Buffalo Assassinations

 

                  

A grandmother who kindly helped kids in school and served in her church?  A sister whose brother was fighting leukemia (like the family hasn't suffered enough?). And the other victims. Really, these are your sworn enemies?   

I was going to do a dedicated Bierkergaard Podcast on the Buffalo mass assassination tragedy. By a deranged 18 year old white boy fucker. Yes, he is a fucker. Let's cut out the niceties here. But, I decided that a blog post was a better venue to air my thoughts, although I did talk yesterday about it briefly in the context of how tragedy makes joy so very difficult. It is said that Jesus endured the Cross for the joy set before him. Endure, that is sometimes all that can be done. 

But, we are complicit if we don't a take deep look at what happened and make the hard choices to address such events, rather than turn away. That is not acceptable. Their blood cries out from the parking lot and grocery floor.  

First, about the killer who shall not be named, who is soon to be incarcerated and found dead. Either by his own doing or a black prisoner or prisoners. I believe redemption is possible even for the most heinous of crimes committed by depraved people. But, today is the day. Time is the great tool of denial. Capital Punishment is the only recourse here. There are those mass murders where it is beyond any doubt of the guilt of the killer and this is one of them. But, he will live out the remaining days taking up air, space, and eating prison garbage food. At enormous cost.

As a former high school counselor, working with violent threats by very troubled young adults (yes, we should call them young adults), it was the most worrying part of the job. We had to protect the safety of other students first of all. In the three most recent shootings I can think of, Florida, Michigan, and now Buffalo, there was a lot of evidence that school officials had ample evidence and warning on the probability of acts of mass violence and the system (school and law enforcement) did not to address the threats effectively either because of how the rules are structured and/or incompetence or just plain fear. We know if we take a stand we are targets.

The Buffalo shooter had threatened to shoot up Graduation last year but since it was interpreted as a general threat and not a specific threat to individuals, it was not treated as something that would trigger a gun sale flagging. Now we come to discover that his general threats were specific. Whatever laws provided cover for this incompetence must be changed. Our juvenile justice system law, if it played a role here, needs to be revised. Threats of this nature must be placed in a registry. It is negligent and even criminal to omit this information.

There is a tendency in my field to want to cut kids breaks, to not hold them accountable for their actions.  It is frankly misguided.  We want to give them a second chance. But, this is not a second chance issue. Flunking a quiz, sure.

Now, I don't mean it is right to place teenage criminals with hardened adult criminals where they will likely just be trained-up to become hardened criminals themselves. But, neither is it right for such individuals like the Buffalo shooter to get a slap on the wrist. He should have been taken off the streets for 15-18 months and had a permanent record forever that would keep him from legally obtaining firearms. If not, this is the possible consequence. Law is to protect primarily the innocent, and only secondarily the guilty. Our society has more mercy for the guilty than the innocent people they have harmed.

My read on situations is that the older males in his life, either in person or online, were violent-talking and perhaps acting, all-out racists. The Trump false allegations of election fraud is a thinly-veiled scheme to disenfranchise the Black vote and other people of color. And it poisons that water that the violent swim in and drink from. We are fools if we don''t recognize the evil scheme Trump cooked up in his kitchen of lies and putrid shithouse of untruth. I said it and I mean it. It makes disorder and destruction more likely.

Males are imprinted by older males or their own peer group warped ideologies. And frankly, the mental health profession is skewed quite heavily female who often have a misguided maternal instinct to protect negative and even evil behavior. Thank God truly for the maternal instinct but it must be tempered by paternal wisdom. It is how God has designed the human family to work. 

I know from personal and professional experience that the more masculine perspective is often diminished and even vilified. It gets exhausting seeing the consequences of a lack of backbone by professionals. No wonder young adults are having mental health crises in large numbers. We have collectively not taught them how to deal and overcome. That is a strong statement but I have to call it like I see it. 

If I were to hear one more educator of high school students call them her "babies" I will puke. No wonder they act like young children rather than young adults. So, we send young adults out into the world unable to cope and contribute, sometimes with tragic consequences. Rather than check and correct the violent and otherwise negative attitudes and behaviors.

This is a time to take heed and learn. And change the way we are responding. Enough is enough.