The highly debated issue of gun violence and reform has come into play again following the recent shooting in Indianapolis. President Joe Biden has once again called to take action following the incident.
Biden stressed the importance of taking action in order to mitigate gun violence following the recent shooting in Indianapolis that killed eight people last week. Biden said that he had been informed of the details of the incident and described the issue as an “epidemic.” The US leader’s comments come as the FBI was revealed to have interviewed the suspect, 19-year-old Brandon Hole, in 2020 after his mother called law enforcement saying that her son may “commit suicide by cop.”
“Too many Americans are dying every single day from gun violence,” said Biden. “It stains out character and pierces the very soul of our nation,” Biden ordered the flags at the White House to be at half-staff in honor of the victims.
The coroners released the names of the victims. Four of whom were from the Sikh community, marking another attack on the Asian American community since the shooting in Atlanta, where six of the eight victims were of Asian descent.
Hole began to open fire at random at the car park at the FedEx facility Thursday, killing four people before entering the building. Hole then killed four more people inside before turning the firearm on himself. It has yet to be determined if Hole legally owned the firearm.
In other news, Biden joined his former colleague and predecessor Barack Obama in a one-hour-long special on NBC titled “Roll Up Your Sleeves” to promote getting vaccinated for COVID-19. Biden urged Americans who are hesitant to get vaccinated to do so and for those who are planning to get vaccinated to make sure they “follow through.”
The tv special comes the day before all Americans 16 years old and up would now become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. An administration official shared that the White House is planning a media blitz Monday to raise awareness about eligibility for the vaccines. Part of this media blitz would target Black, Latino, and rural communities, as well as interviews in the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, Telemundo, and All Ag News.