Why Are Waffle House Deaths More Important?

a reply to: drewlander

It gets difficult. There is not one repository of all data. In addition, different places and different agencies measure things differently. The link in the OP is not bad.

In the same week there were a number of shootings with multiple victims. Somehow, somewhere, somebody decided 4 or more constitutes a "mass shooting".

If we are reconciling media coverage with number of victims, surely a nasty weekend in Chicago with 10-20 shooting deaths needs to ranks up there with something like the Waffle House shooting.

...but it doesn't. Thus my concern.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
You're comparing senseless and unprovoked attacks with possible gang violence and suicide and accidental gun discharge?

Now we know that a three year old girl killed in the crossfire of a gang related shooting was guilty of provoking them and that the whole ordeal makes sense.... well, makes sense to you.

a reply to: ABNARTY


How many of the other 22 firearm related deaths were commuted by an almost totally naked guy who managed to get away and are also classic examples of how the entire system failed yet again? The PoS who decided to shoot random people in a Waffle House had a somewhat extensive history of mental illness that led to multiple encounters with law enforcement?

We’re talking about episodes of pretty clear mental illness such as calling the police because he claimed that Taylor Swift was hacking his phone and stalking him which led to the police taking him to the hospital for a mental health evaluation, an episode where he drive to a public pool and jumped in with a bunch of kids wearing nothing but his righty whitey’s with a pink woman’s coat wrapped around his waist. My personal favorite was a recent incident at the White House that led to the FBI making a formal request to take away his Illinois firearms permit and confiscation of any firearms he currently possessed. Firearms which were subsequently returned to the perpetrators father under the condition that his, obviously, mentally ill son was not to have access to them.

After all of that, the moronic father then returned his firearms to him. This particular shooting shouldn’t have been possible had the police not returned the guns to the father and the father.

In the grand scheme of things, was it more than the other shooting related deaths that day? I don’t think so. I think any unnecessary loss of life is a sad and tragic thing. This however was a much more interesting news piece because of the shooters background and the fact that had people been following the script and doing their jobs, this particular tragedy shouldn’t have been possible.

Also, for future reference, DEFCON 5 is the lowest level and the state of readiness our armed forces are always on. DEFCON 1 is where Nuclear War is imminent and likely unavoidable. Sorry for being pedantic but having the correct information is never a bad thing.

The Holy Knighted Order of the High Horse

... yea im stealing that

as for the rest well he did run into the forest naked after ... cant say iv heard that one before

a reply to: peter vlar

Got it. One vote for a more interesting/compelling death, thus more media coverage is justified.

a reply to: ABNARTY

There are areas where there is kind of always a danger to the community. I agree with others who have said here it corresponds to gang violence and, as sad as it is to say, the area it happens in sees it a lot.

Those areas absolutely get neglected when it comes to national media attention. But, to be honest, if I read the news every day and just saw every case of "someone shot someone"...I would stop watching/reading/listening to the news.

We all know it happens, in our geographic locations we all know the neighborhoods to stay away from, the streets to steer clear of. It really, really sucks that life happens this way for the tiny, TINY, percentage this occurs to. It doesn't make anyone on the outside looking in feel any better, it hurts, it really does to read a lot of the non-national tragedy stories you can find on a daily basis. As much as I have already said I have no right to even consider because I do not know what it is like growing up like that, being raised in an environment like that, having to struggle on a daily basis. I have a two-year-old son and a daughter on the way in June and I am so, so thankful, my wife and I have the ability to raise them - out - of a scenario like your examples of the majority of shootings that happen in the US.

I went kinda ranty on this, but the moral of my story is, you never know. You never know if some random garbage is going to happen to you. The chances of it happening increase depending on where you live. But if that random garbage is *especially* random, that is when people notice and get scared. Because it paints their normal life, where they feel safe, as susceptible to the kind of garbage you find in the ghetto. And that gets ratings.

a reply to: CalibratedZeus

An honest reply.

Maybe that's why when some upscale, suburban place has a shooting folks freak out and the media is all over it. I can accept that.

I don't like it, it seems hypocritical, but I got it.

a reply to: ABNARTY
Because a bunch of people minding their business & not bothering anybody out eating a meal getting shot up is a bit more worthy of pity than the gangbangers worth less than what you wipe off your ass after sitting on the porcelain throne getting into a turf war.

Pick your battles, man. Thugs ain't a battle worth much.

The "suspect", one travis von douchebag, had already had his weapons seized not once, but twice by authorities. Both times involved mental health issues and concerns, one of them involving the US Secret Service even!!

This ball sack has had numerous run-ins with law enforcement and has been arrested several times for doing crazy stuff. Bottom line, he's an idiot.

But hey, we need more gun laws!

BTW...the weapon used to shoot up the chicken and waffle place was a skeery AR-15...the very same AR-15 he had seized and returned to him.

But yeah...we need more gun laws!

Maybe you missed the ultimate hand that these media giants managed to hold on to? The shocking twist throw down hand to win it all! A hero who “unarmed”, and a black male, stopped the shooting by rushing the guy and throwing his weapon of destruction behind the counter, sending the naked white shooter running away!
In all seriousness the guy who stopped him is a true hero and deserves all of our utmost respect. But ya know the lefties were doing backflips that it wasn’t a CC NRA card carrier that stopped this idiot. Bravo to this young man!

Why Are Waffle House Deaths More Important?



Actually it took a while before it grabbed attention, but how do you go in on liberals or progressives , the guy is a nut , he was known in the system but still allowed his weapons, wouldn't that raised alarm with responsible gun owners also.

BTW up date, dude was caught, not shot and killed, armed with a bag that had other weapons, proving cops can bring in dangerous armed suspects when they want to.. Bravo to them.

a reply to: ABNARTY

The way I see these things is as follows.

When one thug shoots another thug, or two thugs shoot each other, the whole of the rest of society, everyone who is not in some way, shape or form, connected to thuggery, will find it hard to identify with the victims. Right wing, left wing, it does not matter. People who are not prepared to kill other people over territory, or money, or street cred, will simply not find it possible to identify with those who are, regardless of what their politics looks like.

When a room full of people who are just sitting down, eating dinner, minding their own business and causing no trouble, are shot up by a maniac with no undies on though, well, those people at the diner could be any law abiding citizen, just going about their routine. Its easy to identify with the victims, because their motivations in being where they were and doing what they were doing, are familiar to EVERYONE in society, not just those who happen to know which corner dealer has the best rates and the best supply.

And to be honest, there SHOULD be more attention paid to the deaths of people who do not contribute in some way to their own downfall. Innocent victims, no matter who they may be or where they are to be found, will always be more newsworthy than those complicit in the creation of their circumstances.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Well, assuming that his gun being returned to him was lawful under current regulations, its perfectly possible that whatever law pertains to keeping the mentally defective away from weapons, DOES need an update, or to be scrapped and replaced with something more powerful.

The man should never have been able to get his hands back on his gear, given his history of flipping out, especially if his expression of that was to cause a threat that the secret service had to respond to!

a reply to: ABNARTY

So why is my FB feed, the news, etc. plastered with Waffle House?

The main point is it was a WAFFLE HOUSE (tm). It's like a live action social media joint (especially if you live in 'the south'). I am betting FB's illgore-ithms won't drop the fact it happened at a place like that, and the local mutton cannot let it go, because FB told them it's important.

a reply to: wylekat

Understood. Waffle House added the special sauce to the story. And the guy was naked. How does one not pay attention to that?

a reply to: Spider879

...but how do you go in on liberals or progressives...

I never mentioned liberals/progressives/conservatives/communists/etc.

a reply to: TrueBrit

If I understand you correctly, would you feel adding news coverage to thuggery only serves to glamorize (?) the action/behavior?

The gang members in Chicago for example made their own bed. Now they need to sleep in it. Forget them. What about innocent folks going about their lives getting caught in the crossfire?

a reply to: TexasTruth

I did overlook that. That only adds more virtue to the story.

I do think he did a mighty brave thing though.

a reply to: Nyiah

See my response to TrueBrit.

In short, what about innocent folks getting caught in the crossfire?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I agree. Sort of like the Florida shooting.

What else do we need in place? More laws give the appearance 'somebody is doing something' but not much more.