EDITORIAL: Response to Providence Shooting: Silly Tweets and, Oh Yes, Accountability

EDITORIAL: Response to Providence Shooting: Silly Tweets and, Oh Yes, Accountability

Lost in the shootings in Providence over the past few days are the grim realities of a capital city that is failing to provide safety or a sense of safety for its residents and visitors.

While Thursday night’s shootout in which 9 men were wounded got the big headlines, the other murder and the shootings across the city got far less attention.  Two additional murders in Pawtucket may be related to some of the gang violence.

One of the shootings in which two were shot was in front of a playground at 3 pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The response has been inept -- both by elected officials and the courts.

Governor Dan McKee tweeted on Sunday, “We are devastated by the acts of violence in our capital city. We must come together to support gun violence prevention programs, resources for young people, and common-sense gun safety legislation. Every Rhode Islander deserves to feel safe in the community they call home.”

We asked McKee which pieces of “common-sense gun safety legislation” would have had an effect on the shootings between the gangs or would have minimized the murders, McKee's office would not say.

Not one of the guns was likely to be legally owned. These folks don't have carry permits, many could not pass a background check, and there was no seven-day waiting period for these guys.  Those laws may help with some gun purchases, but not this group.

On Sunday GoLocal asked McKee twice and on Monday, asked a couple more times for the Governor to explain.

At the end of the day, GoLocal received from McKee’s office the following — no reference to any specific legislation, but at least something.

“We need to address the epidemic of gun violence on multiple fronts – legislation, like the bills the Governor supports, is one component of a comprehensive approach to keeping guns off the streets. We must hold accountable people who commit acts of gun violence, but we must also work to create preventative strategies to keep our young people from resorting to criminal activity. We are in the midst of conversations with Rhode Island State Police and other stakeholders to address ways we can support our young people – including investing in education, expanding access to mentoring programs, and strengthening partnerships with organizations like the Nonviolence Institute to create jobs and opportunity and break cycles of systemic racism," his office supplied. 

Among his comments, McKee says that those shooting each other need to be held accountable. Great, well that's a start. Accountability is good.

That brings us over to the charging and arrest of some of Thursday’s shooters. One of the four who was charged was out on a $10,000 surety bond within hours— meaning if he used a bail bondsman it was $500, or no bail bondsman, he had to put down a cool $1,000 in order to get back to the streets.

Wow. What a message. 

Eleven wounded, three more dead, a sense of safety ruined across the area, beleaguered police, and what we got is we are holding a cool grand of one of the shooters.

Ah, accountability.