The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.5 Video Games Are Responsible For Recent Mass Shootings...According To Idiots With Power

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup, you beautiful bastards! Hope you're having a fantastic Monday, although if you are not, that is completely understandable. That just probably means that you are aware. I mean, today's show is heavy, and we're gonna dive into it uninterrupted today, but a quick note before we get started. As some of you know, I have recently relaunched my podcast, A Conversation With. It's currently available on iTunes, Spotify, all the places. I'll link to it down below. But also, as a way to prevent channel confusion, I have now launched youtube.com slash a convo wit. It's where we're gonna be posting all the podcasts from here on out.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Right now, if you go to the channel, you'll see the one with my wife, with Sean Evans, with Casey Neistat, and very fantastically, the first official guest that we will have on that channel as of Wednesday is Janelle Eliana and her snake Alfredo, who if you don't know, is just this out of nowhere breakout star on YouTube. So much so, I mean like such an outlier. Snake Alfredo who if you don't know is just this out of nowhere breakout star on YouTube so much

Starting point is 00:00:45 So I mean like such an outlier there. There are full-blown conspiracy theories about her rise I'm very excited to release that I had a fun time So what I would say is before we even get started top link in the description down below Just click it to go subscribe to that new channel And also if you're more of an audio listener be sure to follow us on iTunes or Spotify or whatever your choice is Yeah, look forward to that. Of course, on this video, I would love if you hit that like button. But with that said, let's just jump into it.

Starting point is 00:01:09 And so of course today, we're gonna be talking about the shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. On Saturday at around 10 a.m., a man opened fire on a Walmart in El Paso, killing 22 people and injuring dozens more. According to reports from the El Paso police, they began receiving calls about an active shooter

Starting point is 00:01:22 at a Walmart at around 10.30 a.m. Eyewitnesses said that the shooter fired at people in the parking lot before entering the building. Police reportedly responded to the shooting in six minutes, and the shooter surrendered shortly after without incident, without the police firing any shots. And according to investigators and police, they later found what they described as a manifesto that they believe was written by the shooter.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Reportedly, it was posted on the message board 8chan less than 20 minutes before the police received the first call about the attack. That post was later deleted from 8chan, but people were able to find archived versions online. The document has the first initial and last name of the shooter, but of course we're not going to be showing faces or names. We can say though that he is a 21 year old white man. As far as motive, the author writes, This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.

Starting point is 00:02:01 They are the instigators, not me. He says that he's defending his country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion. He also notably refers to immigrants as invaders four times. Also saying that he's against race mixing, saying the country should be divided up so each race has their own territory. Manifesto also concludes with the author saying that their

Starting point is 00:02:17 views predate Donald Trump and his campaign and that Trump should not be blamed and adding that the media will call the author a white supremacist and blame Trump's rhetoric, which the author believes is fake news. Although I will say regarding that note, there have been a number of people comparing the language in this manifesto to words that Trump has used in the past, specifically talking about invaders or invasion. This is an invasion. We're talking about an invasion of our country.

Starting point is 00:02:38 Because you look at what's marching up, that's an invasion. That's not, that's an invasion. Also people arguing that it's not about creating hate but cultivating and normalizing it. With many posting this clip of Trump seemingly making light of violence against immigrants. But how do you stop these people? You can't. There's no... That's only in the panhandle you can get away with that statement. Then still regarding the El Paso shooting, on Sunday officials formally announced that they would be treating the shooter as a domestic terrorist. The US Attorney for the Western District of Texas, John Bash, making that announcement in a press briefing.

Starting point is 00:03:13 Also saying that the office was seriously considering bringing federal hate crime and federal firearm charges against him, which notably do carry a possible death penalty. Separately, the El Paso District Attorney said that his office has already charged the man with capital murder. And there they will be seeking the death penalty in any state level prosecution. As far as the federal domestic terrorism case, that does depend on if it is confirmed that the shooter wrote the manifesto. And to that point, according to NPR, the El Paso Police Department Chief said it looks increasingly like the shooter in custody wrote the manifesto. With the New York Times also reporting that a federal law enforcement official confirmed that it was written by the suspect. Others have also pointed out the fact that the suspect was from the suburbs of Dallas and that he drove nearly 10 hours to get to El Paso, which is notably a border town where more than 80%

Starting point is 00:03:51 of residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the most recent census. But on that note, the Mexican foreign secretary said today that eight of the people killed by the shooter were Mexican nationals. The foreign secretary also announced Sunday that the Mexican government will be taking legal action against the United States,

Starting point is 00:04:04 but did not specify what they would be doing. And just 13 hours after the shooting in El Paso, a man opened fire in downtown Dayton. He reportedly killed nine people, wounding 27 others. Among the dead was his sister. And all that damage despite, according to reports, the shooter was killed by police just 30 seconds after he opened fire. And right now there is officially no known motive behind this shooting. Authorities are still investigating the matter, although it has been reported that in high school he had a hit list as well as a rape list.

Starting point is 00:04:30 But of course, as is always important with these matters, we need to see what comes from the investigation. According to reports, he used a legally purchased assault style rifle fitted with an extended magazine which could hold 100 rounds. Reportedly he had more ammunition on him, there was a shotgun in his car. He also reportedly wore a mask

Starting point is 00:04:45 and a bulletproof vest during the attack. And following this, of course, we saw a number of responses to these shootings. In Dayton, when Ohio Governor Mike DeWine spoke at a vigil, he was met with chants from the crowd. Do something! Do something! Do something! Regarding doing something, some were focused on the gun control aspect.

Starting point is 00:05:01 We had a presidential candidate and US Senator Kamala Harris saying, "'Let's speak truth, gun violence "'is a national emergency in our country.'" Ohio Representative Tim Ryan, who is also a 2020 candidate, called gun violence a plague and then added, "'I'm calling on the president

Starting point is 00:05:13 "'to call Congress back into session "'and Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer "'to pass the background check bill "'and ban assault weapons.'" You also have the likes of Lindsey Graham calling for red flag laws, which would allow a friend, family member, or law enforcement official to petition

Starting point is 00:05:24 for someone's right to have a gun to be restricted if they believe that person poses a threat or is dangerous. With Graham saying, Time to do more than pray. Time to enact common sense legislation in Congress to empower states to deal with those who present a danger to themselves and others while respecting robust due process. Adding, may not have mattered here, but red flag laws have proven to be effective in states that have them. You also had a lot of people focusing on condemning white nationalism because of the shooter in El Paso's motives. Many, as was mentioned before, specifically pointing to President Donald Trump's rhetoric. Also notably around this line of thinking, there is a now viral clip of Beto O'Rourke responding to a question.

Starting point is 00:05:56 Is there anything in your mind that the president can do now to make this any better? What do you think? You know the **** he's been saying he's he's been calling mexican immigrants rapists and criminals um i i don't know like members of the press what the hold on a second you know i i it's it's these um it's these questions that you know the answers to i mean connect the dots about what he's been doing in this country um he's not tolerating racism he's promoting racism he's not tolerating violence he's inciting racism and violence in this country. He's not tolerating racism. He's promoting racism. He's not tolerating violence. He's inciting racism and violence in this country. So, you know, I just, I don't know

Starting point is 00:06:31 what kind of question that is. We also saw other 2020 candidates making similar statements. Cory Booker saying Trump is giving a license to this kind of violence. He's responsible. Pete Buttigieg saying white nationalism is evil and it is inspiring people to commit murder and it is being condoned at the highest levels of the American government. Also on the right there were others condemning white nationalism, but they were of course largely leaving Trump out of it. Texas representative Dan Crenshaw tweeting, Violence against another human being because of their ethnicity is one of the most disgusting forms of evil that exists. It must be rooted out. White supremacy has no place in this world.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Texas Senator Ted Cruz saying, We must speak clearly to combat evil "'in any form it takes. "'What we saw yesterday was a heinous act of terrorism "'and white supremacy. "'There is no place for this in El Paso, in Texas, "'or anywhere across our nation.'" Although very notably, there was a Republican state lawmaker

Starting point is 00:07:16 from Nebraska by the name of John McAllister who tweeted, "'The Republican Party is enabling white supremacy "'in our country. "'As a lifelong Republican, it pains me to say this, "'but it's the truth. I, of course, am not suggesting that all Republicans are white supremacists, nor am I saying that the average Republican is even racist.

Starting point is 00:07:30 What I'm saying, though, is that the Republican Party is complicit to obvious racist and immoral activity inside our party. We have a Republican president who continually stokes racist fears in his base. He calls certain countries shitholes, tells women of color to go back to where they came from, and lies more than he tells the truth. We have Republican senators and representatives who look the other

Starting point is 00:07:47 way and say nothing for fear that it will negatively affect their elections. No more. When the history books are written, I refuse to be someone who said nothing. Also, in all of this, we saw a number of people trying to blame video games. How long are we going to let, for example, and ignore at the federal level, particularly, where they can do something about the video game industry i were a betting man i'd say that he probably logs six to eight hours a day playing um one of those you know fortnight or one of those uh uh video games where you're doing nothing but dehumanizing people by blowing their heads out blowing their heads off one after another after another the idea of these video games to dehumanize individuals to have a game of shooting individuals and others, I've always felt that is a problem for

Starting point is 00:08:31 future generations and others. What about video games? So many of these school shooters and others have been sort of raised on a diet of violent video games. And the games we play and the people we interact with in person and on social media that send people into spirals or into dark places. And I see a video game industry that teaches young people to kill. When you look at these photos of how it took place, you can see the actions within video games. This also, including this morning, President Trump.

Starting point is 00:09:03 We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this this and it has to begin immediately. Right, and so in general we're kind of seeing that escape that we've seen before, right?

Starting point is 00:09:30 It's ah, it's that rap music, oh it's the movies, it's the video games. This small following part I will say is my opinion. It is amazing and infuriating to me that there are people in positions of power, whether it be speaking to millions of Americans or the fact that they are actually in our Congress or they are our President of the United States and they are more than willing to jump to attention and take action to ban a digital video game weapon and violence than to focus on the mass violence

Starting point is 00:09:55 and in one specific situation in Dayton, Ohio. That reportedly the shooter and murderer in that situation, even though they were stopped in 30 to 60 seconds, had a weapon that was capable and did kill nine and injured 27. Even when thankfully you had good guys with guns, law enforcement with guns to stop this killer. To make this about video games, is it a service

Starting point is 00:10:15 to those who died, their friends, their family, those who have died before, those who will inevitably die in the future due to whatever inaction or falling short we're going to see here. I think it's ridiculous that the ESA, right, the Entertainment Software Association, had to release a statement today saying, "...violent crime has been decreasing in our country at the very time that video games had been increasing in popularity. Other societies where video games are played as avidly do not contend with the tragic levels of violence that occur in the United States. Study after study has established that there is no causal link between video games and real world violence.

Starting point is 00:10:47 And that is something that we have seen backed up by academic research. And as some have pointed out, you could make some sort of argument that violence in video games in some way maybe it desensitizes us. But you could even more validly and effectively argue that the thing that desensitizes us to violence is the fact that you saw this news the first time

Starting point is 00:11:04 and the second time and you were horrified, but you were not surprised. That this is so not a rare occurrence that when Joe Biden and President Trump separately were talking about the shootings, they named the wrong places. May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo. Now on the note of President Trump,

Starting point is 00:11:19 because I did jump to include part of the video of his address to the nation, this morning before President Trump did say, In one voice Our nation must condemn racism bigotry and white supremacy These sinister ideologies must be defeated Hate has no place in America and tweeted

Starting point is 00:11:38 We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio die in vain likewise for those so seriously wounded We can never forget them and those many who came before them. Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not great,

Starting point is 00:11:56 come out of these two tragic events. So seemingly they're holding the background checks that he is proposing hostage unless there is also immigration reform. And this of course, notably notably is coming out after the reports that the El Paso shooter had an anti-immigrant manifesto. To me personally, it seems like a weird hostage situation after an act of domestic terrorism.

Starting point is 00:12:13 And then the president seemingly used these shootings as a way to attack the media. Tweeting, the media has a big responsibility to life and safety in our country. Fake news has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years. News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased or these terrible problems

Starting point is 00:12:28 will only get worse. Which I think part of the argument against Trump here is it's not unfair and it's not unbalanced to put things that you said on a TV screen. And I'm not saying all news coverage is fair. That is a far cry. I'm talking about historically the president has called things fake news when it is just negative.

Starting point is 00:12:45 That does not automatically make it biased, unfair, untruthful. But to continue with the president's address, in addition to talking about violent games, he mentioned reforming mental health laws, as well as directing the DOJ to work closely with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as social media companies

Starting point is 00:12:59 to detect potential mass shooters, and passing red flag laws to prevent those judged to be a danger to society from obtaining guns. And notably not included in this address was the idea he floated of pairing background checks with immigration reform. But ultimately, where I want to end this, because everything is still updating,

Starting point is 00:13:13 things are still developing as I'm filming this video, what I want to do here is I want to look at some of the heroes that have emerged from these awful tragedies. One of the most widely circulated stories from El Paso was the story of Jordan and Andre Anchondo, two young parents of three who died saving the life of one of their children. According to reports, Jordan died directly

Starting point is 00:13:30 shielding her baby while Andre died trying to shield them both. And reportedly the baby was injured but lived because his parents saved him. Another being hailed as a hero in the El Paso shooting is a man by the name of David Johnson. He reportedly stepped in front of the gunman to save his wife and granddaughter, both of whom survived.

Starting point is 00:13:44 Also people have been pointing to the actions of a soldier named Glendon Oakley. He was reportedly at the mall at the front of the gunman to save his wife and granddaughter both of whom survived. Also people have been pointing to the actions of a soldier named Glendon Oakley. He was reportedly at the mall at the time of the shooting and in an interview with a local media outlet, Oakley said that he heard the gunfire and he ran towards a playpen where children were playing without their parents. And then grabbing as many children as he could to move them out of harm's way. Also there was El Paso's community just in general. According to reports after the city of El Paso and the police department tweeted that they needed blood donors,

Starting point is 00:14:07 there were reports and videos showing hundreds of people outside waiting to donate blood, which was just amazing to see. And in Dayton, of course, officials are hailing the officers who killed the shooter as a hero, with the city's mayor saying they saved literally hundreds of lives, which honestly, I think there is no doubt.

Starting point is 00:14:21 Also in Dayton, there are reports of a nurse named Kayla Miller who stopped to perform CPR while dodging gunfire and according to reports witnesses said that she tried to resuscitate five people. Also for those that are not local that are looking to get involved there have been funds created like this one from the El Paso Community Foundation set up to help those impacted by the shooting. That's where we are right now. I know more stories are coming out we are we're learning more including about the victims. For now that's where this show is going to end on a personal note What I will say is I hate today It is is not surprised as many of us are it never feels normal nor should it feel normal

Starting point is 00:14:52 I know you're exhausted. But what I would I say is remember what this feels like There's so many things constantly happening and they're easy to forget Remember what this feels like and then remember who's blaming video games rather than thinking of real solutions and remember who's still saying it's too soon to politicize it when there's not even enough time to breathe between mass shootings. And remember it is okay to feel exhausted right now because this is not normal, but do not let that turn into apathy. Do not disengage from what is happening because holy Toledo, it's gonna matter what you think soon. It's going to matter what you want to see in this world. And that's where I'm gonna end today's show. Thank you for watching.

Starting point is 00:15:25 I love your faces. If you have someone in your life that you love, let them know today, because you don't know if there's gonna be a tomorrow. But if there is one for both of us, I'll see you then.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.5 Video Games Are Responsible For Recent Mass Shootings...According To Idiots With Power

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