It has been more than a week since five people were shot and killed at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., airport.
So now is a good time to beg everyone to stop rushing to politicize tragedies.
In the wake of mass casualty events involving firearms or other items (trucks and knives comes to mind), there’s room to question motives and draw trend lines. There’s even room to attribute blame.
But can we at least wait until after the bodies have been collected before we do any of those things?
Well-meaning people can help by offering aid and comfort to the survivors and to the family and friends of the victims. Well-meaning people can help by donating blood or other materials. They can help by contacting the authorities to see if there’s a need for additional assistance, like transportation for the survivors.
What doesn’t help, however, is rushing immediately after these attacks to pin the blame on certain groups or persons. It’s crass, and it stinks of opportunism, especially when the facts are unclear.
In the name of common decency, and out of respect for those affected by the violence, wait until the deceased are at least in the morgue before you hop on your hobby horse.
Don’t be like the social media activist who runs immediately to his favorite message board, looking for ways to find some piece of evidence that proves the attack was carried out by a Jihadi, or a liberal, or a progressive, etc.
Don’t be like the Center for American Progress’ Igor Volsky, whose standard reaction now to gun-related mass casualty events in the United States is to troll GOP lawmakers who’ve accepted campaign donations from the National Rifle Association.
Your first reaction should always be to ask, “How can I help the victims and survivors?” It shouldn’t be finger pointing and blame shifting, especially when the bodies are still warm and when there is little information about the perpetrators.
Stirring up political factions helps no one (except those who make a living trafficking in outrage), it changes nothing and it is undoubtedly painful for the friends and families of the victims.
Imagine hearing that someone close to you may have just been involved in a mass casualty event. Now imagine turning on the television or going online and seeing that your dead loved one is being used as a prop to further a narrative about gun violence, Washington’s feckless anti-terrorism efforts or illegal immigration.
That’s a pretty rotten thing to do to someone who is already dealing with a lot of pain and suffering.
Emotions are raw immediately after mass casualty events. I definitely understand that.
I sat down last week after the Fort Lauderdale shooting to write this article as a real-time response to Volsky’s online trolling of lawmakers.
But then I realized the irony of publishing a post immediately after a mass casualty event urging everyone to take a deep breath and be respectful of the victims in the immediate aftermath of a mass casualty event.
It’s precisely because emotions are raw that everyone needs to wait, myself included.
Wait for the facts. Wait for the survivors to catch their breath. Wait for the victims’ families and friends to at least comprehend what happened. Just wait. The confusing and often unclear aftermath of mass casualty events is hardly the time to start assigning blame and rallying followers together to fight certain political factions.
It is easy to be carried away by emotions after incidents like the Fort Lauderdale shooting. It is maddening. It is senseless. It is tragic.
It is not, however, an invitation for you to further your pet political cause.
