奥巴马谈枪击案落泪哽咽:我们的心都破碎了

AS IT IS 2016-06-17 Obama: 'Our Hearts Are Broken,Too' 奥巴马谈枪击案落泪哽咽:我们的心都破碎了

U.S. President Barack Obama visited Orlando Thursday to meet with survivors¹ and family members affected² by the worst mass shooting in American history.

Obama met privately³ with relatives at Amway Center, a stadium not far from the gay nightclub where a lone⁴ gunman opened fire early Sunday, killing⁵ 49 people and injuring 53 others.

Vice⁶ President Joe Biden also traveled to Orlando. In remarks after the meetings, Obama said the families are feeling “grief beyond description.”

“Today the Vice President and I told them on behalf of the American people, that our hearts are broken, too, and that we stand with you and that we are here for you.”

Obama said it was difficult for him to console family members after a violent tragedy.

“So today, once again, as has been true too many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents. And they asked ‘Why does this keep happening?’ And they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage. They don’t care about the politics, neither do I.”

Obama repeated his earlier statements that the Orlando attack was both an act of terrorism, and an act of hate. “This was an attack on the LGBT community. Americans were targeted because we’re a country that has learned to welcome everyone – no matter who you are or who you love.”

Obama also pledged that the government would “be relentless” against terrorist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida.

“We are going to destroy them. We are going to disrupt their networks and their financing, and the flow of fighters in and out of war theaters. We’re going to disrupt their propaganda that poisons so many minds around the world.”

But he noted⁸ that both the Orlando attack and the San Bernardino shooting that killed 14 people were “lone wolf” attacks without direct involvement from foreign terror groups. He added that these kinds of attacks will take more than good military tactics and intelligence to prevent.

Obama and Biden also visited survivors of the attack. Officials said Thursday that 23 people remain hospitalized – six of them in critical condition. They also met with and thanked local law enforcement, first-responders and medical teams who treated the victims.

The two men laid flowers at a memorial for victims outside the city’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The area - filled with flowers, balloons, photos and tributes - was the site of a candlelight vigil Monday attended by thousands.

Gunman posted on Facebook during attack

As authorities continue to investigate the gunman, Omar Mateen, new information was released about his social media activity before and during the attack.

Mateen used Facebook to search the terms “Pulse Orlando” and “shooting” from inside the nightclub, according to Chairman Ron Johnson of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Apparently⁹ he searched to see how much publicity¹⁰ the attack was generating.

In Facebook posts, the killer¹¹ also pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and called for an end to U.S. and Russian bombings of the militants¹².

“You kill innocent women and children by doing [U.S.] airstrikes… now taste the Islamic state vengeance¹³,” Mateen wrote, according to the letter. In a final post, he also warned of more U.S. attacks in coming days.

The information is contained in a letter Johnson sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in which his committee requests all available data on the gunman. Johnson said at least five Facebook accounts were associated with Mateen.

The letter said the committee found Mateen also used Facebook in May to search for information on the killers¹⁴ in the San Bernardino mass shooting.

In addition, committee staff members found information that he used Facebook “to conduct frequent local law enforcement and FBI searches, including searching for specific law enforcement offices.”

Words in This Story

first responders – n. people designated to respond quickly to emergency situations

allegiance – n. have loyalty¹⁵ to a person, country or group

solidarity¹⁶ – n. unity⁷ in feeling or actions

vengeance – n. act of doing something hurtful to someone in response to some harm or injury

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

4 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

14 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

15 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

16 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。