Episode 52

Episode 52

Update: 2015-09-2045
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Description

It's one thing to talk about gun violence, it's quite another to see it up close on live television. In this episode of Sword and Scale we take you back to one of the first examples of a life being lost on live television: the suicide of Budd Dwyer, an American politician who had been convicted of bribe receiving. However, before his sentence of 55 years' imprisonment and a $300,000 fine could be imposed Dwyer chose to take his life with a blued Smith & Wesson Model 27 .357 Magnum revolver at a press conference he had himself called. A few weeks ago we were once again exposed to a display of gun violence on live television, when disgruntled reporter Vester Lee Flanagan II who also went by the alias, Bryce Williams, shot and killed a young reporter and cameraman and injured a third innocent woman. The media has refused to show the footage of this killing, giving one reason or another for their censorship of newsworthy information. ABC News and the local Sheriff's department have also refused to release the killer's 23-page manifesto despite the Freedom of Information Act, citing some nonsense about glorifying the killer. They have, on the other hand, provided 24-hour news coverage about the event and named the killer repeatedly. The father of the reporter that was killed, Andy Parker, has vowed to shame lawmakers into creating some meaningful legislation rather than kowtowing to the NRA's lobbyists. In his words, "We’ve got to do something about crazy people getting guns."
Comments (9)

Asia Nichole

Seems like words do hurt people— severely.

Mar 24th
Reply

Brandon Goter

I've seen this video it's fucked up

Sep 18th
Reply

Carolyn Hochlowski

I don’t want to hear 10 minutes about how nice they were, tell us why they got killed and the situation before and after the crime!! Jeez!

Sep 4th
Reply (1)

Sean Schneider

Is this where that song "Hey Man Nice Shot" by Filter came from?

Jul 19th
Reply (1)

Cynthia

Guns Don't Kill People

Nov 5th
Reply (1)

Augmented Reality

I remember vividly the suicide of Bud Dwyer. It was all over the news and papers. The media kept repeating the footage of him shooting himself and that stream of blood flowing from his nose. I will never forget that. He was the reason that media now censors sensitive material during news coverage because the broadcast happened during hours that children had easy access to television.

Sep 28th
Reply

Steve Lenhard

Gee.... wonder why the one lady who used to work for Bryce thought he was the cat's ass...

Sep 21st
Reply
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Episode 52

Episode 52

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