Marchers Shot at During MLK Parade in Jackson, Miss. as Gun Rights Activists Rally Nearby at Capitol

[ashtonelijah]

Last edited Sat Jan 19, 2013, 08:18 PM - Edit history (3)

These are very early reports, I don't have the exact details, but for what it's worth:

There's not much information yet, but while gun activists were rallying at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., shots were being fired at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in nearby downtown Jackson. Early accounts of the incident on Twitter said that at least one person was shot. Some mentioned horses running wild in the chaos.

The suspect was identified and held down by attendees until police could arrive, according to some accounts. There's no indication that this shooting happened in relation to the Gun Appreciation Day rally at the Capitol, but it should be a wake up call to those who thought it would be a wonderful idea to hold a gun rally in the midst of MLK celebrations in Jackson, of all places.

Gun Appreciation Day activists noted on the Facebook page that Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and other state lawmakers were expected to be in attendance at the rally.

I'll update this when there's more solid information.

Update: WLBT is reporting that a 21-year-old man was shot in the right chest area on Detroit Street. After being shot, the victim ran south onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive where he collapsed. The alleged shooter was arrested.

A video has surfaced showing the victim being carried to the ambulance.

Happy Gun Appreciation Day, everyone.

http://www.deepsouthprogressive.com/2013/01/as-gun-activists-rally-at-mississippi.html

[Special Agent Oso]

1. Mississippi has historically been full of racist nuts

Doesn't surprise me too much.

[tosh]

2. Thank you for reporting this here.

Just awful.

[Downtown Hound]

3. Just a bunch of responsible gun owners exercising their American tradition

Do I really need the sarcasm thingy?

[malaise]

9. There was a bomb found at an MLK rally in another state last year

Cleaners spotted it before the rally started. I'll never understand the hatred

[Ilsa]

16. I believe in Washington. I don't remember

If it was near Olympia, Seattle or where.

[Twinguard]

19. It was in Spokane.

[Ilsa]

22. Thank you! Should have figured it was way east! nt

[ananda]

33. Hatred is learned..

From Nelson Mandela's Autobiography:

No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.


I have to believe this. It's the only thing that keeps me activist.

[malaise]

34. You are so right

[Recursion]

29. Nobody was shot at their rally

They see gun violence as something people "not like them" (if you know what I mean, and you do) do. And those armed people not like them are why they want guns to begin with. This incident just confirmed that in their minds.

[bunnies]

4. Looks like one man shot in the chest. Link:

http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/20631001/one-man-shot-one-arrested-during-mlk-parade

Jackson Police Deputy Chief Eric Wall says a 21-year-old man was shot in the right chest area.

From the initial investigation, Chief Wall says it appears the shooting happened on Detroit Street.

After the victim was shot, he ran from Detroit Street, south onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. He then collapsed at the intersection of MLK Drive and Grandberry Street.

The shooter was arrested.

on edit:
Theres also a you-tube video taken by a witness. Shows the young man being taken away in an ambulance. Poor kid.

[Recursion]

5. Jackson has one of the highest murder rates in the country for the city its size

I remember rolling my eyes when my friends who lived in Jackson were "worried about me" up in New York.

We'll see what this was. This reminds me of the time Eric Cantor's office got shot up, and it turned out that's just because it was in Richmond...

[ashtonelijah]

7. That's true

But it sure is a hell of a way to celebrate #GunAppreciationDay with Gov. Phil Bryant just miles away at the capitol rallying a crowd of gun lunatics.

[Recursion]

24. I'm "from" this culture enough to guess their reaction

It will be along the lines of:

(WARNING: the following paragraph roughly approximates the right-wing thought process, as observed by someone who grew up around it. It is not a condoning of it.)

We honest small town (ie, white) folks came to the city and exercised our right to bear arms and nobody was hurt. Across the way, a bunch of liberals from the city (ie, black) had a gun-free parade and somebody got shot. The government won't do anything about these armed black kids, but they want to take my guns away. This is why gun control will never work, because that kid couldn't legally get a gun anyways.

(End right wing thought process)

This is what we'll have to counter.

[leveymg]

27. It went way up in May, 1970. The Jackson State shootings.

(The night of the Kent State shootings there was a demonstration at Jackson State, a predominantly Black college in Mississippi). Seventy-five city policemen and Mississippi State Police officers armed with carbines, submachine guns, shotguns, service revolvers and some personal weapons (arrived at the campus). Their combined armed presence on the Lynch Street side of Stewart Hall, a men's dormitory, staved off the crowd long enough for the firemen to extinguish the blaze and leave.After the firemen left, the police and state troopers marched along Lynch Street toward Alexander Center, a women's residence, weapons at the ready. No one seems to know why.

bulletholes2.JPG (12687 bytes) bulletholes1.JPG (19979 bytes)
Bullet holes from May 14, 1970 can still be seen on the walls of Alexander Hall;.


Falling back before the approaching officers, the students congregated in a thick not in front of the dormitory. At this point, the crowd numbered 75 to 100 people. Several students allegedly shouted "obscene catcalls" while others chanted and tossed bricks at the officers, who had closed to within 100 feet of the group.

The officers deployed into a line facing the students. Someone in the crowd either threw or dropped a bottle which shattered on the asphalt with a loud pop. At the same time, an officer fell, struck by a piece of thrown debris.

Accounts disagree as to what happened next. Some students said the police advanced in a line, warned them, then opened fire. Others said the police abruptly opened fire on the crowd and the dormitory. Other witnesses reported that the students were under the control of a campus security officer when the police opened fire. Police claimed they spotted a powder flare in the Alexander West Hall third floor stairwell window and opened fire in self-defense on the dormitory only. Two local television news reporters present at the shooting agreed that a shot was fired, but were uncertain of the direction. A radio reporter claimed to have seen an arm and a pistol extending from a dormitory window.

Whatever actually occurred, the police opened fire at approximately 12:05 a.m., May 15, and continued firing for more than 30 seconds. The students scattered, some running for the trees in front of the library, but most scrambling for the Alexander Hall west end door.

[Recursion]

28. Not really, unfortunately. 2 dead was a drop in the bucket

It was a much more violent time back then.

[jpak]

6. Charge the gun nuts responsible with felonies and grab their guns

yup

[Recursion]

10. What's the diplomatic way to put this

The gun nuts at the rally are white, and from Brandon rather than Jackson.

The people at the MLK parade are... not white, and from Jackson.

If the shooter fit in at the MLK parade he would probably not have fit in at the gun nut rally, is what I'm trying to get at, as uncomfortable as this is.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

17. I don't know Jackson, but there's a lot missing from the story

Is the state capitol near downtown? Were the two groups in the same area?

Trying to be diplomatic, was there a description of the shooter?

Who held the shooter down, the marchers? or the gun nuts?

What was the shooter's motive? was his victim random? or a deliberate target?

Just a guess: The parade was more diverse than the gun rights assembly.

I'm sure more will be published about this, unless it was a "personal" shooting.

[Recursion]

18. Almost guaranteed the parade was more diverse

We'll see what we see

[Vietnameravet]

8. Gun Appreciation Day??!!

If that doesn't sound like something out of a dark sci fi story I dont know what does..

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. "like something out of a dark sci fi story"

I absolutely NEED my disintegrator gun.

For duck hunting.

[cantbeserious]

11. The Madness Of America's Gun Culture Strikes Again

eom

[otohara]

12. Movie Theaters, Schools, Malls, Parades

no where is safe in the United States of Yemen.

[pangaia]

14. Gun Appreciation Day !!

Gun Appreciation Day ??? WTF is that??

[MynameisBlarney]

31. It's a thoughtless knee jerk reaction

apparently connected with a "white pride" group.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/01/18/gun-appreciation-day-is-sponsored-by-a-white-na/192318

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. I'm telling you, if this turns out to be as bad as it sounds,...

....it's going to spark some major outrage, to the point where the pro-gun types aren't even going to have a seat at the table.

Think about how many Liberal ideas are delegated to a mass of totally ignored protestors outside of the room where decisions are being made and then think about the gun issue where the entire room is filled with people telling each other they are more pro-gun then the next guy.

[Recursion]

20. The opposite, unfortunately

If the shooter is some kid from Jackson, the exurban whites at the rally (where nobody was shot) have another "urban menace" (and we all know what "urban" means) to point to for why they "need" guns.

The line will be "nobody was shot at our armed parade, only at the gun free parade". It will be asinine and completely miss the point, but it will entrench what they believe more strongly.

[another_liberal]

21. It's Gun Appreciation Day . . .

It's "Gun Appreciation Day." What did you think that meant?

[Thinkingabout]

23. Wrote to my Representative John Culberson R-TX this morning, he is vowing to support

The Second Amendment. He also claims to be Pro-Life, he can not be both, people who ith guns are aborting lives of those born, if you err on the side of of life then don't send the guns in to kill. Congress members for Pro-Life needs to get the guns regulated to halt some of this killing and violence. ENOUGH!!!!

[Politicub]

25. We need to stop the carnage now

People who shouldn't have assault riffles are rampant now.

[leveymg]

26. One more reason to ban brandishing. If someone's carrying a gun, people should call the cops.

[awoke_in_2003]

30. Aggravated assault? WTF? nt

[Recursion]

32. That's what that means (nt)

[awoke_in_2003]

36. I would have thought...

at least manslaughter since the person he shot died. Of course, I am not a lawyer nor do I play on on TV (I wonder if anyone will catch that reference)

[Recursion]

37. I didn't see anything about a death (nt)

[awoke_in_2003]

39. I thought I had read...

an update where the guy he shot had died. I was mistaken, it said he collapsed. Sorry for the confusion, I had a bit of fever yesterday.

[stultusporcos]

35. Interesting How the Headlines on WLBT are worded

http://www.msnewsnow.com/

One man shot during MLK parade
Story - Gunfire erupted Saturday near the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., parade in Jackson, injuring one man.

The Rally of the Precious was also happening at the same time so why was not the headline ‘One man shot during The Rally of the Precious? It makes about as much sense but it is MS so anything to smear the MLK holiday is expected even though the shooting had nothing to do with the parade.

[Recursion]

38. Because there's no sign the two are related, and mentioning it makes it sound like...

... it was one of the gun rights people who did the shooting.