Author: BriannaLue

1. In, “Massacre Suspect Traveled the World but Lived on the Internet”,  David D. Kirkpatrick gives a Brenton a undeserving sympathetic backstory ” But after the death of his father, in 2010, the suspect’s life took him in an unexpected direction. He invested in cryptocurrency, quit his gym job and took an idiosyncratic tour through North Korea, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, France and elsewhere.” 
2. In, “Massacre Suspect Traveled the World but Lived on the Internet”,  David D. Kirkpatrick explains Brenton’s motive “He hoped “to create conflict between the two ideologies within the United States on the ownership of firearms in order to further the social, cultural, political and racial divide,” thus “ensuring the death of the ‘melting pot’ pipe dream.”
3. In, “A Mass Murder of, and for, the Internet”, Kevin Moore comments on Brenton’s internet usage. “Remember, lads, subscribe to PewDiePie,” he said.
4. In “The New Zealand Shooting Victims Spanned Generations and Nationalities” Megan Specia humanizes the victims of this massacre. “Three-year-old Mucad Ibrahim is the youngest person confirmed to have been killed in the attacks. He was at Al Noor mosque and became separated from his brother and father when the shooting began.
5. In “The New Zealand Shooting Victims Spanned Generations and Nationalities” Megan Specia humanizes the victims of this massacre. “He said ‘Mum, there’s someone come into the mosque and he’s shooting us,’” Salwa Mustafa said. “I called ‘Hamza, Hamza,’ and I can hear his little voice and after that it was quiet.”

I  headed up the stairs into Search and Destroy. It’s an amazing store that has an abundance of punk clothing and items. My words alone cannot describe how sick this place is. Not to mention the killer music playing. Anyways, two guys blocked the entrance. I shared a conversation with one who claimed his name was August Lane. Ha, yeah right! He asked me to see my board so I thought nothing of it. Just a couple of dudes chilling on a stoop. I held his drink. He dashed away. As if it was a fair trade off.

Passively I say “My, board.”

Something kicked in that I was probably about to get robbed. So I ran after him. Thinking back on it, he could’ve had a weapon. But all I could see was him stumbling on my board zooming away.

I grabbed his back. Snatched my board out of his hand. Yelled. Then we fist pumped.

I was just happy to have my board back. It was so bizarre and strange that it felt like a dream.

2a. In the narrative, Silences, Denis paints a beautiful scene of friends engaged in one another. However, this wholesome atmosphere soon turns sour. At the dinner table, the loudest thing they’d ever heard was being served. A somber voice. A pounding heart. One grandbaby hollering their lungs out. Tourettes’ Syndrome.

A shift in the power of the room is granted to Chris. He introduces his silence. “He said the most silent thing he’d ever heard was the land mine taking off his right leg outside Kabul, Afghanistan.” His vulnerability quiets the whole room. When someone blurts out something so heavy, many don’t know how to react. It puts a room in a sea of tension.

Curiosity gets the best of them. Jokes put the room at ease. “I’ll show you,” he said, “if you kiss it.” We stumble into major conflict from this point on. A new question is raised. This is the flow of Denis’s piece. An answer for every question. They started to talk about the most ridiculous things they’ve kissed. This is the second point event that leads up to the grand finale.

Chris eggs on Deidre to kiss his leg. She obliges. Everyone in the room is on the edge of their seats, awaiting. Deidre is before Chris on her bare knees staring down the stump. The reality of the situation brings her to tears.