CRISIS/GUNS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Monday [10-2-17] called the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500 ‘an act of pure evil,’ as he delivered somber and largely apolitical remarks about the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history…
Trump announced that he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday, where he will meet with first responders, law enforcement officials and families of victims. The president praised the ‘miraculous’ work of authorities and pledged that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security would work closely with the local investigation into the shooting.
Trump also issued a proclamation ordering U.S. flags be flown at half-staff for the remainder of the week, matching an order from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who ordered that flags at the Capitol be flown at half-staff as well.
Law enforcement officials in Las Vegas said the gunman, a white man identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire late Sunday night from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on a country music festival. Roughly 22,000 people were at the concert…
The shooting is already spurring renewed calls from Democrats for gun control, a political challenge for Trump, who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association, and Republicans who control both chambers of Congress.”
-Louis Nelson, “Trump calls Las Vegas shooting an ‘act of pure evil’,” Politico, Oct. 2, 2017 12:25pm