Written by Michelle Jesse, Associate Editor on October 7, 2015
Though you might not hear this from the mainstream media (shock) it sure looks like President Obama will receive a less-than-warm welcome from the folks in Roseburg, Oregon during his visit Friday. Community leaders there have vocally expressed their opposition to have the president “come to our community and stand on the corpses of our loved ones to make some kind of political point,” noting that “it isn’t going to be well received not by our people not by our families and not even by our elected officials.”Now, the father of one of the shooting’s survivors has confirmed he and his family indeed will not meet with President Obama when he comes to town, saying they refuse to be “used as props” to support an agenda.
Via BizPacReview:
The father of one of the survivors of last week’s shooting at an Oregon college said his family has no intention of meeting with President Barack Obama when the president visits the area later this week.
Stacy Boylan, father of Umpqua Community College student Ana Boylan, openly questions Obama’s motives for coming to Roseburg — with good reason, considering the president said “we should politicize” shootings such as that which occurred last week.
Ana continues to recover after being shot in the back by the gunman. “I do believe it was Rahm Emmanuel [who] said, ‘Never let a good tragedy go to waste,’” Boylan told Fox News host Megyn Kelly in an appearance, Tuesday, on the “The Kelly File.”
Boylan, a staunch Second Amendment supporter, went on to say that Obama’s visit “is completely to support his gun control agenda.” He was also highly critical of gun-free zones, saying gunmen target these areas knowing they’re not going to be met with resistance.
“Gun-free zones are a problem, they’re an issue,” he said. “They’re a target for crazy people.”
When asked specifically if he will see Obama on Friday if the president wants to meet with families of the victims, Boylan said he has spoken to his daughter and other family members and they’ve decided that they will not be used as props to support a gun control agenda.
“On principle, I find that I am in disagreement with his policies on gun control, and therefore, we will not be attending the visit,” he replied.
It’s refreshing in these times to see someone act on principle, rather than a desire for their brush with celebrity — or the drive to politicize so transparent in our president. (Though I have to give credit where it’s due; kinda gotta hand it to President Obama for openly admitting he was going to politicize this tragedy — before he walked it back later.)
Meanwhile, has anyone heard about President Obama’s plans to visit the families of any of more than 50 people shot in Chicago — in one weekend alone? Or how about the victims of the mass shooting in Baltimore that happened yesterday?
Yeah, didn’t think so.