Many people were quick to take to social media to react to the Sunday shooting at a gaming event in Jacksonville, Florida.
While many public figures offered thoughts and prayers and expressed their sadness at the day’s events, some leftists were quick to politicize the event.
The gaming event was a “Madden NFL 19” tournament.
Shots were heard at the event and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department reported that there were “multiple fatalities” — including a suspected shooter.
The tournament was sanctioned by EA Sports and the company was quick to respond to the day’s events.
“We are aware of an incident at a sanctioned Madden Championship Series competition in Jacksonville. We are working with authorities to gather facts at this stage,” read a tweet from the company’s official Twitter page.
Related: Three Dead Following Video Game Tournament Shooting in Jacksonville
Tim Tebow, who is from Jacksonville, responded publicly to the shooting.
“Praying for my city of Jacksonville!” the football star-turned-baseball star wrote on Twitter.
Praying for my city of Jacksonville!
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) August 26, 2018
Pro-gamers also expressed shock and shared their condolences through social media.
My heart goes out to the family, friends and people affected by the madden shooting today. Evil times we live in, just need to out shine that evil with positivity.
Love you all
— Ninja (@Ninja) August 26, 2018
Just heard about what happened at the Madden event.
Unbelievable.
My heart goes out to all the people and families involved.
— Dr DisRespect (@DrDisRespect) August 26, 2018
European Pro-gamer Tass went political with his statement.
America – sort your gun control laws out, it’s becoming beyond ridiculous now, prayers to the Madden pros who are there to play a game of Madden, not what they ended up experiencing..
— Tass (@FaZeTass) August 26, 2018
Comedian Tony Posnanski, who has over 130,000 Twitter followers, took major swipes at America and President Donald Trump in his public statements.
Other countries have mental illness
Other countries have video games
Other countries have violent movies
Other countries have arguments…
Other countries also have gun control
And that is the difference in the thousands of lives that have been murdered in America.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) August 26, 2018
Trump doesn’t care about people, he cares about an agenda.
And I promise if the Jacksonville shooter’s name was Juan or Muhammad he would have already tweeted about it.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) August 26, 2018
“The Big Sick” star Kumail Nanjiani even managed to bring national anthem kneeling into his public statement.
A man, using a gun, murdered people at a Madden tournament. Can’t wait for kneeling football players to be blamed.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) August 26, 2018
“A man, using a gun, murdered people at a Madden tournament. Can’t wait for kneeling football players to be blamed,” the filmmaker wrote.
Other celebrities pushed similar political statements through Twitter.
It’s happened again in Florida. At least 4 dead. At least 11 injured.
Florida’s primary elections are Tuesday. #Vote.
Honor these victims by voting for candidates that reject the @NRA.
Be a hero. #JacksonvilleLanding #NoRA
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) August 26, 2018
A white male opened fire yesterday & American families are mourning the senseless loss of loved ones. Others are fighting for their lives in hospitals.
Trump remains silent, golfs & boasts about his approval numbers.
Radical Domestic Terrorism.https://t.co/G4TIOuRsHy
— Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) August 27, 2018
Remember when @realDonaldTrump had a gun summit with Parkland families at the White House & promised only he could fix this but then he dined with @NRA lobbyist Chris Cox who'd given his campaign 30-100 million of Russian mob money so he did nothing? I do #TheHuntForTheTrumpTapes https://t.co/JCgV6CIXqc
— Tom Arnold (@TomArnold) August 26, 2018
Read below. 4 dead and 10 injured in Florida today. No Congressperson is a hero who takes millions from the NRA. Florida primaries are TUESDAY. Please vote and choose wisely. https://t.co/bnXYpmSfj9
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) August 26, 2018
Taking national tragedies and twisting them into political narratives is nothing new for the leftists in Hollywood.
So it is clear — given past events, given liberal leanings, and given their past behavior on so many fronts — that we should expect much, much more from aggressive liberals in the public eye as more information about this event in Jacksonville is revealed.
On Sunday, the shooter was identified by Jacksonville authorities as 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore, Maryland.
Katz himself was competing in the tournament — but his motive in firing multiple shots in the crowded bar where the event was being held was not known initially.
“Multiple fatalities at the scene, many transported,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office wrote on Twitter Sunday afternoon.
A witness told Fox News on Sunday that the suspect competed in the tournament and that he “went crazy and started shooting up the room” after he lost.
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