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President Trump condemns Olathe shooting

President Trump condemns Olathe shooting
Posted at 8:40 PM, Feb 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-01 06:41:59-05

In a joint-session of Congress, President Donald Trump condemned last week's deadly shooting in Olathe, Kansas.

Trump began his address with this statement:

"Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms." 

One man was killed and two were injured in a shooting at Austins Bar and Grill last week. The attacker allegedly yelled "get out of my country" before opening fire. 

41 Action News spoke to Congressman Kevin Yoder minutes after the address. Early Tuesday, Yoder released a statement urging President Trump to condemn the Olathe shooting.

"It was very important to me that the President of the United States made a comment and specifically spoke to this on this stage," Yoder said. "It was surreal frankly to hear the president talk about a community that I represent on the floor of the house. Many people had said that the president wouldn't do this, that he wouldn't speak out on this matter because he wasn't sensitive to these issues and I knew that he could and knew that he would if he had the information to know how important it was."

Yoder also shared that he and his team worked with White House officials leading up to the speech in hopes that Trump would address the shooting.

"We didn't know whether it was going to end up in the speech. We were never given an assurance that it would be but we spent the day working with the White House trying to make that case and helping them understand why it was important and that's why when he came right out and spoke to it we were so pleased and really elated that our message had been heard," Yoder added. "I think it really sends a signal to the people in Olathe and all across the country that their voices are being heard. I was so pleased because I did not know it was going to be in the speech even though we had worked so hard to get it in there."

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