district since June 22, has faced blistering criticism since the massacre, most notably for not ordering officers to immediately breach the classroom where an 18-year-old gunman carried out the attack. If fired, Arredondo would become the first officer ousted from his job following the deadliest Texas school shooting in history.

Although nearly 400 officers from various agencies were involved in the police response that took more than an hour to confront and kill the shooter, Arredondo is one of only two known to have faced discipline. His attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The move to potentially fire the chief follows the release of a damning 80-page report by a Texas House committee that blamed all levels of law enforcement for a slow and chaotic response. The report found that 376 law enforcement officers massed at the school, with more than half coming from state and federal agencies, but that they “failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety.”


According to the committee, Arredondo told lawmakers he didn’t consider himself the on-scene commander in charge and that his priority was to protect children in other classrooms. The committee report called that decision a “terrible, tragic mistake.”

Body camera footage released by the Uvalde officials shows Arredondo in the hallway trying multiple sets of keys on other classroom doors, but not the one where the massacre took place. The classroom door could not be locked from the inside, but there is no indication officers tried to open the door while the gunman was inside.

“Our thought was: ‘If he comes out, you know, you eliminate the threat,’ correct?” Arredondo told the committee, according to the report. “And just the thought of other children being in other classrooms, my thought was: ‘We can’t let him come back out. If he comes back out, we take him out, or we eliminate the threat.”‘

Arredondo, 50, grew up in Uvalde and spent much of his nearly 30-year career in law enforcement in the city. He took the head police job at the school district in 2020 and was sworn in as a member of the City Council in a closed-door ceremony May 31. He resigned from his council seat July 2.
they should fire all of them. 💡
 

spaminator

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Oct 26, 2009
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Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson will change 'AR-15' nickname
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Cindy Boren, The Washington Post
Publishing date:Jul 18, 2022 • 6 days ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation

The quarterback of the University of Florida Gators will no longer use the nickname “AR-15″ because of its association with the semiautomatic rifle which has been used in several mass shootings, including the deaths of 19 children and two adults this spring in a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.


Anthony Richardson, a sophomore who wears the jersey number 15, will instead seek to rebrand his image, given college players’ ability to generate money from name, image and likeness deals.

“While a nickname is only a nickname and ‘AR-15’ was simply a representation of my initials combined with my jersey number, it is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the semiautomatic rifle that has been used in mass shootings, which I do not condone in any way or form,” Richardson wrote on Twitter and on his website. “My representatives and I are currently working on rebranding, which includes the creation of a new logo and transitioning to simply using ‘AR’ and my name, Anthony Richardson.”


Richardson started an apparel line last year and plans to stop using a rifle scope reticle logo.

Richardson was a backup to Emory Jones for most of last season and suffered a knee injury late in the year, but passed for six touchdowns and rushed for three. With Jones transferring to Arizona State last spring, Richardson is the front-runner to start for Gators Coach Billy Napier in the team’s season opener Sept. 3, against Utah.
 
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spaminator

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Pat Benatar won't play 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' after mass shootings
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
María Luisa Paúl, The Washington Post
Publishing date:Jul 22, 2022 • 2 days ago • 3 minute read • 9 Comments


The lyrics to Pat Benatar’s most famous song have taken on troubling new meaning to the rock star in the wake of unrelenting gun violence across the country – and she says she doesn’t care if fans are disappointed that she won’t be performing it.


“I’m not going to sing it. Tough,” Benatar told USA Today in an interview published Thursday.

Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” has become a staple in karaoke bars, sports stadiums and movies since it hit the airwaves in 1980. From there, the song about daring “a real tough cookie with a long history of breaking little hearts” to fire away has become synonymous with the decade known for its neon colours, glam metal bands and aerobics classes.


At its core, “it’s a song saying ‘no matter what you throw at me, I can handle it, I can play in your league,’ ” the song’s writer, Eddie Schwartz, has said. But even if the reference to guns is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, Benatar said, “you have to draw the line” – amid the spate of deadly shootings that have thrust the nation into collective grief.

“I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t,” Benatar told USA Today.



So far this year, there hasn’t been a single week in the United States without a mass shooting. In fact, as of July 4, there hadn’t been a week without at least four mass shootings.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as killing or injuring at least four victims, the country has been rocked by 357 in 2022 – including those in Uvalde, Texas, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, and in Highland Park, Ill., where Fourth of July parade spectators were attacked.

At this rate, the pace is comparable to last year’s, which was marked by nearly 700 mass shootings – a significant uptick from the 611 in 2020 and the 417 in 2019. At least 371 people have been killed so far this year in those mass shootings, and 1,557 more have been injured, according to Gun Violence Archive data.


For Benatar, it’s thinking of those victims’ families that has stopped her from singing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” she told USA Today. But it’s also “my small contribution to protesting,” she told the outlet.

The soon-to-be Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee isn’t the only celebrity bringing awareness to the epidemic of gun violence. Hours after the Uvalde shooting, Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr implored senators to put “the lives of our children, our elderly and our churchgoers” ahead of their own desire for power. Days later, actor Matthew McConaughey made an impassioned plea for action from the White House briefing room, at one point showing a pair of green Converse sneakers that belonged to a 10-year-old victim.


And Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson announced this week that he will no longer use the nickname “AR-15” – based on his initials and jersey number – because of its association to the semiautomatic rifle used in a slew of shootings.

Fans, however, don’t seem too pleased with Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” boycott. They “are having a heart attack” that it won’t be included in set lists with her other power ballads, like “We Belong” and “Heartbreaker,” the singer told USA Today.

Schwartz, the songwriter, first recorded “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” on a four-track demo when he was in his mid-20s. The music publishing company “hated it” and ended up erasing the recordings, Schwartz told Songfacts. However, one engineer saved a copy of the demo for Schwartz, who sent it to another producer.


“And sure enough, he liked it, and he kept playing it over and over again,” Schwartz told Songfacts. “And the story I heard – I wasn’t there – was Pat Benatar took a meeting in the office next door and heard it through the wall, got excited about it.”

A year later, Benatar’s version of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her first top-10 hit.

Since then, the song has cemented its status as a classic, and fans expect to hear it at her shows. But Benatar is giving them something different on this tour – she’s playing the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” which, curiously enough, is also associated with a violent episode in American history: the Charles Manson murders of 1969.
 
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spaminator

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Oct 26, 2009
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Pat Benatar won't play 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' after mass shootings
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
María Luisa Paúl, The Washington Post
Publishing date:Jul 22, 2022 • 2 days ago • 3 minute read • 9 Comments


The lyrics to Pat Benatar’s most famous song have taken on troubling new meaning to the rock star in the wake of unrelenting gun violence across the country – and she says she doesn’t care if fans are disappointed that she won’t be performing it.


“I’m not going to sing it. Tough,” Benatar told USA Today in an interview published Thursday.

Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” has become a staple in karaoke bars, sports stadiums and movies since it hit the airwaves in 1980. From there, the song about daring “a real tough cookie with a long history of breaking little hearts” to fire away has become synonymous with the decade known for its neon colours, glam metal bands and aerobics classes.


At its core, “it’s a song saying ‘no matter what you throw at me, I can handle it, I can play in your league,’ ” the song’s writer, Eddie Schwartz, has said. But even if the reference to guns is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, Benatar said, “you have to draw the line” – amid the spate of deadly shootings that have thrust the nation into collective grief.

“I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t,” Benatar told USA Today.



So far this year, there hasn’t been a single week in the United States without a mass shooting. In fact, as of July 4, there hadn’t been a week without at least four mass shootings.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as killing or injuring at least four victims, the country has been rocked by 357 in 2022 – including those in Uvalde, Texas, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, and in Highland Park, Ill., where Fourth of July parade spectators were attacked.

At this rate, the pace is comparable to last year’s, which was marked by nearly 700 mass shootings – a significant uptick from the 611 in 2020 and the 417 in 2019. At least 371 people have been killed so far this year in those mass shootings, and 1,557 more have been injured, according to Gun Violence Archive data.


For Benatar, it’s thinking of those victims’ families that has stopped her from singing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” she told USA Today. But it’s also “my small contribution to protesting,” she told the outlet.

The soon-to-be Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee isn’t the only celebrity bringing awareness to the epidemic of gun violence. Hours after the Uvalde shooting, Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr implored senators to put “the lives of our children, our elderly and our churchgoers” ahead of their own desire for power. Days later, actor Matthew McConaughey made an impassioned plea for action from the White House briefing room, at one point showing a pair of green Converse sneakers that belonged to a 10-year-old victim.


And Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson announced this week that he will no longer use the nickname “AR-15” – based on his initials and jersey number – because of its association to the semiautomatic rifle used in a slew of shootings.

Fans, however, don’t seem too pleased with Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” boycott. They “are having a heart attack” that it won’t be included in set lists with her other power ballads, like “We Belong” and “Heartbreaker,” the singer told USA Today.

Schwartz, the songwriter, first recorded “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” on a four-track demo when he was in his mid-20s. The music publishing company “hated it” and ended up erasing the recordings, Schwartz told Songfacts. However, one engineer saved a copy of the demo for Schwartz, who sent it to another producer.


“And sure enough, he liked it, and he kept playing it over and over again,” Schwartz told Songfacts. “And the story I heard – I wasn’t there – was Pat Benatar took a meeting in the office next door and heard it through the wall, got excited about it.”

A year later, Benatar’s version of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her first top-10 hit.

Since then, the song has cemented its status as a classic, and fans expect to hear it at her shows. But Benatar is giving them something different on this tour – she’s playing the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” which, curiously enough, is also associated with a violent episode in American history: the Charles Manson murders of 1969.
she should also not sing love is a battlefield because it might offend the ukrainians. ;)
 
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taxslave

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Vancouver Island
Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson will change 'AR-15' nickname
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Cindy Boren, The Washington Post
Publishing date:Jul 18, 2022 • 6 days ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation

The quarterback of the University of Florida Gators will no longer use the nickname “AR-15″ because of its association with the semiautomatic rifle which has been used in several mass shootings, including the deaths of 19 children and two adults this spring in a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.


Anthony Richardson, a sophomore who wears the jersey number 15, will instead seek to rebrand his image, given college players’ ability to generate money from name, image and likeness deals.

“While a nickname is only a nickname and ‘AR-15’ was simply a representation of my initials combined with my jersey number, it is important to me that my name and brand are no longer associated with the semiautomatic rifle that has been used in mass shootings, which I do not condone in any way or form,” Richardson wrote on Twitter and on his website. “My representatives and I are currently working on rebranding, which includes the creation of a new logo and transitioning to simply using ‘AR’ and my name, Anthony Richardson.”


Richardson started an apparel line last year and plans to stop using a rifle scope reticle logo.

Richardson was a backup to Emory Jones for most of last season and suffered a knee injury late in the year, but passed for six touchdowns and rushed for three. With Jones transferring to Arizona State last spring, Richardson is the front-runner to start for Gators Coach Billy Napier in the team’s season opener Sept. 3, against Utah.
So it really is all about the money.