WORLD / AMERICAS
Fatal mass shooting, car crashing in Texas over weekend reveal disorder in US social governance
Published: May 08, 2023 07:14 PM Updated: May 08, 2023 07:11 PM
People gather during a rally decrying rising gun violence while urging politicians to take action in Washington, D.C., the United States, June 11, 2022.(Photo: Xinhua)

People gather during a rally decrying rising gun violence while urging politicians to take action in Washington, D.C., the United States, June 11, 2022.(Photo: Xinhua)

The frequent shootings and immigration problems in the US reveal the disorder of social governance in the country, as well as the incompetence of the US government, experts said after a gunman shot and killed eight people and wounded at least seven others at a busy mall north of Dallas, Texas on Saturday, and a driver plowed into a group outside a shelter that had been housing migrants in a Texas border town on Sunday.

Local media outlets reveal that authorities are investigating whether the gunman was motivated by right-wing extremism. While authorities have not determined a specific motive, a source said the deceased suspect was found with insignia on his clothing that read "RWDS," which authorities believe may stand for "Right Wing Death Squad," according to CNN.

In addition to the AR-15-style weapon found near the shooter, he had at least one other weapon on him. Police also found multiple weapons in his car.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the US, with at least 198 so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Later on Sunday, seven people were found dead after a driver attacked a non-profit homeless shelter, which had been helping house migrants, with 10 taken to hospital, Martin Sandoval, a Brownsville police spokesperson, told CNN. Unfortunately, an eighth person died due to injuries from the crash, CNN reported.

Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, according to the Associated Press.

Video footage posted online showed crowds of people at the scene while clothes and other personal items were strewn all over the road. Several people appeared to be tending to an individual who was lying on a grassy area.

Experts believed that the immigration issue in the US is more about security and integration while the gun problems are more about direct physical threat. "It is ironic that the US, which is facing chaos at home, sees itself as a model of democracy abroad," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, said on Monday.

There are legal, political and social factors that influence the problem of gun violence. In other words, it was a very complex combination of factors that caused problems in the American system that could never be overcome, Li said.

In theory, governments are supposed to protect citizens, but in reality, citizens are always the victims in the US. However, the current regime power structure of the US makes the current gun control tragedy and immigration problems in the US insurmountable, experts warned.