Even though Highland Park, Illinois, mass shooter purchased his guns in-state, MSNBC's The 11th Hour made it sound on Tuesday night like he might have gotten them from another state where it's easier to buy guns with MSNBC anchor and weekend pundit Ali Velshi complaining about guns being brought in from other states.
As The 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle set up the segment, she vaguely noted that Crimo had bought his rifles "legally" without elaborating that they were bought in Illinois. She then went to Velshi who remarked that it was ironic that the gun used was already banned in that city:
And it's ironically a community in which AR-style assault weapons are not permitted. This is a community that, after Parkland, took a stand on this. They passed a municipal ordinance that not only said that those types of weapons are not allowed in this city, but it took a shot at the state government, the governor, and the legislature at the time to say, "And you should do this around the state."
He then added: "But Illinois actually has relatively strict gun laws -- so does Chicago -- but -- but guns get in from other places because there aren't hard borders between states, and that's the same problem with Highland Park. Guns get in from other places."
Again, given what was learned rather quickly about the shooter, guns coming in from states is an irrelevant point.
Journalists and other liberals like to blame the more conservative state of Indiana for crime in Illinois, which has been run by Democrats continuously since after the 2002 elections.
Velshi has a history of spreading misinformation to blame conservative states for gun crimes. Back in 2018, after a gunman made an attack in Florida with a gun he had purchased in anti-gun Maryland, Velshi used the shooting as an opportunity to rail against Florida's gun laws. He even continued to do so after being informed on air that the gun was purchased in Maryland.
In the aftermath of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Velshi also admitted to considering a boycott of Amazon because of its support of NRA TV.
This misleading segment was sponsored in part by Angi and Volvo. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC's The 11th Hour
July 5, 2022
11:02 p.m. EasternSTEPHANIE RUHLE: So far, police have not identified a motive. But they say Crimo allegedly planned the attack for weeks. He disguised himself as a woman to make his escape. Officials say he legally purchased multiple weapons, including at least two rifles before the shooting. They also revealed police had two prior contacts with the suspect. In 2019, a family member reported he had threatened to kill everyone and several knives were seized.
(....)
11:04 p.m. Eastern
ALI VELSHI: The number of people I've heard here tell me the thing that you and I have together heard in different places where people have said, "we didn't think it would happen here." And now we're finding that it's happening everywhere. We are now averaging about 12 what we call "mass shootings" a week in which more than four people are shot.
You outlined just this weekend the number of shootings that there have been. So, this is a tight-knit community. It's a suburban community, a bedroom community to Chicago. And it's ironically a community in which AR-style assault weapons are not permitted.
This is a community that, after Parkland, took a stand on this. They passed a municipal ordinance that not only said that those types of weapons are not allowed in this city, but it took a shot at the state government, the governor, and the legislature at the time to say, "And you should do this around the state." But Illinois actually has relatively strict gun laws -- so does Chicago -- but -- but guns get in from other places because there aren't hard borders between states, and that's the same problem with Highland Park. Guns get in from other places.
