President Trump on Friday said members of the media should be “free from the fear” of becoming targets of violence, a day after a gunman opened fire inside the newsroom of a small-town paper in Annapolis, Maryland.
“This attack shocked the conscience of our nation and filled or hearts with grief. Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job,” Trump said during a tax event at the White House.
Five people were killed and two injured in a shooting Thursday afternoon at the Capital Gazette, where a man who sued the paper for defamation fired a shotgun through the newsroom’s glass doors and began targeting employees. The 38-year-old shooter, Jarrod Warren Ramos, was apprehended at the scene and charged with five counts of first-degree murder in a court hearing Friday morning.
Ramos “was there to kill as many people as he could get,” Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare said at a news conference on Friday, noting that Ramos used a 12-gauge shotgun to carry out the act.
[Related: Suspected Capital Gazette shooter used legally purchased weapon]
“Horrible, horrible event. Horrible thing happened,” Trump said. “My government will not rest until we have done everything in our power to reduce violent crime and to protect innocent life.”
Several members of the media were quick to cast partial blame on the president after the shooting occurred, claiming his frequent attacks on the media have contributed to an environment where deranged individuals might be encouraged to turn violent.
