Again
Not a moment too soon after making a post questioning how real life and being real on the internet makes for different experiences, Steve Stephens a 37 year-old-man this past Easter weekend live-streamed himself shooting and killing an elderly man in Ohio.
During the live stream, Stephens was becoming visibly upset and voiced his frustration as people were constantly asking, "Is this for real?", in the live stream feed. Now, I can give the benefit of the doubt. This isn't about skewering or panning others for their initial reactions to such a horrific and shocking event. I remember my reaction after seeing the second plane crash into the World Trade Center, South Tower and asking myself, "Is this a movie?". It does beg the question to be asked still yet.
A live stream. A man with a gun. Another man begging for mercy. A press conference the following day. It just got real.
The tropes of American society and its continuously flowing stream of senseless acts of gun violence will surely be all over the internet again. Cries for gun control, pleas for mental health care to be improved, the media asking for the reasons why, and the following apathetic responses from so many who have seen a similar scene happen too many times.
I can remember the first shooting incident I watched on the news. The Columbine High School Shooting. That was definitely a life changing experience. I graduated from a High School about 4 hours away from Littleton, Colorado and even we were given a morning meeting the day after the shooting to announce our High School's new zero-tolerance policy, effective immediately. Which, didn't change the typical environment of High School to my recollection. However, it did put an entire generation on notice of other concepts and ideas.
How old is Steven Stephens? What platform did he choose to use to stream this act of violence? What did Stephens say in the video was his motivation? Noticing any patterns yet?
Here we are 3 days away from the Columbine Massacre's 18 year anniversary. Does anyone else feel like doing anything yet?
During the live stream, Stephens was becoming visibly upset and voiced his frustration as people were constantly asking, "Is this for real?", in the live stream feed. Now, I can give the benefit of the doubt. This isn't about skewering or panning others for their initial reactions to such a horrific and shocking event. I remember my reaction after seeing the second plane crash into the World Trade Center, South Tower and asking myself, "Is this a movie?". It does beg the question to be asked still yet.
A live stream. A man with a gun. Another man begging for mercy. A press conference the following day. It just got real.
The tropes of American society and its continuously flowing stream of senseless acts of gun violence will surely be all over the internet again. Cries for gun control, pleas for mental health care to be improved, the media asking for the reasons why, and the following apathetic responses from so many who have seen a similar scene happen too many times.
I can remember the first shooting incident I watched on the news. The Columbine High School Shooting. That was definitely a life changing experience. I graduated from a High School about 4 hours away from Littleton, Colorado and even we were given a morning meeting the day after the shooting to announce our High School's new zero-tolerance policy, effective immediately. Which, didn't change the typical environment of High School to my recollection. However, it did put an entire generation on notice of other concepts and ideas.
How old is Steven Stephens? What platform did he choose to use to stream this act of violence? What did Stephens say in the video was his motivation? Noticing any patterns yet?
Here we are 3 days away from the Columbine Massacre's 18 year anniversary. Does anyone else feel like doing anything yet?
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