Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry appeared in a video that admonishes the parenting of minors who commit dangerous crimes after a 17-year-old reportedly went on a shooting rampage at the Mall of Louisiana.
The viral video was posted to X by user TaraBull, and features the governor making various remarks about steps that should be taken in these events. Commenters took to the replies to share their opinions on the situation, with some calling his verbiage racist.
In the above video, Governor Landry can be heard saying, “This is the kind of violence that we end up with when we engage in those kinds of policies. And I’m asking the legislation to go back and look at the laws. In fact, people that go into common places and decide to engage in that kind of violence, we should put them away for life. I’m done with them. It doesn’t matter how old they are. Somebody has failed. It’s not the government’s job to raise these people.”
An image posted below the video gives additional details into the suspect involved in the shooting, saying, “Markel Lee, 17 years of age, turned himself in to local authorities and is currently in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Charges: 1st Degree Murder, 5 cts of Attempt 1st Degree Murder, and 1 ct of Illegal Use of a Weapon.”
Reactions to Government Landry’s Statement Concerning Shooting at Local Mall
Commenters quickly took to the comments to share their opinion on the situation, with some condemning the fact that the minor was able to acquire a weapon at all. One person wrote, “Why do they give possession of gvns to almost everyone? They should start from limiting access first.”
Another set of comments focused on the verbiage used by the Governor, with some perceiving it as racist. At this, one person wrote, “Saying “ this people” is racist. He will never say that if the gentleman was white. I abhor violence. Racism increases the tendencies of people to go violent. The governor is a silly man.“
In response to another angle of the same video, some commenters focused on how to prevent situations like this from happening again in the future, with one person writing, “No point dwelling on what already happened , focus on how to prevent it from happening again in the future.”
Currently, it is unclear what steps are being taken by the state of Louisiana to prevent such an event from happening again.
