The recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio rocked the nation. Horrendous events like these make people want to hug those they love a little longer, and never let them go.
Sadly, one couple in El Paso won’t ever be able to hold or cuddle with their infant son on this earth again. This husband and wife were mercilessly killed while shielding their baby during the senseless shooting. Now, this brave couple’s family has received death threats due to a picture they took with President Donald Trump.
Both the President and First Lady Melania Trump met with victims of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. While at a hospital in Texas, Trump posed for pictures with multiple people. At this time, the family of the brave couple who died saving their baby’s life were photographed alongside the President and the First Lady. Predictably, Trump’s critics in the media as well as their followers used the picture to mock the president — and the victims. Seeing the unscrupulous attacks hurled at the President, this family decided to speak up.
Tito Anchondo, the brother of the late Andre Anchondo and the brother-in-law of the late Jordan Anchondo, defended the President.
“He was just there as a human being, consoling us and giving us condolences,” he recalled. President “wasn’t there to be pushing any kind of political agenda.” The Washington Post interviewed the Anchondo family. Tito and other family members revealed that they were consoled by Trump’s visit. The media outlet noted that the Anchondos were Trump voters.
Unbelievably, according to Howe, the guardians of the orphaned infant baby have received threats merely due to their link with Trump and agreement to take the picture with the President and First Lady. Tito informed the Houston Chronicle that his family has gotten death threats. He told the media outlet, “We should be coming together as a country at this time instead of threatening each other with hate messages.”
After the tragic shootings, many liberals, including some 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, were quick to point fingers at Trump — further stirring the discords of hate for the President. Failing presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso resident, was one of these individuals. While O’Rourke spoke with the media in El Paso on the day of the murderous rampage, one reporter asked him if blame “falls at the feet of [Trump] and his rhetoric and … alleged racist tweets.” The former U.S. congressman responded, “Yes.”
“He is a racist and he stokes racism in this country, and it does not offend our sensibilities, it fundamentally changes the character of this country and it leads to violence,” O’Rourke said.
According to TheBlaze, he added that there were, “strong indications” the shooter was “inspired by [Trump’s] hatred” of people in El Paso, a city with a prominent Hispanic population.
Aptly explaining the cruel divisiveness of American politics today, Howe stated, “Every day on social media you will see partisans become enraged at the idea of criticism going both ways.” He went on to comment, “And that sense of absolute rightness, of being absolutely on the right team, is exactly how you end up writing hate mail to the family of a slain young couple who were back-to-school shopping out of your fury at their posing for a picture with the President.”
Concluding, Howe commented, “The longer that kind of hatred is allowed to masquerade as virtue, and protected by the equally partisan media, the worse things will get. If indeed it is possible to conceive of anything worse than deciding to send a threat such as these.”
To somehow equate snapping an innocent photo with the leader of the U.S. with deserving death is unconscionable. Americans on both sides of the political spectrum must learn to respect each other’s differences and concentrate on the things that really matter. As these shootings illustrate, life is too short and should be enjoyed to the fullest.
