This year has been a whirlwind of interesting, yet devastating events.
The two in particular that have sent people all over the United States into a comatose of, for lack of better words, hate and confusion, have been the Charleston church shooting and the Virginia reporter and cameraman shooting.
The two shooters were very different people with different backgrounds, but one thing in common: Both planned their timing and plotted their stake in these events for an alarming amount of time.
On June 17, a young, white male walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church for a bible study. Members of the church welcomed him into their group with no question, and he proceeded to shoot nine members in cold blood. The shooter, Dylann Roof, had an evident hatred towards people of color. During the ensuing investigation, agents and officers found a website named “The Last Rhodesian” registered to Dylann Roof. The website contained an unsigned manifesto that belonged to Roof. He explained how an article about another recent shooting that received national attention made him “racially aware,” and that since reading it, “he would never be the same.” Roof’s hatred for people of different races led him to that church and led him to shooting nine innocent people.
Ten weeks later on August 26, 41 year old Vester Flannagan II, approached Allison Parker, reporter, and Adam Ward, photojournalist, employees of WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, and fired 17 shots while Allison was doing an interview with Vicki Gardener, the executive director of the local Chamber of Commerce. Flannagan is a former WDBJ employee who went by the TV personality name Bryce Williams. He was let go from the station for his volatile behavior in 2012. The former reporter had a long history of complaints of being “diva” like or “crazy to work with.” The former news reporter took a video of himself while shooting and then uploaded it to his Facebook profile. Not only that, but during the five-hour manhunt for him, he tweeted about working with Parker and Ward. When police officers finally got to Flannagan, he shot himself.
Unfortunately, we are faced with horrific situations like these all over the U.S. It is evident the two situations are similar, but different. However we look at this, racism or mental illness, both have changed our society forever.
