Jordan and Andre Anchondo had a busy morning. The couple, who had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary, had invited friends and family to their eldest daughter Skylin's 6th birthday that day. It was Saturday, 3 August 2019. When they dropped off their daughter for cheerleading practice, they drove towards the local supermarket Walmart in El Paso in the southernmost part of Texas in the USA. The thermometer already showed over 32 degrees, even though it was only mid-morning...
Every year, on the 14th of July, thousands of people pour into the streets of France. France's National Day, also called Bastille Day, is celebrated here. It is considered the starting point for the French Revolution, which started on the 14th of July 1789 and has been celebrated every year since...
The young man stood at the bus stop and waited. He was wearing a full military uniform and had an M16 rifle over his shoulder. His beard was long, and on either side of his face, two dark, curly locks of hair hung and caressed his cheeks. On his head, he wore a kippah, a hemispherical traditional Jewish skull cap often worn by ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to symbolize their religious affiliation...
" They were quick at killing. It did not take them very long, and they said nothing while they were doing it. They killed all 26. I was horrified. I knew all these people. They were my family, my friends, my neighbors. When they finished I slipped away and went to my home, where I sat trembling all over."
It was Christmas Day, 25 December 2008. Christmas the feast of hearts. But right here and now, it was anything but Christmas-like and heart-warming...