Trump Cites Mental Health Reform After Shootings

The Latest on President Donald Trump and the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. President Donald Trump says the nation must reform mental health laws to better identify “mentally disturbed individuals” after two mass shootings in Texas and Ohio this weekend killed at least 29 people. The Republican president avoided blaming guns for the killings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. He said at the White House on Monday, “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”

President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Ohio shooter killed his sister and eight others and wounded 27 more before he was shot dead by police. Authorities say the El Paso shooter posted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto before killing 20 and wounding 26 others and being taken into custody.

Trump blames a culture in which violent video games and “dark recesses” of social media contribute to radicalizing perpetrators of mass shootings. He did not make any mention of his own involvement in social media or his racist tweets aimed at Democratic members of Congress.

President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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10:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump is asking the Justice Department to propose legislation so that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty.

The Republican president says he wants capital punishment to be imposed swiftly against those who carry out hate crimes and mass shootings.

Trump spoke from the White House on Monday following weekend shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 29 people dead and dozens wounded.

Trump says America must stop the glorification of violence in society. He says it’s too easy for troubled youths to surround themselves with a culture of violence.

President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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10:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump is calling the recent mass shootings “evil attacks” that are crimes “against all humanity” and says unity must replace hatred in society.

Trump gave a speech from the White House on Monday following weekend shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 29 people dead and dozens wounded. He called the shootings “barbaric slaughters.”

Trump says “in one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy.”

He urges Democrats and Republicans to set aside partisanship and find solutions to violence.

President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, in Washington. Vice President Mike Pence is left. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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7:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump says Washington “must come together” in the wake of two mass shootings this weekend to “get strong background checks” for gun users. But he is providing no details on what sort of legislation he would support.

Trump, who will make remarks later Monday, tweeted about the weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio that left 29 dead and dozens wounded. He said: “We can never forget them, and those many who came before them.”

The Democrat-led House has passed a gun control bill that includes fixes to the nation’s firearm background check system, but it has languished in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Trump suggested Monday that a background check bill could be paired with his long-sought effort to toughen the nation’s immigration system. But he didn’t say how.

President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)