President Joe Biden left the White House Tuesday evening for his long Thanksgiving vacation in Nantucket, with no plans to visit the victims of the horrific killing of families at the Waukesha Christmas Parade earlier this week.
Six people were killed at the annual parade on Sunday after the driver of an SUV intentionally drove into a crowd of people watching the parade.
Five adults were killed and authorities announced Tuesday that an eight-year-old boy died from his injuries. At least 60 others were injured. Police arrested Darrell E. Brooks Jr., 39, for the attack.
The White House did not announce any plans for the president to visit the grieving Waukesha community.
“You saw the President speak to, you know his heart, all of our hearts go out to the community, the families who have suffered a tremendous tragedy… But I don’t have any trips or anything to preview for you at this point,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during the daily briefing on Tuesday.
Instead, Biden left early to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family in Nantucket on a $30 million estate owned by David Rubenstein, the co-founder of the Carlyle Group.
The president waited several hours to react to the Christmas parade attack, until finally calling it a “horrific act of violence” on Monday afternoon, offering prayers from his family for the victims.
Biden reacted differently when eight people were shot and killed at spas in Atlanta, directing that flags be lowered to half-mast to mourn the victims. In March, Biden visited the city to condemn the “skyrocketing” hate crimes against Asian-Americans.
“Our silence is complicity,” he said during his remarks in Atlanta. “We cannot be complicit. We have to speak out. We have to act.”
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