Questlove Slams Congress For Sending Vegas Victims Prayers After Taking Money From NRA

Questlove called out congressmen for hypocrisy after the tragic Las Vegas shooting, retweeting their 'thoughts and prayers' with the amount of money they made off the NRA. See his important work here.

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October 3, 2017 9:59AM EDT
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Survivors of a mass shooting form a human chain around the shuttered site of a country music festival on the first anniversary, in Las Vegas. As people were linking arms and holding hands Monday night near the concert site, officials and several hundred others across town listened to bagpipes and the names of the 58 victims being read aloudShooting, Las Vegas, USA - 01 Oct 2018
A young woman checks her phone while hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, in Las Vegas Shooting, Las Vegas, USA - 01 Oct 2017
Police arrive at the scene to escort concertgoers to safety after hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, in Las Vegas Shooting, Las Vegas, USA - 02 Oct 2017

After the horrendous mass shooting at the Route 91 country festival in Las Vegas on October 1, people are struggling to find sense in the midst of chaos. The massacre is now the largest mass shooting in modern American history, with at least 59 concertgoers dead and over 500 more wounded after suspected gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, fired his assault rifle from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. After the horrific shooting, and the so many other deadly shootings before it, people are calling on Congress to finally implement gun control in the United States. The Roots bandleader Questlove, 46, is one of them. He took to Twitter following the tragedy to call out members of Congress who made sure to send their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims in Las Vegas — but haven’t taken any action to stop this from happening again.

Each time he saw a member of Congress tweet their condolences to victims and their families, he quote retweeted with the amount of money they’ve taken from the NRA for their endorsement. And it’s a staggering amount of money. Virginia representative Barbara Comstock tweeted that she’s “heartbroken by the mass murder that took place last night in Las Vegas and I am praying for the victims, families, and first responders.” She’s taken $10,400 from the NRA. Kentucky senator and former presidential candidate Rand Paul sent his “prayers and deepest condolences to all those affected.” He’s taken $9900 from the NRA. The list sadly goes on and on. See Questlove’s tweets below.

The necessity for gun control in the United States has never been more pertinent. When police busted into Paddock’s hotel room, they discovered him dead of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had an arsenal of 18 assault rifles with him. It’s sickening to think that the last “largest mass shooting in modern American history” happened a little over a year ago, when a gunman opened fire at LGBT+ nightclub Pulse in Orlando in June 2016, killing 49 people with an assault rifle. Since the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, where 20 children and six adults were murdered, there have been at least 1500 mass shootings in the United States.

Questlove isn’t the only celebrity to speak out about gun control. Jimmy Kimmel gave a passionate, emotional speech at the top of his October 2 episode to plead for gun control. The late night host teared up as he told his audience thatPresident Trump, Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell, and Speaker of the HouseMitch McConnell “should be praying for God to forgive them for letting the gun lobby run this country, because it’s so crazy.”

HollywoodLifers, what do you think about Questlove calling out congressmen for their NRA ties? Let us know.