Tom Brokaw echoed ABC on Sunday by blaming the terrorist attack in Orlando Florida on the popularity of guns in America. Twitter is alight with folks weighing in from both sides, people pointing to the Islamic name and others pointing to the use of an AR-15,” he remarked on NBC News. He went on to say that he hoped a meaningful dialogue would come from the event.
Brokaw spoke well after the FBI announced at a press conference that there were possible ties between the shooter and radical Islam. But Brokaw chose to play it down by simply describing it as, “The worst mass shooting in our country's history.” And exclaimed that, “everything seems to get settled by a gun for whatever reasons.”
Even though Brokaw was quick to blame it on guns he warned that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions:
We don't know whether this was ISIS motivated or just one deranged individual. We don't know yet, and we deserve to know what the motivation may have been before we can engage in a debate that may lead us to some kind of a resolution.
Transcript below:
NBC
Special Coverage
June 12, 2016
10:54:46 AM EasternWILLIE GEIST: Let's turn now to NBC's Tom Brokaw. He's in Washington. Tom, you've been watching this all morning. What are your thoughts?
TOM BROKAW: Well, my thoughts are that this is a tragedy of epic proportions. It’s just god awful. The worst mass shooting in our country's history and, of course, it comes in the middle of a very heated political debate.
Twitter is alight with folks weighing in from both sides, people pointing to the Islamic name and others pointing to the use of an AR-15. I really think it's in the country's best interest and especially the candidates' best interest to take a beat here an engage in a thoughtful dialogue, a prayerful dialogue, if you will, about what we've come to in this country where everything seems to get settled by a gun for whatever reasons.
We don't know whether this was ISIS motivated or just one deranged individual. We don't know yet, and we deserve to know what the motivation may have been before we can engage in a debate that may lead us to some kind of a resolution.
Too many mass murders in this country, not just because of Islamic-inspired mass murders, but we have them all across America, now more than three people being killed at a time is designated a mass murder and between Santa Barbara and now there's been clusters of them across America. That eventually has to be part of who we are and how we talk about it as a civilized people. That would be my hope, at least, Willie.
