Texas Rep. Keith Self condemns critics dismissing ‘thoughts and prayers’ in mass shooting aftermath

The Texas Congressman who represents the area of the latest mass shooting in the state criticized those who say that thoughts and prayers are not enough to combat gun violence.

Rep. Keith Self, asked on CNN about people who note that prayers have not solved mass shootings in America, lashed out and said he doesn’t want Saturday’s massacre — which left eight victims dead and seven injured — to be political.

“Those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who is absolutely in control of our lives,” the Republican congressman said. “I’m a Christian. I believe that he is.

“Today we should be focused on the families. Prayers are important,” he added. “Prayer is powerful in the lives of those people who are devastated right now.”

Like many of his fellow Republicans, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Self suggested that mass shootings are a result of the nation’s mental health crisis.

Police have yet to identify a motive in Saturday’s shooting, where a man dressed in tactical gear, who has yet to be identified, fired at shoppers outside the H&M store’s parking lot armed with an AR-15-style rifle before police shot him dead.

Self’s comments earned him backlash on social media, with many criticizing his suggestion that the deaths were part of God’s plan.

“So it’s God’s fault children are getting shot,” one Twitter user asked.

Another Twitter user quoted the Bible, asking: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”

The latest massacre marks the 191th of its kind so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which documents mass shooting as an event where four or more people are shot.

It comes barely a week after five people were killed in Cleveland, Texas after a neighbor asked a man to stop shooting his rifle outside because a baby was trying to sleep.