Both Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Democrat candidate Andrew Yang (D) agree that public officials and media should work to refrain from publicizing the names of mass shooters after such tragedies take place.
Yang took to Twitter Monday and expressed his desire to “explore not publicizing the identities or motivations of mass shooters.” He said it could “discourage those seeking notoriety” but acknowledged that it would be extremely difficult to make it a reality. His tweet followed the tragic shooting that rocked the Midland-Odessa region of Texas over the weekend, leaving seven dead and 25 more injured:
Cruz concurred, retweeting Yang’s thoughts alongside his own.
“I agree. Of course, law enforcement must investigate. But public officials & media (to the extent possible) should NEVER SAY THEIR NAME,” Cruz wrote.
“These murderers crave notoriety, but they deserve to be forgotten,” he added. “Instead, we should celebrate the victims, the first responders & the heroes”:
Yang’s tweet was, perhaps, inspired by Odessa police chief Michael Gerke, who refused to name the gunman during a press conference Sunday.
“You’ll notice that I’m not naming this subject. I refuse to,” Gerke said.
“I’m not going to give him any notoriety for what he did,” he continued. “We’ll provide that information to you but not in this public space”:
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