Part 1. September 18, 2025. Mass Shootings at Minneapolis Homeless Encampments

Two mass shootings occur at homeless encampments in Minneapolis . Hear more on this story on today's podcast.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Civic Cyper Studios. Welcome to the QR code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
with excellent taste in music. You should have heard us
rocking out in the studio just a second ago. He
is the QUE in the QR code. He goes by
the name of q Ward.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
The voice you just heard spends way too much time
bloviating about how awesome his co host is just to
get the attention off of himself, and today I'm gonna
let him have it. He's the R in the QR code.
He goes by the name Ramses.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Joh Indeed, and we need you to stick around. We
have a show full of news developments for you in store.
A little later on the show, we're going to be
talking about Jimmy Kimmel getting taken off of the air
indefinitely for some comments that he made, and we're going
to try to find out if it was worthy. Prior

(00:54):
to that, we're going to be talking about the Department
of Justice removing a study saying that white supremacy is
the main form of terrorism in the United States. Feels
like a cover up. Prior to that, we're going to
hear from Q Ward for his clap back discussing the
virtues of capitalism. Well, I guess you're gonna have to
stick around for that one. Before that, as always our

(01:15):
better do Better segment, we are going to be talking
about who better do better in the country, and once
again it goes to Donald Trump, who says that most
of the USA died last year due to fence and
all overdoses, so you know he's the president. Prior to that,
we're going to be having some thoughts about two mass shootings.

(01:35):
It took place in Minneapolis homeless encampments in the past
couple of days, and we're just now getting to this
news article. It's very sad, but you know, this is
our job and we're gonna share our opinions on that,
and we're going to start to show off with what's
going on in the culture. Indeed, Barack Obama has spoken
on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and given a truly

(01:56):
presidential measured response that is becoming of person that we
associate with the presidency. But before all that, as always,
do start off with a feel good feature and Q
actually you have a connection with these folks, so why
don't you do the field good feature pretending I do.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Man, My brother Lanny Smith is such an incredible trail blazer.
I love what he's doing, so let's definitely highlight it
from the BIM. The daughters of activists Malcolm X and
doctor Martin Luther King Junior walked the runway during New
York Fashion Week along with other civil rights icons over
the weekend. Actively Black and Athletes Your Brand, founded by
Lanny Smith, highlighted key figures of the civil rights movement

(02:34):
during its New York Fashion Week show. Doctor Bernice King
and doctor Iliasha Shabaz modeled sweatshirts honoring their fathers, doctor
Martin Luther King Junior and Malcolm X, respectively, as they
shrutted down the catwalk side by side. Smith also recognized
their mothers, Coreta Scott King and Betty Shabaz during the show.
Ruby Bridges seventy one, who became the first African American

(02:56):
child to integrate in our white school at age six,
also walked the Actively Black show. Ahead of her runway walk,
Smith featured footage of reactions to bridges activism in the sixties.
A young model then took to the catwalk, accompanied by
two men who represented the federal agents sent to protect
bridges and escort her to and from school. Photographer CeCu William,

(03:19):
who was photographed drinking from a white's only fountain in
nineteen fifty six, walk the show wearing a sweatshirt with
a colorized version of his iconic civil rights moment on it.
During the Actively Black event, Ben Haith, who designed the
June teen flag in nineteen ninety seven, also shut it
down the runway, garnering roaring cheers and applause from those
in attendance.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
That is a special event. Obviously it's a fashion show,
but there's so much history that they incorporated into it.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
We keep highlighting these shows. We need to attend.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh yeah, we do. That's a fair point, and we
get invited.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, I'm sorry, Lanny. We'll be there next time, I promise. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
But shout out to Actively Black preserving the culture of
doing what they do.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
All right, So.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Let's talk about what it sounds like when a president
comforts a country that is in shock. Right, it doesn't
matter if you feel this way or that way. It
was a surprise to everybody to see the video of

(04:25):
that assassination. Right, I'm going to share a bit from
the root, and then you'll be able to hear in
his own words. Former President Barack Obama is speaking out
for the first time since the September tenth death of
conservative activist Charlie Kirk. During his speech to the Jefferson
Educational Society seventeenth Annual Globe Summit Global Summit on September sixteenth,

(04:45):
Obama called Kirk's death horrific and a tragedy, saying that
he mourns for the late conservative activist and his family. However,
he called this moment in our country's history and inflection point,
adding that he's concerned about the rise in political violence
on both sides. So, as usual, when we can, we
like to let you hear in their own voice. So

(05:07):
this is former President Barack Obama.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
What happened to Charlie Kirk was horrific and a tragedy.
What happened, as you mentioned to the state legislators in Minnesota,
that that is horrific. It is a tragedy, and there
are no ifs ands or butts about it. The central

(05:37):
premise of of our democratic system is is that we
have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really
contentious debates without resort to violence, and and when when

(05:57):
it happens to some but even if you think they're
quote unquote on the other side of the argument, that's
a threat to all of us, and we have to
be clear and forthright in condemning him. Obviously, I didn't
know Charlie Kirk. I've was generally aware of some of

(06:18):
his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong, But that
doesn't negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy
and that I mourned for him and his family. He's
a young man with two small children and a wife
who obviously and a huge number of friends and supporters

(06:41):
who cared about him. And so we have to extend
grace to people during their period of mourning and shock.
And so when I hear not just our current president
but his aids who have a history of calling political

(07:07):
opponents vermin enemies who need to be targeted, that speaks
to a broader problem that we have right now and

(07:28):
and something that we're going to have to grapple with.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
So I mean, I'll just a brief comment, Uh, I
miss him. I miss a person who could provide a
measured response, not one that's saying, you know, blaming people
half of the country effectively and you know, stoking the
flames of division and uh, playing into you know, peoples

(08:00):
angers and fears and that sort of thing. Obviously, that
felt like a person who recognized that people are going
to disagree, and he was probably assassinated because he had
some strong opinions. But you know, he didn't fuel any

(08:24):
he didn't fan any flames. It just felt like a
measured response. So that's just kind of my initial thoughts there.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, there's an interesting thing that happens in moments
like this. I've had a really difficult time since Donald
Trump was elected the first time in learning how people
that I care about and who I consider friends feel
about me and my well being, feel about my children,
feel about my people and our place in this country

(08:56):
and our right to survive and be happy and healthy
and protected and safe. And I noticed the word both
sides here, and that always triggers me a little bit
because it's a false equivalency almost in my opinion. Intentionally,
I am almost certain that I was the first person

(09:19):
in Maricopa County to vote for Barack Obama. I spent
the night at the polling place. I sprinted in there
when it opened, and I voted nice and I did
not then, nor will I now try to make people
feel like Barack Obama was a perfect president or a

(09:41):
perfect politician. I don't think there's a such thing, actually,
And I see people nitpicking and trying to point to
all of his flaws and all the things, well Barack
did this wrong. And I'm like, yeah, but do you
remember when he was the president? Do you remember how
it felt? You know, somebody gotten my comments recently talking

(10:05):
about the amount of people he deported. I guarantee you
he deported them by much different means than what this
administration more effective deportation strategy. How he did it matters.
How he speaks about people, how he speaks in general,

(10:26):
his overall disposition, his education, his level of intelligence, his
ability to or rate, his ability to connect, his ability
to empathize. The right has gotten to a point where,
in order to show solidarity with party evangelical ministers, preachers

(10:51):
pastors will encourage their congregations to turn a blind eye
to the active, gross activities of the people they support. We, however,
will nitpick Kamala Harris and Barack Obama to point out

(11:14):
all their flaws and why we shouldn't have supported them
in the first place. And when moments like this happen
and we know that one side of the aisle is
pointing to us and calling us vermint, calling us the
enemy from within, saying that we are collectively all of
us that vote different from them, terrorists, putting us in

(11:38):
cross hairs, putting targets on us. This both side thing
doesn't add up because there's no counter example. There's no
Obama speech, no Biden speech, no Hairs speech, no Clinton speech,
or any of them are calling Republicans vermin or, the
enemy from within or terror wrist and aiming the vehement

(12:03):
anger of the country at them. We talk about Charlie
Kirk's assassination. Ramses and I had a really long sad
day when that happened. No, I don't agree with anything
he ever said ever, but that was an incredibly sad
thing to witness. And when we point out the hypocrisy

(12:24):
of the other side, we're not saying, don't mourn a
father and a husband. We're asking how come we don't
get to be fathers and husbands when it's us that's
kind of always been our position. Hey, black lives matter too,
not yours doesn't. Hey, police stop killing us, not kill

(12:49):
them too. When we point out videos of them showing restraint,
we're not saying, hey, how come you didn't kill him?
We know the ansam. We're saying, hey, see how you
didn't kill him when he was actively attacking. You don't
kill us when we're running away. So for all the

(13:13):
vehement hate that he spewed, all the division that he sold,
the belittling and the dehumanization and othering of people who
didn't think, look, and pray the way that he did,
of course he did not deserve to die like that,
and no one does because they have an opinion that
you don't like. We're just asking how come you don't
extend that same grace to us. It is impossible to

(13:38):
not miss Barack Obama because nothing since has even come
close to living up. He might be the greatest president
in the country's history, as flawed as he may be.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
Well said, well said, all right, opinions. I had two
mass shootings at Minneapolis homeless encampments. This is a really, really,
really sad And the reason it's sad is because we

(14:17):
just covered a story. You brought it to my attention.
You want to paint that picture. I want to say,
which story, because there are so many. But a Republican lawmaker, No,

(14:37):
not even a Republican lawmaker, I'm sorry. A Fox News anchor, yeah,
suggested that more than six hundred thousand homeless Americans.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
Should just be executed. Yeah, And he said this on air.
Show wasn't taken away. The network didn't decide that their
communities couldn't take this type of language or rhetoric or programming.
Fox wasn't canceled, his show wasn't canceled. He wasn't fired.

(15:15):
There'd been no statement that I've seen from his network
condemning what he said. I'll say it again because it
should sound insane. He proposed that close to three quarters
of a million Americans for the crime of being poor

(15:38):
should be executed, and then just finished doing his show
and has continued to do it ever since. And then
there's supposed to be no connection to something like this
happening in its wake. As they tell you how politically

(15:58):
violent the left is a conversation that was reignited when
a conservative young man assassinated another conservative young man for
reasons that we still don't know. Like, I don't want
them to pretend that they know the why, as if
they had a conversation with this young man. But I
can almost bet it wasn't because he disagreed with him politically.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
Well, these two mass shootings that took place in Minneapolis
in the wake of those comments on Fox News, you know,
it's impossible to ignore the likely connection there or correlation,
even if not causation. Here you go, so I'll paint
the picture. Using an article from ABC News. At least

(16:46):
thirteen people have been wounded, five critically in two shootings
that erupted over a span of twelve hours at homeless
encampments in Minneapolis, with the city's mayor saying he wouldn't
be surprised if they are connected. The shootings on Monday
marked than fifth mass shootings to a current Minneapolis in
the past three weeks, including one on August twenty seventh
at Annunciation Catholic School that left two children dead and

(17:09):
twenty one people injured. This is tragic, it's horrible, it's unacceptable,
and sadly it's not surprising. This is a quote from
Mayor Jacob Fray, and he said At a news conference
early Tuesday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the city's
latest mass shooting unfolded Monday night at a notorious homeless
encampment in southeast Minneapolis, in which eight people were shot

(17:31):
and an estimated thirty shots were fired.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Quote.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Here we are yet again in the aftermath of a
mass shooting. This is not normal, unquote, O'Hara said. O'Hara
said the shooting at the homeless encampment on South twenty
eighth Avenue in East Lake Street occurred around ten pm
local time. He said an officer working at a target
store nearby was approached by multiple people running and telling
him that there was gunfire at the encampment.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
Quote.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
The officer exited the store and heard gunfire coming from
the area of the encampment unquote. Said Upon arrival, officers
down five people wounded, including two people a man and
a woman discovered inside tents suffering from bullet wounds to
the head, O'Hara said. He said three other gunshot victims
showed up at hospitals on their own. No rest have
been announced in the shooting. Ohara said detectives are investigating

(18:17):
the possibility that The shooting is connected to earlier gunfire
at a nearby homess encampment. The left five people injured,
including one in life threatening condition.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
He said.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
The earlier shooting occurred just after eleven am near the
intersection of East Lake Street and Stevens Avenue. So, you know,
we just said this the other day, but I think
it bears repeating, just so that you understand that this
isn't just news for me and for Q. We've actually

(18:53):
spent time and we strategized and we worked with people
to try to brighten the lives of homeless people in
our city for over a decade exactly. And indeed, you know,

(19:16):
at the time we were doing it, COVID took that
whole push off the step for us. But at the
time when we were doing it, we were almost like
in some circles, known more for that event than for
being on the radio over being DJ.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
There's no question it is not. There was so many
churches far more known for doing hashtag, lunchback anything else
that we that we'd done to that point, exactly, And
we had so many volunteers, We had so many people
like organizations, companies, corporations, Apple, Kroger, you know, everyone would

(19:52):
come out, they bring their team and we would use
this huge venue and we'd put together hygiene kids and
we'd put together meal bags and we had the children
that would come. They would write love.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Notes, you know, and we'd go out and you know,
these hands here, these hands that Q has would actually
do the work and we would actually go out and
meet the people and do our best to kind of
brighten their lives a little bit, you know, as often
as we could.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
And so when we hear.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Stories like this, it hits a little different. I know
that there are people who I don't know their stories.
And you know, we got to the point where we
really didn't ask We started to see the humanity.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
First.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
We didn't ask these people who they voted for. We
didn't ask these people what crimes they had committed. We
didn't ask them anything. We asked them, are you hungry?
And it started there right And I do recognize and
respect that some of these people had some serious problems.
But for all the people that preach, you know, Christianity,
for other people that you know, whatever, far as I know,

(21:03):
the Christian nationalists, uh, this is who I'm speaking to,
you know, the Jesus that you follow from from where
I said, he didn't have any qualifiers. And you know,
we got to a point where we didn't have any qualifiers.
You know, I think we I don't know that we
ever did, to be honest with you, but in our

(21:24):
in our travels, in our in our journey, with that
whole effort, we we learned to see the humanity.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
We learned.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
We saw a lot of people overcome their their circumstances.
Some people just needed to learn the language.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
It was just that simple.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
Some people needed their medication, it was just that simple.
Some people needed a support system, it was just that simple.
Some people never got those things. Some people died and
that was the end of their life on a sidewalk
with no dignity and no one to mourn them. And
we were able to see how sad that was. And
this man on Fox News saying, you know, there was

(22:02):
a couple of them, it was there was a black
man saying at first like that, you know they needed
to be.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
I forgot what he said.

Speaker 1 (22:09):
But it was vile too. Wasn't as vile as you know,
Just execute him and we don't have this problem.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
I mean, it was vile enough to think the first
time hearing it because I read the quote first and
it was vild enough to think the first time hearing
it that he was going to say the worst part,
like that was just a part of what he was saying.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
He's not going to say it next. It was a
whole different person. Yeah, they were both, you know.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Out of line. And I mean we have to question
now around did Congress hold a candidlight vigil for these people?
Did they lower the flags to have staff like or
is that only reserve for rich white Christian nationalists man.

Speaker 1 (22:45):
And I think this is the point I'm making is
that this doesn't feel like like these were Americans too,
you know what I mean. And when we talk about
the hate that is so present in the Maga movement,
this is a prime example of it. I mean, there's

(23:08):
a lot of assumptions I'm making here, you know, to
be fair, but my assumption is that these events are connected.
This man was on the TV like two or three
days ago talking crazy like this, and then there's an
attack on two different homeless encampments for the most vulnerable.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
People in a population.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
It feels very maga ish. And even if it's not true,
the fact that I'm associating that I think validates the
perception if it's not real. I do believe it to
be very real. Of the hatred and the Maga movement,
there's some type of people that they celebrate. Everybody else
can die, and there's a stunning silence on that side.

(23:46):
Where is the empathy whereas the humanity?

Speaker 2 (23:49):
And I wish that I could see it, just to
have a little bit more hope. And I never do not,
even in a performative way. Fake it, fake it. Bring on.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Somebody who better do better. The King maggot himself, Donald Trump.
I don't know that he really loves this country. I mean,
he's the boss, right, you're not sure.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
I don't think so. I don't think so. He sure
he doesn't, Yeah, he says, he says he does.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
I don't know. Donald Trump says most of the USA
died last year due to fentanyl overdoses. I know it
sounds crazy. Allow me to continue to paint this picture.
This is from the Atlanta Black Star. President Donald Trump
just killed off most of the US population with bizarre
comments on Sunday about how many Americans.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Have died of drug overdoses.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
While he was bragging about the historic nature of his
trip to the UK and how the British Royals are
opening Windsor Castle. For Trump's state dinner. He had inadvertently
bungled the answer to a question about his administration blowing
up boats off the coast of Venezuela. A reporter till
Trump quote Venezuela called the strike on the boat illegal unquote.
Then Trump was asked if he was concerned about the

(25:03):
attacks on Venezuelan boats and whether or not they would escalate.
Trump tried to justify the administration's attack on the boats,
insisting they were trying to bring drugs into the United States.
I'm sure, insisting without proof. Of course, you know they
do the vote up. I mean for what, well does
he have to prove anything to certainly not to Maga folks.

(25:23):
They're not demanding anything from this person.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
And certainly not to the US government either. No, there
you go, well said quote. What's illegal are the drugs
that were on the boat and the drugs that are
being sent into our country and the fact that three
hundred million people died last year from drugs. Ninety percent
of the United States population died last year from drugs,
according to our president.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
He goes on to say that's what's illegal, he stated,
omitting any explanation of why summary execution in international waters
and not interdiction in American waters was the legally permissible response.
The three hundred million figure is almost the entire population
of the United States, which the US Census Bureau puts

(26:10):
at just over three hundred and forty two million. In May,
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported an estimated
eighty thousand, three hundred and ninety one Americans died in
overdose deaths in twenty twenty four, a twenty six point
nine percent decrease from the one hundred and ten thousand
estimated deaths in twenty twenty three. That's not three hundred thousand,

(26:33):
certainly not three hundred million. It is eighty thousand. There
you go, thank you, however, and here comes Magga to
the rescue. However, some viewers argued that Trump did not
explicitly say where those people died. Quote might have been
talking about the world genius. One viewer wrote, quote, Trump

(26:55):
did not say three hundred million Americans nor three hundred
million people in the US died of drug He said
three hundred million people period. End of sentence. There is
enough bs that Trump does say that there's no need
to make up headlines like this one. There are more
than eight point two billion people in the world. It
is very possible that three hundred million people died worldwide

(27:16):
due to drug overdoses unquote. Another viewer wrote, However, according
to the World Health Organization, about six hundred thousand people
die annually from drug used worldwide.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
How many, six hundred thousand, it's a lot less than
three hundred million. Oh yeah, so you know it again.
They it's like they are just they never just be wrong. Yeah, crazy,
like you can never just be like my bad, you know,
easy to say I misspoke. It's so easy.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
He could do it all the time, and then at
least it would make sense. But him and then now
his I think his base are accustomed to getting into
a different posture. The posture is almost like, Okay, let's
make what we said that is nonsense, let's make it
true by restating it over and over again or.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
Whatever the path is. And this is getting mad at
you for hearing what he said, and would is what
they do that too?

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, absolutely, How dare you think he meant what he said?
You know, he'd just be talking he can't just be wrong.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
Man, I miss wrong, I miss Obama.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
Man, three hundred million people.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
Man, I miss Joe Biden. He was slow, but he
got there. George Bush, thank you.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Man McCain was the last decent Republican that vibe for
the White House in my lifetime. And I wouldn't have
been a McCain vote, but I saw a decent man.
And then Donald Trump insulted him, and we're here and
just it just blows my mind.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
Might have been talking about the world genius is rich, Yeah,
super because the World Health Organization, because you're two hundred
and ninety million people wrong yourself? Like but yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
And the other part of this, of course, is that
you know Donald Trump, you know, we talked about this
yesterday on the show. He was like, you know, educated,
what do you say? Smart people don't like me.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Don't like me.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
They don't like what we talk about. As a direct
quote from the President, and everyone laughed, I love the
poorly educated. It's another quote directly, Yeah, because he's convinced
his base that being intelligent is an insult, so they
would rather not be categorized as smart. What a how
far reality has been warped by politics since twenty fifteen.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
They'll take any position. I'm sure that he's right, and
you know what, as a result of that, Rome will
fall