Joe Biden absorbs the pain of a traumatized city in Uvalde

At the exit of the church where the democratic president, practicing Catholic, and his wife Jill Biden had just attended a mass, several voices chanted: “Do something!« . « We will do it. We will do it“, replied the president, climbed on the step of his car, turning to the people who challenged him. The couple had started their visit at Robb Elementary School, the site of one of the worst school massacres in the United States.

Nineteen children killed

Eighteen-year-old Salvador Ramos shot dead nineteen children and two teachers on Tuesday. Joe and Jill Biden laid a bouquet in front of crosses bearing the names of the victims, almost submerged in flowers, with a stuffed animal here and there. Then the couple, aching faces behind their dark glasses, reviewed a row of large photos showing the faces of the broke children, aged 9 to 11. The Bidens later spent nearly three hours with families of victims, away from cameras and view.

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Uvalde’s images bore a grim resemblance to the visit by the US president and his wife a few days ago to Buffalo, in the northeast of the country, the site of a racist massacre. Joe Biden therefore found himself immersed in mourning, with an intimate dimension. « Losing a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped out of you“, he said on Tuesday, he who lost a daughter still a baby in a car accident, and a son of cancer in adulthood. Joe Biden may have, during his long interview with them, managed to comfort the families a little.

But the 79-year-old Democrat can’t do much more, in a country where there are more guns in circulation than people. Ricardo Garcia, 47, an employee at Uvalde hospital, was working there on the day of the tragedy. « I saw terrible things. Little dead children. I can’t get my mind off the screaming of moms being told the bad news“, he says. « I’m glad (the president) is here. We are honored. But we have to stop selling weapons, period. In Texas today you can’t buy tobacco at 18, but you can have guns. It is not normal“, he adds.

“I sense a different state of mind”

Joe Biden would like to break this sinister routine of America, upset at regular intervals by shootings without significant reforms following. « I feel a different state of mind“, wanted to believe Dick Durbin, Democratic senator, questioned Sunday by CNN. The Democrats must convince some Republicans to obtain the necessary qualified majority in the Senate, and legislate at least on access to semi-automatic weapons. The task will be difficult. On Friday, tenors from the conservative camp, including former President Donald Trump, marched to the convention of the powerful pro-gun lobby NRA, rallying to the organization’s leader’s mantra. « The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.“said Wayne LaPierre.

The first testimonies of the students who came out of the school alive gave a glimpse of the nightmare. Upon entering the room, the shooter said to the children: « You are all going to die“, before opening fire, told Samuel Salinas, 10, to the ABC channel. Miah Cerrillo, 11, tried to evade the attention of Salvador Ramos by covering herself in the blood of a comrade, whose body was next to her, and pretending to be dead, it was said. she explained to CNN. She had just seen the teenager kill his teacher, after telling her « good night« .

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The emotion was also tinged with anger, about the police response which only ended the massacre after an hour. And this despite numerous calls from people in the affected classrooms, including a child pleading: “Please send the font now« . The US Department of Justice announced on Sunday that it would review this police response.

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