The tragic shooting massacre Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, was met with a mixture of grief and righteous indignation from a number of prominent news organizations and cultural influencers on social media.
The mass shooting killed 14 people and wounded 17 others inside the Inland Regional Center, a social services agency 55 miles outside of Los Angeles. Two suspects — identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 — were killed in a shootout with police hours after the shooting. The shooters’ motive remains unclear, but the incident has reignited the debate about American gun culture and the proliferation of mass shootings.
RELATED: ‘Thoughts and prayers’ backlash after San Bernardino shooting
The deluge of calls for prayer from politicians, especially those currently running for president, in the aftermath of the shooting provoked the ire of publications like the New York Daily News. “God Isn’t Fixing This,” read the tabloid’s cover headline Thursday morning. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Lindsey Graham’s condolence tweets were featured, with the quote: “As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes.”
This has been on the cover far too often. https://t.co/kpSUXcAiOA pic.twitter.com/BrHzTr5zsU
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 3, 2015Despite a fairly conservative reputation, the newspaper has consistently taken a pro-gun control advocacy stance on its front page:
A (brief) history of New York Daily News covers on guns pic.twitter.com/9E90S4lwbK
— Rebecca Leber (@rebleber) December 3, 2015The Daily News‘ rival paper, The New York Post, initially took a more provocative approach, emphasizing the Muslim faith of the shooting suspects:
Today's cover: Muslim newlyweds slaughter coworkers in San Bernardino shooting https://t.co/rNOgk6HXcP pic.twitter.com/5rT98pMgSp
— New York Post (@nypost) December 3, 2015The Post printed a less incendiary cover as well:
At some point after my paper arrived the @NYPost took a new direction with its front page. H/T @GershKuntzman pic.twitter.com/sowidIAh5a
— Pat Kiernan (@patkiernan) December 3, 2015The Los Angeles Times published a column that also criticized politicians for their inaction on gun control, along with a striking image of the American flag with handguns and rifles in place of the stars and stripes.
One nation, under the gun. By @davidhorsey https://t.co/9XAKvp8543 pic.twitter.com/AkEJdjqhAq
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 3, 2015“This is not only the definition of insanity, it is also the result of cowardly political pandering on the part of Republicans who care more about pleasing the extremist leaders of the gun lobby than taking even the most modest steps to protect U.S. citizens from angry, disturbed people with easy access to weapons,” wrote David Horsey in the LA Times.
Others lamented the frequency of mass shootings this year and what they see as a misrepresentation of the Second Amendment.
please make it stop #sanbernadino pic.twitter.com/APAAUWerEn
— christina perri (@christinaperri) December 2, 2015Can't. Retweet. This. Enough.
#SanBernadino #p2 pic.twitter.com/gApejAYLlh
— Eric Wolfson (@EricWolfson) December 2, 2015And, internationally the disconnect between the U.S and the rest of the world when it comes to mass shootings:
@GGevirtz @voxdotcom All of Canada is"Guns free zone"the last Canadian shooting similar to this was in 1989. Why? pic.twitter.com/Y11K4H4mrj
— Duncan Morris (@cartoonsdmorris) December 3, 2015On average, mass shootings occur daily in the United States: Records
https://t.co/mifFLUO0kg pic.twitter.com/u7pjfUZT48
— Times of India (@timesofindia) December 3, 20151,051 mass shootings in 1,066 days: this is what America's gun crisis looks like https://t.co/04E2GGkuAH
— The Guardian (@guardian) December 3, 2015
Adam Howard