The July 4th shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, has joined a list of seemingly more frequent mass shootings in America. Commenting to WXYZ TV in Detroit, Ford School professor of practice Javed Ali commented, "Every time one of these happens, it is tragic. We shouldn’t have to accept this as a country. We can do better."
He suggested that private social media companies could delete material that repeatedly is connected to violence against innocents. “With the more recent attacks, time and time again, these shooters are active way more in the online world than they are in the physical,” Ali said.
Speaking to CBS Radio in Chicago, Ali addressed the number 47, which the accused gunman used in social media posts before the shooting. "4-7 could be 7-4, equaling July 4th - the known date of his planned attack, which actually happened," Ali said. However, the number 47 does not overtly connect to known symbols or artifacts in the white supremacy or neo-Nazi movement and world. That doesn't mean that they have meanings in other issues or disciplines, but at least when it comes to terrorism, there's nothing that overtly stood out to me."
- What was significance of Highland Park parade shooting suspect's affinity to number 47, and inverse 7-4?, CBS Chicago, July 6, 2022
- War veteran among those feeling unnerved by trend of mass shootings in America, WXYZ, July 5, 2022
