PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale issued a statement following the deadly shooting at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket on Monday, saying the incident highlights the need to evaluate current approaches to mental health.
“Like all Rhode Islanders, I am devastated by the violence that occurred in Pawtucket and my heart and deepest prayers are with the victims, their families, and the entire community affected by this tragedy,” said Chippendale, a Republican who represents District 40 in Coventry, Foster and Glocester.
Chippendale said that to say the tragedy was “caused by gun violence” would be “reducing a complex human failure to a single talking point.”
“In the immediate aftermath of events like this, public officials often reach for simple explanations,” said Chippendale. “In cases like this, the firearm was the means, not the cause, and violence of this nature almost always involves deeper factors – severe or untreated mental health struggles, instability, isolation, and warning signs that were missed or ignored. If we are serious about prevention, those realities must be part of the conversation.”
The suspect in Monday’s shooting has been identified as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, a father who underwent gender reassignment surgery and also went by the name Roberta Esposito. Gorgan reportedly had a history of past family conflict over gender identity, and on Monday, killed his former wife and another family member during their son’s hockey game, critically injuring three others before dying by suicide.
Chippendale said that following the incident, “We also must be willing to confront difficult and sensitive realities without political fear.”
“In several recent high-profile cases nationwide, there have been overlapping issues involving profound mental health distress, identity struggles, and questions about whether current approaches to ‘affirmation’ are helping individuals achieve stability and wellbeing,” he said.
“This is not about assigning blame to any group of people, nor should it ever be used to stigmatize anyone,” said Chippendale. “But it is fair, responsible and long overdue that we start to ask whether our systems and political approach are adequately evaluating mental health risks, whether we are providing the right kinds of treatment and support, and whether the medical, social, and institutional responses we promote are producing the outcomes we intend.”
“If our goal is prevention rather than rhetoric, then we must be willing to look at the full picture – mental health care access, early intervention, family engagement, and the real-world effectiveness of the approaches being currently embraced,” he said. “That means taking concrete steps.”
Chippendale said that Rhode Island should strengthen its mental health intervention systems so warning signs are identified earlier and acted upon sooner.
“We should review our crisis response and involuntary commitment standards to ensure that individuals in severe distress can receive help before they become a danger to themselves or others,” he said. “We should also expand coordinated threat-assessment processes among schools, families, medical providers, and law enforcement so information does not fall through the cracks.”
“In addition, we should commit to an honest, evidence-based review of current treatment models and outcomes – including whether the approaches being promoted are improving long-term mental stability and safety,” said Chippendale. “Public policy should be guided by data, clinical outcomes, and prevention results, not by ideology or fear of difficult conversations.”
“Rhode Islanders deserve leadership that approaches these tragedies with clarity, compassion, and a commitment to addressing root causes rather than simplifying them for political convenience,” he said. “Honest inquiry is not prejudice. It is the foundation of responsible public policy.”
After reading these comments, there really are a lot of LOONY liberals here!
No, the comments you are reading are healthy debate.
Instead of participating in the debate, you’re throwing out insults and generalizing other peoples’ positions. If you don’t agree, explain why. Do better.
I wish less acronyms were used so that I could understand what they are talking about. We may never figure out what makes people tick and do the things they do. This may be a good thing for this would lead to programing the minds by the governments.
Root causes and a honest dialog that anyone can understand could help everyone to protect themselves and get help. Recognizing a bad situation is not always that obvious. You have the right to protect yourself from harm. The help needs to fallow the rule of law and treat all fairly.
Bad people will do bad things.
There isn’t any money for that. The state has let all of the looney out of the bin.Blame it on Democrat beauties
Actually, Reagan was the initial supporter of de-institutionalization because of all the federal dollars it demanded. Weld and Romney closed Worcester State Hospital and Taunton State during their terms in MA. Certainly, if the State of Rhode Island chooses to open an institution, billions of dollars would be needed. In addition, you have to be adjudicated incompetent to be forced into one…you want the rights a a gun, but you want to force institutionalization? Let’s call a spade a spade….mental health has been at a crisis stage for more years than I would care to count…but if this individual did not have access to a gun, that family would still be alive, maybe…
Nice try, but Kennedy was the first president to lead the way of deinstitutionalizing our country. Get your facts straight instead of hating on the conservatives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinstitutionalization_in_the_United_States
Yes, I read your Wikipedia answer. Kennedy helped to pass legislation to increase funding funding for community centers for those suffering from developmental disabilities and was assassinated one month later. He was appalled and rightly so at the conditions within the institutions. He was not responsible for the closure of the institutions. And regarding conservatism, the vast majority of conservatives agree that gun restrictions need to be improved.
Kennedy tried to improve poorly run institutions through de-industrialization. He wanted to change to community centers for mental health care, and had funding set aside, but they were never built becuase he was murdered soon after. I do agree, though, it’s not about as much as what was done, when, and by whom. The question is: what are we doing about it now? Not much, obviously, as we can’t (or won’t) take the first step, health care for all.
A concrete step, Mr. Chippendale, would be to support universal health care…oh right, GOP has yet top provide a real affordable option after, what, 16 years of complaining about ACA?
It was the Republican administration under Reagan that had the biggest impact on institutional closure. In MA, it was Weld and Romney who were responsible for closing Worcester State and Taunton State Hospitals due to cost.
He would never support the ACA, he didn’t support raising the age of firearm purchase, nor raising the minimum wage…this must be a response to the fact that thoughts and prayers are not working and the violence is getting closer to home. Have Brian Newberry or Jessica chimed in yet?
No, No, No. Throwing taxpayer monies at the problem is NOT going to help, and single payer insurance (socialized medicine) is s failure. We must rid our country of thinking socialism is s working ideology. It only creates misery.
I wouldn’t call it a failure, the QoL is increased. There are other options out there, Swiss model, Singapore model, Bismarck model, etc… Why not look up the UCC model?
Socialized medicine worked pretty well for Lindsey Vaughan in Italy when she need three operations on her mangled leg while her out-of-pocket cost was ZERO. 32 out of 33 industrialized nations have universal health care–millions of people. Doubt it would be that widespread if it was a failure.