By Charlotte Byus
This past week my daughter and two grandson’s have witnessed the harassment of local and international media. Both grandsons attended Santa Fe schools for many years. Yes, they knew the children and teachers. They were friends of the older siblings and parents. On the morning of the shooting, Jon was on the way to work, called his Mom, “something is wrong, police are driving crazy everywhere.” She called him back and told him what was happening and told him to try to get out of the way or off the road. The rest of the day was horrible for the families of Santa Fe.
What makes it worse is the media. Most of us have not been in the situation that these people of Santa Fe are part of. Most of us have not had a reporter chase us with a phone or mic in their hand and a large camera running right behind the reporter. Most of these children are trying to place a flower and start the process of understanding when it is interrupted by people chasing them down.
Several members of the media have roamed the streets of Santa Fe looking for people out in their yards to swoop down on them.
The other night a group of town people got together to protect their children. They are standing guard at the school with umbrellas to stop the media from coming close so the children can start this process. There are clergy on site to assist the families and they are being harassed when they approach a family. People that are not from the area are there to be on TV for their one minute of fame.
The young man who did this lives across the street from our other daughter’s best friends parents. She was unable to get home that day until very late in the evening. My understanding is these children were not in a good home most of their lives. Some of the stories told were very sad and dishearten.
Finally the FBI asked the media to leave. Most did, then there are the vultures heading for the funerals. Please, pray for these families.
[5-28-2018]
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