Shortly before 1 PM PST today, an active shooter situation occurred at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. Multiple people were sent to area hospitals with no update thus far on casualties.
While the shooter’s motive remains unclear, an NRA ad that aired only a week ago is under renewed scrutiny. The NRA tweet, posted on March 27, 2018, slams what the organization perceives as “YouTube’s Censorship of Guns” and calls for members to “rise up in the face of censorship.”
After @YouTube said it'll ban content related to the sale or assembly of #firearms or firearms accessories, @NRAILA's @ChrisCoxNRA released a statement slamming the move as political posturing. @stinchfield1776 agrees and says #NRA members must rise up in the face of censorship. pic.twitter.com/Zt7ZGKYl3p
— NRATV (@NRATV) March 27, 2018
Grant Stinchfield, a host of NRATV, accused YouTube of removing firearm safety training videos and banning channels run by gun companies and enthusiasts. The host called for gun advocates to “fire back” against the “leftists in California” by posting a deluge of pro-gun videos. “Overwhelm” them, he says.
The incendiary rhetoric may be a possible cause for the shooting, given the tweet’s chronological proximity to the shooting.
While the NRA purports to advocate for gun safety, their inflammatory and politicized rhetoric may very well be linked to today’s devastating shooting in California.
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