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Joy Reid: 'Americans Are Living Like Packs of Warlords'

Joy Reid / Getty Images
Joy Reid / Getty Images
November 6, 2017

MSNBC host Joy Reid likened Americans to "packs of warlords" on Monday in response to Sunday's church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

The shooter, identified by authorities as 26-year-old Devin Kelley, opened fire on members of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, killing at least 26 and injuring about 20 more. Kelley was found dead from a gunshot wound in his car, parked not far from the church, and it is not clear whether he shot himself or was shot by a resident who returned fire.

Reid, a vocal proponent of gun control, targeted the National Rifle Association in a series of tweets, blaming them for an "ethos that everyone is your enemy." In her telling, Americans are living as warlords because the NRA decreed it should be so through its opposition to gun control measures Reid and "the vast majority" of Americans support.

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Kelley used a Ruger AR-556 rifle in the shooting, according to authorities. It remains unclear what the shooter's motive was. Questions also remain over whether Kelley should have been able to legally purchase a gun after he was previously court-martialed, imprisoned, and discharged from the military.

The Texas shooting comes just over a month after the Las Vegas concert shooting in which Stephen Paddock killed 58 and injured 546 more. Paddock's motive was not conclusively discovered, but the shooting spurred immediate outrage directed at the NRA.