A GoFundMe page set up for the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the woman killed in a mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade, has caught the attention of Taylor Swift, who made donations on the page totaling $100,000 early Friday morning.
Claire McCaskill @clairecmc
As information comes forward today about underage shooters at Chief’s event yesterday…remember Missouri Republicans passed laws making it LEGAL FOR MINORS TO OPEN CARRY WEAPONS IN PUBLIC. 11:35 AM · Feb 15, 2024
Rep. Peter Merideth @PeterforMO
Right now Republicans in the MO House are fighting against an amendment that would say children can’t carry guns in public. (Yep it’s legal right now.) They’re saying it would violate the 2nd amendment to deny a 12 yr old the right to carry an AR-15 down the street. #moleg 4:56 PM · Feb 8, 2023
Rep. Peter Merideth @PeterforMO
Every MO R voted that children can carry guns in public. They voted to defund police if a cop helps stop a fed gun crime. They voted to ban a 12 year old rape victim with major health risks from having an abortion. Bills to ban mentioning racism or LGBT issues, ban drag….
[….] 8:23 PM · Feb 8, 2023
Josh Hawley @HawleyMO
Thank you to @kcpolice for their quick and courageous action this afternoon at the Chiefs parade. The criminals who did this must be brought swiftly to justice 4:07 PM · Feb 14, 2024
Interestingly, no “thoughts and prayers”.
Some of the responses on another social media platform:
The NRA paid Josh Hawley $1,391,548.00 to do NOTHING about gun violence.
[….]
So how are those lax gun laws working for your constituents Josh? You just keep running. Deplorable!
Then make a stand on the senate floor and demand gun control starts now get tough Don’t leave the floor until it gets done
That’s not on Josh Hawley’s (r) agenda. He doesn’t care for $1,391,548.00 reasons.
Yet, hawley won’t do a thing about it. The police can only react once it happens, Congress can prevent it from happening. And, btw, what a pathetic statement he put out.
You don’t care… resign you complicit pandering lying hack
How about you actually do something about gun violence? We condemn you for doing jack squat about it over and over.
And what will Josh Hawley do about gun violence?………Crickets….That’s Josh Hawley the NRA owned Senator ….
Then do something about the guns!
Your fault.
Well that will surely deter the next mass shooter.
This is the America that Trump and Republicans that work for him want: total chaos, hate and violence while Biden is POTUS. They want Dictator Trump so they can run this country like a mob boss with their organized crime gang. They do not care who they sacrifice to achieve their goal, and next time it may be someone that you love or care about that is murdered in a mass shooting.
“Hawley condemns shooting that he helped enable by opposing sensible gun laws.”
There, fixed it. Now wash the blood off your hands and do something about the country’s gun problem.
Thanks for taking a moment to condemn. Now what exactly does that do to fix what happened?
Nothing.
Just like the stench of Trump sewer you will never get the blood off your hands Josh.
That’s a lazy statement. Don’t spend too much time on this Josh, you need all your time to complain about TicTok
So much for having 800 good guys with guns around. It’s the GUNS, It’s the GUNS, It’s the GUNS, GUNS, GUNS.
It is literally the LEAST he can do. “strongly condemning” does NOTHING.
Thanks to Senator Josh Hawley, no permit is needed to buy a gun in Missouri or a permit to carry a gun.
Josh made $1.4 million from NRA in helping them push for no gun laws making Missouri a dangerous place to live.
This is #47 for mass shootings just this year thanks to Politicians like Josh .
That’s probably why him & his family don’t live in Missouri..
Just another day in America. How much did the gun industry give you to look the other way? The blood’s on your hands senator.
Hawley’s equivalent of “thoughts and prayers”. Trump tells people to just “get over it”. That’s the extent of MAGA concern about gun violence.
Gun violence is a policy choice. You put the gun in their hands.
Congressman Mark Alford
[February 14, 2024]
Please join me in praying for the people of Kansas City.
My heart is breaking watching the scenes from today’s parade. My team and I will continue to monitor the situation.
Some of the responses:
Pass reasonable gun control! Do something other than investigate! Now is the time!
“Thoughts and Prayers”, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, “Address mental health issues” are the only thing Republicans will say about gun violence. And their elected officials will do NOTHING. Pro-life, or hypocrites? #WWJD
God and guns, what could possibly be more republican that guns and God? Nothing. They, repubs, rattle off Bible verses, yammer about “family values,” and boast of burning books, cutting food aid, gutting school funding, drool at the prospect of taking away health care. And send out Christmas cards showing themselves and their spawn, armed to the teeth in front of the tree. God and guns.
You know what? I am a Christian. I believe in prayer. It’s incumbent upon me to pray without ceasing, especially these days. But YOUR JOB is to enact laws that prevent the NEED for us to keep praying for gunshot victims!!! DO IT!
I just heard on KSHB: 11 children at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Nine with gunshot wounds.
Pray all you like, but take REAL action.
Just reported, 9 children being treated, 3 in critical condition from the shooting today.
Thoughts and prayers do bubkus. The government cares more about the gun lobby than it’s citizens. Cowards!
I am just HEARTBROKEN and FURIOUS at this mass shooting in my beloved Kansas City. WTF is WRONG with us that we have some of the most wide-open gun laws in America? No, really it’s a LACK of gun laws. It’s permitless open carry here. Oh yippee…sunny 60-degree weather in the middle of February, 1 million+ people celebrating their awesome CHIEFS, back-to-back Super Bowl winners, and open gun carry…WTF could POSSIBLY GO WRONG??? A POX ON ALL YOUR HOUSES, you worthless REPUBLICAN legislators. You all should have been the ones to be shot, you idiots who refuse to do your damn jobs and tighten up the gun laws. You idiots think KC is all about God and GUNS. How on earth does anyone think GOD is for GUNS? They are LITERALLY antithetical to one another. You make it REALLY hard not to hate you. Hate is wrong, and God forgive me, but if ANYONE deserves our hate it’s our asinine MO legislators who need to do something to get this gun violence under control. This is ALL YOUR FAULT. I want to love everyone, and I will be working on forgiving you for failing us so dismally, but you deserve to be the ones who are shot in the next mass shooting because another one IS INEVITABLE!!! Maybe if you or someone YOU love got shot, you would finally take this seriously. I pray for your souls because at least one death and all this blood is on your hands.
Gee, if only Mark Alford (r) knew someone with the power to do anything truly effective about fixing this. Instead, all we get is performative bullshit.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the PAC gathering signatures for an initiative to place women’s reproductive rights, women’s health care, and access to abortion on the ballot, and their allies held volunteer training, petition signings, and rallies across locations in Missouri Tuesday evening.
Hartzell Gray acted as the master of ceremonies for the Kansas City rally.
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I believe that we will win.
Hartzell Gray’s introduction:
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Listen. To. The. Whole. Thing.
“End the Abortion Ban. Join the Fight.”
At the conclusion of the rally:
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Hartzell Gray: ….We realize that the task ahead may appear a bit daunting. However, this room has the most important role in this campaign. You are the hearts and the soul of this campaign. You represent the majority of us. Don’t get that twisted. When they say a bunch of nonsense, no, this is a majority of us. [applause] And by the way, a super majority of the state population that knows that abortion care is health care and health care is a human right. [applause] We know that we are stronger together. We are stronger than the anti-abortion politicians, the ghouls, in Jeff City. They fought us at every step. Because they’re scared. They don’t want this smoke. [voices: “um, hum.” “Right.”] Thay are scared of what the people in this room and of what the people at the ballot box are going to do. Not what we can do, what we are going to do. [applause] They are scared of our power….
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the PAC gathering signatures for an initiative to place women’s reproductive rights, women’s health care, and access to abortion on the ballot, and their allies held volunteer training, petition signings, and rallies across locations in Missouri Tuesday evening.
Dr. Iman Alsaden, Chief Medical Officer, Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
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Dr. Iman Alsaden: …I became an abortion provider to listen to and trust patients, to help ensure that they have the space to be held when the world has told them they are wrong, when the world has told them they are mad, and when they have limited options to receive excellent medical care.
[….]
…I have witnessed continued attacks on our rights, followed by the complete loss of abortion access here in Missouri. It’s devastating to see firsthand how abortion bans have gotten in the way of people’s ability to get the care that they need when they need it.
And now I watch every day as anti-abortion politicians and protesters try to tell patients what is right for them and what is good for them when in fact they are endangering the lives of these patients.
Because of Missouri’s abortion bans I often see patients in our Kansas health centers who have had to travel hours, take time of off work, find childcare to access the health care that should be available to them within their own communities, where they call home. And those people who can make it to a health center in a state like, and those are people who can actually make it to a health center in a state like Kansas. Because for every patient I do see I think of those who couldn’t overcome the physical or financial burden to reach the care that they need.
These are people who cannot get what they need at home, in their communities. People who can’t confide in a neighbor or a friend in a time of need due to the fear of prosecution or retribution. Now, it’s time to change that.
As a state we are living the reality of the ripple effect of abortion bans. We know that when abortion is inaccessible the health and well-being of all people suffers. Pregnant people get sicker when all health care options are not available to them. Our home here in Missouri has become a scary place, a dangerous place. Made so by politicians who think they know better than we do, who think their beliefs should control our futures.
In a country with expert comprehensive health care this devastating reality does not have to be our future.
Every person, everyone, deserves the freedom to make their own decisions, right here, at home. Where we live. Without the interference of politicians. And everyone has always deserved that.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the PAC gathering signatures for an initiative to place women’s reproductive rights, women’s health care, and access to abortion on the ballot, and their allies held volunteer training, petition signings, and rallies across locations in Missouri yesterday evening.
Rabbi Doug Alpert, Congregation Kol Ami, spoke at the evening rally in Kansas City.
Rabbi Doug Alpert, Congregation Kol Ami.
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Rabbi Doug Alpert: ….Being in this space, being space with really good people is what keeps me sane during insane times. But most of all, being here tonight gives me hope. It is good to be, be together tonight, this evening, to work for justice, for abortion access, and freedom for patients to make their own decisions about health care, about pregnancy, abortion, birth control, and life-saving decisions around miscarriage care and pregnancy complications. [applause]
[….]
…I had the honor of speaking at the Kansas City version of the Women’s March back in twenty-seventeen, representing the Jewish community. I can’t believe since twenty-seventeen. It is a marathon and not a sprint, isn’t it? [voices: “Yeah.”] Isaid back then that it would be women, those that led us in the march, who are gonna lead us out of this mess we are in and lead us to a more just and free State of Missouri and a more just a free country. I haven’t changed my mind about that since then….
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the PAC gathering signatures for an initiative to place women’s reproductive rights, women’s health care, and access to abortion on the ballot, and their allies held volunteer training, petition signings, and rallies across locations in Missouri yesterday evening.
Reverend Holly McKissick, Peace Church UCC, spoke at the evening rally in Kansas City.
Rev. Holly McKissick, Peace Church UCC.
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Rev. Holly McKissick: …I am actually here because of my faith. My tradition has been on record supporting abortion rights since nineteen-seventy-one. And that support is grounded in this truth, that we are created in God’s image and we are given agency and autonomy over our bodies. We are created to love with our heart and soul and mind. And that means using our mind to make our decisions about our bodies and what is best for us. [applause]
And we are here tonight because we know that these freedoms are guaranteed in our Constitution, that our Constitution protects not just freedom of religion, but freedom from religion. [applause]
[….]
…people who are turned away from abortion care suffer. They suffer emotionally, they suffer socially, they suffer financially, and they suffer physically. Because this state has enacted abortion bans that are not just punitive and punishing, they are dangerous. We have people in our own state right now who are having their care denied, deferred, delayed. We have people who have life-threatening pregnancy complications who cannot get care because doctors are afraid of being persecuted or prosecuted.
And tonight we are all here to say, hell no. [applause]….
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the PAC gathering signatures for an initiative to place women’s reproductive rights, women’s health care, and access to abortion on the ballot, and their allies held volunteer training, petition signings, and rallies across locations in Missouri this evening.
Several hundred individuals showed up in Kansas City.
Indoors:
Signing the initiative petition.
There was an army of volunteers in the parking lot organized to gather “drive-up” signatures from individuals waiting in long queues of vehicles:
A volunteer:
Before the rally:
Sign the petition. Then find a dozen friends and family and have them sign the petition.
