The United States saw an increase in mass murder rates, which peaked last August, with an attack in El Paso, Texas, and only a few hours later until Dayton, Ohio, witnessed another attack. A debate about the catalysts that led to the escalation of these crimes, and even some American media have raised the important question after the shootings in Texas and Ohio, is: Why the United States witnessed random killings daily, the richest country in the world?

Mounting indicators

The follow-up to the mass killings that the United States has witnessed since the beginning of this year has turned out to be a bloody year, given the statistics on the numbers, average daily occurrence, and casualties. Two random shootings, which killed nearly 20 people in El Paso, Texas, and about 10 in Dayton, Ohio, were only 24 hours apart in early August 2019, followed by two similar incidents. The shooting in Chicago killed about three people and injured 37, making August the deadliest and most violent in 2019, with mass killings killing nearly 53 people this month alone.

Looking at the statistics released by GVA Gun Violence Archive in September 2019, a non-governmental organization that monitors city and state shootings throughout the year, the United States has witnessed mass killings of between 283 and 292 shootings. Since the beginning of the year, with an average of one or more incidents per day. These incidents resulted in about 1,300 deaths.

In this context, the definition of mass murder, according to GVA, refers to a shooting incident that kills four or more people, other than the perpetrator, at the same time and place.

Comparing the statistics on mass killings this year, compared to the previous two years, it can be said that this year has achieved high rates of mass killings, almost close to the rates witnessed by the United States in 2017 and 2018, which amounted to about 346 and 340 incidents, respectively. The year 2016 is still the deadliest in the past decade, to the present moment, with 382 random shootings.

Multiple stimuli

The shootings in Texas and Ohio last month, just a few hours apart, highlight the mass killings in the United States and their worsening rates in the last 10 years, raising questions about the catalysts. Especially since Islamophobia is no longer the only explanation for the rising rates of mass murder, it is believed that mass killings, or “hate crimes,” as they are called in the US media, are mainly attributed to a number of factors that have been variables. new Since Donald Trump came to power, which ushered in a rise in hate speech against immigrants in the United States, of all backgrounds and religions, there has been a proliferation of violent online games, social media and related live streaming services that have been used more than once to portray suicide. Mass killings, and thus the emergence of the "simulation" or "imitation" factor, are among the factors and causes of the widespread prevalence of mass killings. Hence, a number of reasons can be cited as follows:

1- The culture of “carrying arms”:

According to opinion polls conducted by Pew Research Center in 2017, the results showed that approximately 40% of respondents said they own a weapon, or a family member, and according to surveys conducted by the Center, the age group 18-29 years is the most supportive The right of the individual to possess weapons. The results also showed that about one-third of respondents over the age of 50 had a weapon, while adolescent possession rates were declining (only 28% owned a weapon) and that white men were the most possessed. Statistics show that although Americans make up less than 5% of the world's population, they own about 45% of all firearms scattered around the world.

The rise of hate speech

A 2015 Pew survey of respondents from several countries to publish a speech that showed hatred or hostility towards minority communities on social media showed that about 67% of US respondents showed support for the right to publish Publicly include leaflets that attack or offend minorities and other nationalities in American society. Not only has the hate speech spread among the informal circles, but it has also spread to official circles since Trump took office.To contemplate many of the president's statements and tweets, he notes that many racist words, abuse and discrimination against immigrants are used, and perhaps even incited against them. Perhaps one of these crude statements to Trump in early 2018 focused on describing African countries, and by extension African immigrants to the United States, as scum, he said.

Trump's racist rhetoric about immigrant status in the United States has fueled hate speech among American citizens, not only against immigrants of Arab and Muslim origin, but against immigrants in general.

In this context, we can refer to the statement published by the perpetrator of the shooting incident in Texas in August, in which he revealed his intention to carry out the attack in response to the Spanish invasion of Texas. In addition to the growing hostility towards the Jewish community in the United States, for example, on August 19, the US authorities announced the arrest of a man who threatened to shoot at a Jewish center in Ohio. James Reddon, 20, posted an online video A man shoots, under which he wrote a commentary pointing to the Youngstown Center north of Pittsburgh.

Trump, however, showed a retreat, or rather a softening of his racist tone, after the Texas and Ohio incidents, in which he criticized the ideology of white supremacy and demanded the death penalty for hate crimes.

3. The US Law Crisis

Following a mass murder, there is controversy over the crisis of US laws and its leniency in granting citizens a license to carry weapons. Some suggest that buying a weapon in the United States is a simple matter that requires only the declaration of an identity card, to record the purchaser's details, and the number of the weapon he wants to buy. The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the US Constitution for self-defense purposes. In one of its direct repercussions, this leniency has led to an increase in the incidence of firearm-related crime, which amounted to about 68% of all crimes committed in 2014 alone.

The United States, according to many statistics, is at the top of the list of countries with high rates of shootings, estimated at six times the rate of shootings in Canada, and about seven times the rate in Sweden. Thus, the United States tops the list of developed countries with high crime rates, whether committed with firearms or otherwise.

Trump has promised to discuss and revise arms-bearing laws following the Las Vegas massacre, which killed nearly 59 people, in October 2017.Trump renewed these promises following a shooting incident in West Texas early last month. However, the debate and debate over the revision of the laws of arms escalates at the time of the crisis, but they soon subsided after the passage of time.

Media Coverage of Crimes

Some argue that the attention given to the crime, whether it is committed with a firearm or any other weapon, by the media, as well as social media sites, stimulates the imitation of such crimes, especially in the case of shootings at schools carried out by adolescents. There are statistics indicating that following media coverage of a student shooting incident, Nicholas Cruz, indiscriminately shooting that killed 17 students and staff in February 2018, around 638 attempts were made to imitate the incident, which targeted many schools and spread in the form of jokes or tricks on the media. Social Media. Although a joke, it highlights the impact of simulation and tradition in raising rates of shootings, especially among teenagers in American schools, not to mention the impact of the proliferation of violent video games.

In conclusion, the rapid pace of mass killings in the United States over the past few years and the very short time-frame separating one incident from the other confirm that crime rates are on the rise, especially given a well-established culture of individual right to Weapons for self-defense, laws that facilitate gun ownership, as well as liquidity, media flow, the proliferation of social media, and violent games that reinforce the desire to emulate crimes, play on three strings: hatred of the other (ie immigrant), love of adventure, The pursuit of fame.

45%

Of the total firearms scattered around the world, Americans own them, although they represent less than 5%.

638

Trying to mimic an accident, many schools were targeted and spread in the form of jokes or tricks on social media.

67%

Americans support the right of an individual to publicly publish leaflets of attack or abuse to minorities and other nationalities.

68%

Percentage of firearm-related offenses, of total offenses committed in 2014 alone.