From top: Omar Mateen, Pulse nightclub, Orlando, Florida; Dr Julien Mercille
A culture of violence continues to haunt the United States.
Dr Julien Mercille writes:
Yesterday, a killer entered a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida and shot 50 people dead and injured at least as many. It is reportedly the worst shooting in decades in the US.
This is what we know so far:
- The shooter was a 29 year-old man named Omar Mateen, of Afghan origin but born in the United States.
- He also reportedly didn’t like to see two men kissing.
- He had a violent past: his ex-wife said he beat her repeatedly.
- He allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS, the so-called Islamic State group, before going on his killing spree.
Of course, people like Donald Trump who come rather short of good arguments to convince people to vote for them quickly resorted to the tough approach blaming “radical Islam” and America’s “weak leaders”.
However, there have been many shootings in the US and the overwhelming majority of them are not carried out by Muslims, so blaming a religion makes little sense.
The shooting is not surprising. Such events have actually increased in recent years in the United States, according to studies (see figure).
The United States, in fact, is a clear outlier compared to other OECD countries for the number of assault deaths per capita.
The figure below shows the United States in blue and the other OECD countries in red over the last few decades.
One problem is the lack of tight regulations on gun sales and ownership. Indeed, in US mass shootings since the 1980s, most killers obtained their weapons legally.
Further, as many as 31% of households own a gun, down from 40% in the 1970s (see figure).
At the root of all this as well is the culture of violence that haunts the United States. Anybody who has spent some times there should have anecdotes confirming this.
I’ve lived there for six years and it’s indeed hard to miss. The military is such a large institution that virtually everybody has a member of their extended family who is or has been in the armed forces. Some families even describe themselves as a “military family”–an expression I’ve never heard in Ireland, for example.
This is all fed by US militarism in general, which has been busy for years attacking and otherwise trying to intervene in other countries’ affairs, while spending more than any other nation on “defense” spending, which really means “offense”.
But violence goes further than the military. The police are notoriously violent too. I lived in Los Angeles for a few years and one cannot fail to notice. For instance, there was a police helicopter constantly hovering over my house, surely “patrolling for our safety”.
Also, I was stopped by the police about 3-4 times while there, never having been stopped before in my life.
Once was for not stopping at a stop sign on my bike on a university campus. Another time was for asking why the police had surrounded my street with “do not cross” tape (it was because of yet another fake bomb alert).
If I had insisted a little more to cross the line and go home, which was still far from the alleged bomb, I’m not sure what they would have done with me. I wouldn’t be surprised that if I had been black or Latino I would have received a more aggressive reaction—it’s that bad.
The direct cause of the Orlando shooting seems to be homophobia, which demonstrates once again that anti-gay feelings are still very much part of this world.
It should also bring to mind the importance of events like the same-sex marriage referendum of last year and all the social movement work that laid the ground for its passage. Its significance goes way beyond the freedom to marry for gays. In fact, that is probably the most minor part.
The most important part is that it contributes to shifting attitudes away from homophobia in all its forms and minimises the likelihood that events such as what happened in Orlando will happen. But clearly, there is still work to be done.
Julien Mercille is a lecturer at University College Dublin. Follow Julien on Twitter: @JulienMercille
Scarleh for you Julian.
Could you have gone without the customary pun in the headline? Seems inappropriate given the staggering death toll and fresh anguish being felt….
Poor taste at best, offensive at worst.
Thanks JT, fixed now. Sorry.
What a crass piece of opportunistic writing.
Why do Broadsheet keep plugging this guy? He is the worst.
Any chance of a few more Leather Jacket Guy videos, BS?
He’s just as puerile, but at least a bit more self-aware.
Its beyond baffling, guy is a hack!!
Is this the worst column ever written on this site? Incoherent, rambling, and supported with poor anecdotes which fail to enhance the weak ‘the US is violent’ premise.
The cop stopping him for riding his bike through a stop sign is a clear example of a police state out of control. Had he been black, he might be dead!
“Some families even describe themselves as a “military family”–an expression I’ve never heard in Ireland, for example”
Waahhhhhhhhh
That’s the whole point of this website. Poorly written exploitative poop gets them all going.
Didn’t the village do a wind up on them and all the Mercile cr88. Give them a prize
“If I had insisted a little more to cross the line and go home, which was still far from the alleged bomb, I’m not sure what they would have done with me. I wouldn’t be surprised that if I had been black or Latino I would have received a more aggressive reaction—it’s that bad.”
– Jesus wept
I read that and thought it could have done with a #prayforjulien
As my mother would sniff ” They are All graduates nowadays”.
I think I missed the point of this article. Can anyone please explain?
The point is that Julian had limited time to use the Orlando massacre as the basis of his Monday broadsheet article and so ended up writing this juvenile load of embarrassment.
Is there no bandwagon this creep won’t jump on?
“I wouldn’t be surprised that if I had been black or Latino I would have received a more aggressive reaction—it’s that bad.”
There’s your academic rigour for you!
I wouldn’t be surprised that, had my aunt had a pair of testicles, she would have been my gender fluid etc etc…
Not Julien’s best work lads.
Couldn’t believe the horror that unfolded yesterday. Was glued to the news & reactio for most of the day.
Tried to think of something meaningful to say on social media but decided to say nothing.
Obama came out and did his heartfelt speech followign a mass shooting, his 15th.
Relatives are only finding out now who dies, who is injured. Funerals will be arranged.
there will be rallies, tweets, protests, media punditry.
But nothing will actually change.
Until the US values its people more than assualt weapons, this will continue.
Hmmm. the stats, that he provided above, show that since a peak in 1975 that both gun ownership and assault deaths have dropped (by 33% and 50% respectively). While there has been an increase in mass shootings (I’m not sure what that chart is counting), but that is offset by the huge drop in one-off shootings.
phew!
“I’ve lived there for six years and it’s indeed hard to miss. The military is such a large institution that virtually everybody has a member of their extended family who is or has been in the armed forces. Some families even describe themselves as a “military family”–an expression I’ve never heard in Ireland, for example.” – We may not have abundance of military families, yet people are gunned down too often for a small neutral country. Attributing blame for civilian gun vigilantism and violence to State militarization is akin to blaming Tarantino’s films. Abusive parent is likelier to create a potential killer than frequent parade of military hardware.
To be fair though, the police in the US shoot more people annually than have been shot in mass shootings over the last 20 or so years. So there is something to be examined there.
This article though… is not that examination.
Oh please stop giving this guy room for his regressive leftist spiel when will they finally realise that Islam needs an enlightenment like every other religion?
Will he ever change his opinion I highly doubt it same with all of the left…. Sad once they stood for relevant issues
Cant Insult the Prophet etc no rights for women, hatred of other faiths, Gays etc the list is endless.
Oh its not a problem, they say nothing to do with religion no hardly you wont find any of this in the Koran or the Hadith think again
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women because Allah has made one superior to the other and because they spend to support them from their means. Therefore, righteous women are obedient and they guard in the husband’s absence what Allah orders them to guard. And, as to those women from whom you fear disobedience, give them a warning, send them to separate beds, and beat them.”
Wake up People. What does it take.
Religion of Peace of course.