WEHAVE A DUTY TO SPEAK UP

‘If you see something, say something.’

This expression has been used over and over since the latest school shooting in the United States, where 17 people died after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz pulled an alarm and opened fire on students responding to the bell.

The suspect in that shooting — the eighth fatal school shooting of 2018, according to CNN — reportedly made a number of comments threatening violence on social media.

Multiple media sources have pointed to Instagram posts where Cruz said, “I wanna shoot people with my AR-15” and “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

So, there were signs. Some were reported. Although law enforcement did not prevent this tragedy, the situation makes it clear that we need to pay attention to these kinds of indicators.

Also last week, a Washington state grandmother was credited with foiling a school shooting when she turned in her own grandson. She gave a journal outlining the plan to the police, and an arrest was made. This could not have been an easy decision, but to her credit she put the good of the community first.

Reporting threats and dangerous messages online is front of mind in light of the Gerald Stanley trial and the extreme nature of the online discussion.

Police have made it clear that although they respect people’s right to discuss events, citizens are expected to respect the laws around hate speech and threats. They are monitoring social media, but residents should report any incidents they feel violate the law immediately.

The Saskatoon and Regina police services, and the RCMP in Saskatchewan, have online forms to report crimes and suspicious occurrences — including threatening or ominous statements on the web. If there is a sense of imminent danger, police prefer a phone call.

We all have a duty to help keep our province safe, and that includes keeping the authorities in the loop about suspicious or concerning behaviour. Whether it is checking a neighbour’s house while they are on holidays, or sending in a notification of hate speech, do what you can.

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