The action is strikingly different, but the narrative sounds eerily similar: A disgruntled African-American fed up with marginalisation; complaints of being bullied at work because of being queer and black; a history of aggression apparently related to mental health issues; and the use of social media to brag about a deadly gun attack carried out in broad daylight.
Vester Lee Flanagan, 41, also known as Bryce Williams, committed a shocking crime in Virginia, USA, when he shot dead two journalists on air. The reporter and cameraman were conducting an interview as part of a live breakfast TV show on WDBJ7 when they were killed.
Flanagan, who later killed himself while being trailed by police, shot the video of the planned murders and immediately put it up on social media. He also sent a 21-page fax to ABC news that was a rambling manifesto of why he committed the gruesome act.
Though America and the world has been shocked by the grisly killings of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, the sense of protest seems to have been muted by the realisation that the recurrence of such incidents cannot be prevented.
The offence is a repulsive concoction of gun crime, race tensions and attitudinal issues at the workplace. In his confessional fax, Flanagan complained of being bullied at work. In fact, he said it had become so bad with his colleagues at WDBJ7 that he was a “human powder keg... just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”
The crime has yet again stirred debate over gun control laws and race relations in US. The incident took place on a day a Colorado court sentenced a man to 12 consecutive life terms for shooting dead a dozen people inside a theatre screening a Batman movie in 2012. The killer was arrested with numerous weapons outside the theatre.
A large number of killings and violence have brought to the surface hidden tensions over race in the United States. Many crimes related to race have been committed with the help of firearms. White supremacists have gone on a shooting spree and trigger-happy policemen haven’t hesitated to pull the trigger at the slightest provocation, sometimes without any.
Expressing regret over the incident, US President Barack Obama has reiterated the need to revisit gun ownership laws. Every such incident triggers an outpouring of rage in American society and the debate over guns turns starkly bipartisan. The stress on free speech and civil liberties in the US has contributed significantly to the development of a democratic society. Gun ownership remains a sore point around which Americans seem to be broadly divided. The time has come for US to reform gun ownership laws in the interest of the general good even if it means denting freedom•
The action is strikingly different, but the narrative sounds eerily similar: A disgruntled African-American fed up with marginalisation; complaints of being bullied at work because of being queer and black; a history of aggression apparently related to mental health issues; and the use of social media to brag about a deadly gun attack carried out in broad daylight.
Vester Lee Flanagan, 41, also known as Bryce Williams, committed a shocking crime in Virginia, USA, when he shot dead two journalists on air. The reporter and cameraman were conducting an interview as part of a live breakfast TV show on WDBJ7 when they were killed.
Flanagan, who later killed himself while being trailed by police, shot the video of the planned murders and immediately put it up on social media. He also sent a 21-page fax to ABC news that was a rambling manifesto of why he committed the gruesome act.
Though America and the world has been shocked by the grisly killings of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, the sense of protest seems to have been muted by the realisation that the recurrence of such incidents cannot be prevented.
The offence is a repulsive concoction of gun crime, race tensions and attitudinal issues at the workplace. In his confessional fax, Flanagan complained of being bullied at work. In fact, he said it had become so bad with his colleagues at WDBJ7 that he was a “human powder keg... just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”
The crime has yet again stirred debate over gun control laws and race relations in US. The incident took place on a day a Colorado court sentenced a man to 12 consecutive life terms for shooting dead a dozen people inside a theatre screening a Batman movie in 2012. The killer was arrested with numerous weapons outside the theatre.
A large number of killings and violence have brought to the surface hidden tensions over race in the United States. Many crimes related to race have been committed with the help of firearms. White supremacists have gone on a shooting spree and trigger-happy policemen haven’t hesitated to pull the trigger at the slightest provocation, sometimes without any.
Expressing regret over the incident, US President Barack Obama has reiterated the need to revisit gun ownership laws. Every such incident triggers an outpouring of rage in American society and the debate over guns turns starkly bipartisan. The stress on free speech and civil liberties in the US has contributed significantly to the development of a democratic society. Gun ownership remains a sore point around which Americans seem to be broadly divided. The time has come for US to reform gun ownership laws in the interest of the general good even if it means denting freedom•
