”The only way that I can put into context that you might understand is that my brother went to war tonight with the people, the government that was putting torment and strife into his life. He has spoke on it as best he could in the courts, and they denied all rights to the access of protection and he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue,” Gerald Thornton said.Laurie Waters is interviewing people and talking about how the "people here feel so disenfranchised" and they understand why he committed mass murder. She doesn't talk about black people, and she doesn't make reference to the color of the gunman, or the color of his victims, (I am assuming that Mayor Swoboda is white, everyone in Poland is). but the brother of the deceased is black, which is one of those things you can see with your eyes.”I can’t change it. The thing that I can say is that he went to war with the people that were causing strife in his life and he ended it,” said Thornton.[Gunman’s relative: ”My brother went to war” | Top Stories | KMOV.com | St. Louis, MO]
The same reporter also apparently interviewed people in the community after the random killing of white police officer Sergeant Bill McEntee. Apparently locals "understood" that was wrong, too, but also linked it with some kind of oppression.
