I know that Fox News's Tucker Carlson might get mad, but the violence we've seen is all about the guns. Too many unbalanced people in the U.S. have easy access to firearms. It's not because of women, marijuana, or anger over Roe v. Wade being overturned as Fox pundits suggested. It's about guns. I don't usually mention mass shooters' names for reasons I won't get into, but in this case, it has to be done since family members are involved.
In 2019, the police were called to Robert Crimo's -- the 21-year-old Highland shooter -- home for two incidents, yet he was still able to purchase five firearms legally. At least one of those firearms was obtained with the help of Rober's father.
Crimo threatened to "kill everyone" in his home with a "collection of knives" three years before he allegedly opened fire in Highland Park, killing 7 people and injuring dozens of others.
Via The Independent:
Officers responded to the scene and found Mr. Crimo had 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword.
The knives were confiscated but officers did not arrest the suspect because no complaint was made by the alleged victims.
And yet, Crimo's uncle recently said he saw "no warning signs" that his nephew could be violent.
The threat to kill his family came five months after Highland Park Police were first called to the home in April 2019 after Crimo had tried to kill himself.
Officers responded to the address and spoke to Mr. Crimo and his parents, before referring the incident to mental health professionals, he said.
"The matter was being handled by mental health professionals at that time. There was no law enforcement action to be taken. It was a mental health issue handled by those professionals," he said.
The high school years.
There were reportedly concerns over Crimo's inclusiveness when he was in school. When the school offered resources to address that, his parents declined and decided to homeschool the troubled boy instead.
Crimo's guns.
Via NPR:
But because Crimo did not then have a FOID card – a firearm owner's identification card that is issued by Illinois State Police and required for gun ownership – nor an application to deny, the state police said, their "involvement with the matter was concluded."
Three months later, Crimo, then 19, applied for a FOID card. His father sponsored his application, and the state police approved it in January 2020.
Crimo's father is a Trump supporter that once retweeted a message that read, "Protect the Second Amendment like your life depends on it."
No warning signs.
“There weren’t really any warning signs that the family saw. They don’t know of any reason why he would have done this,” an attorney for Crimo's parents told the Chicago Tribune. “These are very loving, caring and responsible parents, and if they had had concerns they would have expressed them.”
These folks lost their lives because their lives depended on Crimo not obtaining firearms:
64-year-old Katherine Goldstein of Highland Park
35-year-old Irina McCarthy of Highland Park
37-year-old Kevin McCarthy of Highland Park
63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim of Highland Park
88-year-old Stephen Straus of Highland Park
78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza of Morelos, Mexico
A seventh person died at a hospital in Evanston Tuesday, but their identity hasn't been revealed yet.
Robert Crimo orphaned a toddler. So, f*ck the right's obsession with guns.
