Adam Rippon tweets about Parkland from PyeongChang: 'These shootings have to stop'
While most of the American stars currently competing in the Winter Olympics have remained quiet on social media in regards to the devastating mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, Adam Rippon took to the time to tweet his love from PyeongChang.
Quoting a tweet from comedian and activist, Cameron Esposito, the 28-year-old figure skater and breakout star at the 2018 Games put his moment in the spotlight into perspective on a day when 17 people lost their lives to mass murder in Parkland, Florida, at the hands of a 19-year-old armed with an AR-15.
I got asked if competing at the Olympics was the most important day in my life and the answer is no, every day is important and shouldn’t be taken for granted. These shootings have to stop. Sending love to those families hurting today. https://t.co/HGwj1cBO70
— Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) February 15, 2018
It was a simple gesture of love and support, but a meaningful one from an athlete who is currently one of the most visible sports personalities in the world. The incomparably high death toll due to gun violence in the United States has become a worldwide topic of conversation over the last few years, with charts like these tweeted and shared over and over again – every time a mass shooting is perpetrated on American soil.
Wow. Look at all these countries that don't have any mentally ill people pic.twitter.com/qdG4lG9KCb
— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) February 15, 2018
The juxtaposition of another act of domestic terrorism occurring while countries from six continents are gather together on the other side of the world in a show of global unification adds an extra layer of tragedy to one of the deadliest mass murders in American history.
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