President Trump on Thursday encouraged Americans to foster “deep and meaningful human connections” with each other to prevent any one individual from becoming too isolated, a day after a student who had been expelled from a Florida high school gunned down 17 of his former classmates.
In his solemn address to the nation, Trump said Americans must “answer hate with love … cruelty with kindness,” and “come together” in the wake of the horrific mass shooting.
“We must also work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life, that creates deep and meaningful human connections, and that turns classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbors,” he said.
The president’s comments come as families, students, and law enforcement officials in Parkland, Fla., continue to search for answers about Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old former student who entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High with an AR-15 shortly before the final bell Thursday afternoon.
Local police confirmed Cruz had been expelled from the school for behavioral reasons, was living with a family friend in the area after his mother died last November, and had previously been reported to the FBI after posting concerning comments about school shootings on YouTube. Several students described their former classmate as a “loner” or “troubled kid” in interviews following the shooting.
“A lot of kids threw jokes around like that, saying that he would be the one to shoot up the school. It turns out, you know, everyone predicted it,” one student told a TV station in Jacksonville, Fla.
White House officials have declined to respond to calls for further restrictions on firearm sales in the wake of the shooting, instead emphasizing the mental health issues that often arise in such situations.
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior,” Trump tweeted earlier Thursday. “Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem.”
