The Texas Tribune is downplaying the insanity of the El Paso mass shooter.

In an article titled “Greg Abbott invoked mental illness after the El Paso shooting. There’s been no indication that was a factor”, the Tribune tried to spin a politically correct narrative on the El Paso shooting.

The Tribune played their first PC card by invoking race in one of their tweets promoting the article.

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It tweeted, “A white gunman killed 22 Hispanic shoppers at an El Paso Walmart and injured another two dozen. Trump was quick to highlight mental health issues. There’s been no indication that was a factor.”

The response on Twitter was fierce.

One poster said “Sure, perfectly sane individuals mow down crowds of people all the time. SMH.”

Sure, perfectly sane individuals mow down crowds of people all the time. SMH

— Kenric Ward (@Kenricward) August 8, 2019

Another poster said, “Texas Tribune you have said some really ridiculous things in the past, but this one hands-down tops them all. You discredit journalism, fairness, balance, and non-objectivity with this insane line. At least with a newspaper I could still wrap fish.”

Texas Tribune you have said some really ridiculous things in the past, but this one hands-down tops them all. You discredit journalism, fairness, balance, and non-objectivity with this insane line. At least with a newspaper I could still wrap fish.

— Bernabe Covarrubias (@benfcova) August 8, 2019

The Tribune covered one of Abbott’s speeches on mental health following the shooting.

Abbot declared that “Bottom line is mental health is a large contributor to any type of violence or shooting violence, and the state of Texas this past session passed a lot of legislation and provided funding for the state to better address that challenge.”

The Tribune described the El Paso shooting as “an act of domestic terrorism fueled by a white supremacist ideology.”

It also highlighted how U.S. congresswoman Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso was “visibly stiffened, shaking her head slightly” when Abbott discussed the topic of mental health.

At a vigil in El Paso, Escobar went off on people who bring up mental illness as a factor contributing to mass shootings:

“I would also call on those who use mental illness as an excuse to please stop. Please stop. It further stigmatizes those who truly suffer from mental illness, and the fact of the matter is people with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violent crime, not perpetrators.”

The Tribune spent the rest of its time in the article focusing on racism and the lack of gun safety as the primary factors behind mass shootings like the one in El Paso.

It highlighted at the end how one woman at a vigil “held up a sign written in bold, red marker: “Racism is not mental illness.””

Although mass shootings are sensitive matters, we must have frank discussions that deal with uncomfortable topics.

Saying that certain topics like mental health are off limits will not get us anywhere.

The shooter’s manifesto was filled with rants ranging from topics such as environmentalism to which firearms are most effective for killing Hispanic immigrants. This indicates that he was already going insane. At the end of the day, sane people don’t kill 22 people in cold blood.

The Tribune should take that into consideration the next time it tries to turn this into a discussion about race.

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