Legislator blasts ‘thoughts and prayers’ after shooting

State Rep. Ranjeev Puri

State Rep. Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton Township, did not mince words in a statement issued following the shootings at Michigan State University. Three students were killed and five wounded during the incident that sent shockwaves across the country.

Puri offered condolences to the families of the injured and the survivors of the deceased students but had no sympathy for his fellow lawmakers last week.

“F----  your thoughts and prayers,” he said in a statement that went viral on social media, prompting both support and criticism. 

“What happened in East Lansing is unfortunately far too common. Going to school in America, whether it's pre-school or college, means risking your life every day to the threat of a mass shooting,” Puri said. “Yet all we have offered up are empty solutions-traumatizing active shooter drills and bulletproof backpacks.

“We are not even two full months into 2023, and this marks the 67th mass shooting of the year, along with over 2,215 mass shooting gun deaths,” he said. “Thoughts and prayers without action and change are meaningless.

“We will not stop until our students can attend school without fear, our communities can attend places of worship in peace, and our society is safe from senseless gun violence,” the statement concluded.

According to police reports, the assailant, Anthony McRae, 43, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound the same day he allegedly entered two buildings on the Michigan State campus and began firing a weapon. To date, authorities have not released a motive for the rampage.