Louisiana
Guest column: Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is in line with the constitution and history
Last year, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill that requires public schools to post the Ten Commandments. Other states are considering similar laws.
Cue the secular outrage. The ACLU was joined by several leftist organizations in a lawsuit challenging the law nearly before the ink from the governor’s signature had time to dry.
The new law, according to them, threatens the very foundation of our republic — a republic whose law, of course, is built on concepts found in the Ten Commandments. Recently, a federal judge, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, agreed, stopping the law from being implemented. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, considered by many to be the most conservative appeals court, will review that decision in oral arguments Thursday.
Liz Murrill, Louisiana’s attorney general, who supports the law, said this debate is “far from over.” She’s right about that.
Admittedly, these are tough days for those who for decades successfully campaigned to remove any vestiges of religious texts inscribed in public settings and which made up the very fabric of our nation.
Kelly Shackelford
For much of that time, they had the U.S. Supreme Court on their side with its religiously hostile Lemon test. That test made it easy for courts to sandblast religious inscriptions, tear down monuments and label anything that secularists deemed offensive as the “establishment of religion.”
But in its 2022 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court once and for all concluded that Lemon should be scrapped. The justices made clear, “This Court long ago abandoned Lemon and its endorsement test offshoot. … In place of Lemon and the endorsement test, this Court has instructed that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by reference to historical practices and understandings.”
The Kennedy decision came after the court, in 2019, in The American Legion v. American Humanist Association, determined that a cross-shaped 100-year-old World War I memorial on public land was perfectly constitutional.
In that landmark ruling, Justice Samuel Alito warned, “A government that roams the land, tearing down monuments with religious symbolism and scrubbing away any reference to the divine, will strike many as aggressively hostile to religion.”
Those decisions changed the legal framework in America. For over half a century, courts and government officials could knee-jerk respond to any public display of religion with a quick cancel. Not anymore. The presumption now is that a religious display is constitutional.
But some may wonder, what about inside schools? Are public displays referencing religion in the classroom constitutional?
The answer is a resounding yes. Justice Anthony Kennedy changed how the courts must look at religious displays and expression in the light of history. Eliminating Lemon makes Stone v. Graham, a 5-4 decision that banished Ten Commandments from schools and relied on Lemon, a relic of a previous time when religion was censored from public life.
Our history unmistakably teaches us that the Ten Commandments were widely displayed in schools for the first century of our nation. And, of course, under the secularists’ legal regime, public schools across the nation would need to cancel all field trips to our nation’s capital. After all, a simple walking tour of the magnificent buildings that proudly display depictions of the Ten Commandments are all around Washington, D.C., including inside the U.S. Supreme Court.
Now, those despising the presence of any “religiously expressive” display bear the burden of proof. They must demonstrate precisely how the “monument, symbol, or practice” violates the First Amendment. In light of the court’s “strong presumption of constitutionality” for displays in keeping with the history and tradition of our country, that will be almost impossible.
Which brings us to Louisiana.
The Pelican State has rightly recognized the history and tradition of the Ten Commandments in the state. Putting this historic document on schoolhouse walls is a great way to remind students of the foundations of American and Louisiana law.
We applaud Louisiana for being the first, but by no means the last, state to take this bold step for religious liberty.
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Police say a man shot and killed eight children, including seven of his own, following a domestic dispute in Shreveport.
The incident took place early Sunday morning, April 19, on West 79th Street in the Cedar Grove neighborhood. According to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office, the victims included three boys and five girls, aged between three and 11-years-old. Seven of the children were siblings, while one was a cousin. Two adult females were also injured, including one who was shot at a home located in the 500 block of Harrison Street.
One of the adults was inside the home on West 79th Street when the children were killed. She managed to escape through a window with two of the children and reached the roof. The woman jumped down with one of the children. Unfortunately, the other child did not manage to escape. Police later found his body on the roof with a gunshot wound. The surviving child was taken to the hospital with a broken leg.
The children were identified by their mothers as Jayla (age 3), Shayla (age 5), Kayla (age 6), Layla (age 7), Markaydon (age 10), Sariahh (age 11), Khedarrion (age 6), and Braylon (age 5).
Authorities say the suspect and father of the victims, Shamar Elkins, was the only person who fired shots that led to the juveniles’ deaths.
Authorities noted that Elkins stole a vehicle near West 79th Street after he shot the victims. He was pursued by patrol officers into Bossier Parish, where they discharged their weapons and fatally shot him on Brompton Lane. Louisiana State Police will take over the investigation involving the officers.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux expressed his thoughts on the matter, saying, “We have a hurting community. We have hurting families. We have hurting police officers, coroner’s personnel, fire department, sheriff people, and this affects the entire community. We all mourn with these families. I ask, it’s a Sunday morning. I ask all of you who are, who are listening, who might be able to. Pray at your services this morning for not just this family, for all the victims, for the victims who are at the hospital, and for the Cedar Grove community and for the community at large.”
Attorney General Liz Murrill also commented on the tragic shooting, stating, “Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating this tragic situation. We do not yet know all the details, but I am deeply saddened by the senseless loss of life. I’m praying for the victims and their family members in the wake of this devastating violence.”
According to the Director of Strategy and Communications, Mary Nash-Wood, two of the children attended Summer Grove, and at least four attended Linwood Charter School.
The police have not determined a motive. More updates will be provided as the information becomes available.
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SHREVEPORT, La. — Investigators are looking into how a former National Guardsman identified as the gunman who killed eight children in Louisiana on Sunday got a gun — despite an illegal firearms conviction on his record.
Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is probing how the man obtained the assault-style pistol used in the shooting, which he described as a domestic violence incident.
Shamar Elkins was arrested in 2019 and convicted of illegal use of a firearm. Shreveport Police spokesman Christopher Bordelon said Elkins was likely prohibited from legally owning firearms because of that conviction.
In an interview, Bordelon said Elkins shot most of the children in the head and “probably still in their sleep.” Elkins was the father of seven of the eight children who were killed, Bordelon said; one of the children was a cousin, according to the coroner’s office.
“It is a disgusting and evil scene,” Bordelon told NBC News.
Elkins also shot and seriously injured his wife and another woman believed to be his girlfriend, police said.
He fled the scene and died in front of a home nearby, authorities said. It was not known whether he was fatally shot by law enforcement officers or died by suicide, Smith told reporters at a news conference Monday.
The mass shooting, one of the worst in the U.S. in recent years, sent waves of shock and grief through Shreveport. Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux described it as “maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had” in the city.
In an emotional news conference Monday, city and state officials condemned the bloodshed and called on community members to advocate for victims of domestic violence.
“We cannot afford to treat domestic violence as an afterthought. We must ensure that every victim, every mother, every father, every child has access to safety,” Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry L. Whitehorn Sr. said.
The Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office, citing information provided by the children’s mothers, identified the victims as Jayla Elkins, 3, Shayla Elkins, 5, Kayla Pugh, 6, Layla Pugh, 7, Markaydon Pugh, 10, Sariahh Snow, 11, Khedarrion Snow, 6, and Braylon Snow, 5.
Elkins served in the Louisiana Army National Guard as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist from August 2013 to August 2020, the Army said. He never deployed and left the National Guard as a private.
Shreveport police officers responded to the 300 block of West 79th street just after 6 a.m. local time after reports of a domestic disturbance, authorities told reporters.
Elkins first shot a woman on nearby Harrison Street before he went to the West 79th Street home, where he killed the children, authorities said. He then fled and carjacked a person at gunpoint near the intersection of Linwood Avenue and West 79th Street.
Police officers exchanged gunfire with Elkins in neighboring Bossier Parish after a pursuit, Smith told reporters Monday.
Police initially said that officers fatally shot Elkins at that scene, but Smith said Monday that Elkins’ cause of death was still under investigation.
In September 2017, a judge granted Elkins and Sariahh’s mother joint custody following a petition to determine paternity and establish child support, according to court records reviewed by NBC News.
The photo at the top of Elkin’s Facebook profile, which has been verified by NBC News, shows him posing with eight children, including a baby seated on his lap.
On April 9, Elkins reposted a poem addressed to God. “Today I ask You to help me guard my mind and my emotions,” it reads in part. “When negativity arises, remind me to say, ‘It does not belong to me, in the name of Jesus.’”
Ryan Chandler reported from Shreveport, and Daniel Arkin from New York.
If you or someone you know is facing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence hotline for help at (800) 799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.thehotline.org for more. States often have domestic violence hotlines as well.
Louisiana
Louisiana shooter Shamar Elkins made chilling remarks about ‘demons’ weeks before killing his 7 kids and their cousin
The deranged Army vet dad who gunned down his seven children and their cousin confessed he was drowning in “dark thoughts” and told his stepdad that some people “don’t come back from their demons” just weeks before the heinous killings, according to a report.
Shamar Elkins, 31, killed eight children — five girls and three boys ages 3 to 11 — and seriously wounded two women believed to be his wife and girlfriend when he went on a shooting rampage through Shreveport following an argument with his spouse around 6 a.m. Sunday.
Just weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, Elkins called his mother, Mahelia Elkins, and his stepfather, Marcus Jackson, and chillingly told them he was drowning in “dark thoughts,” wanted to end his life, and that his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, wanted a divorce, the New York Times reported.
“I told him, ‘You can beat stuff, man. I don’t care what you’re going through, you can beat it,’” Jackson told the publication. “Then I remember him telling me: ‘Some people don’t come back from their demons.’”
Mahelia Elkins said she was unclear what problems her son and his wife, who were married in 2024 and had four kids together, were dealing with, the Times reported.
But a relative of one of the wounded women said the couple was in the middle of separation proceedings and was due in court on Monday.
They had been arguing about their relationship coming to an end when Elkins — who was later killed by cops — opened fire, Crystal Brown told the Associated Press.
The killer father worked at UPS and served with the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a signal support system specialist and fire support specialist, according to the Times.
A UPS coworker described Elkins as a devoted dad, but said he often seemed stressed and would pull his hair out, creating a lasting bald spot, the publication reported.
Elkins’ mother noted that she had reconnected with her son more than a decade ago after leaving him to be raised by a family friend, Betty Walker. She had Elkins when she was a teenager and struggling with a crack cocaine addiction.
Walker said that she did not witness the shootings on Sunday morning but knew that Elkins shot his wife several times in the head and stomach, the paper reported.
She last saw the deranged father when his family came over for dinner just last weekend — but noted he did not appear off at the time.
“I was getting up this morning to make myself some coffee, and I got the call,” Walker recalled. “My babies — my babies are gone.”
Elkins also had two previous convictions, including for driving while intoxicated in 2016 and for the illegal use of weapons in 2019, the outlet said.
In March 2019, a police report detailed that the National Guard vet had pulled a 9 millimeter handgun from his waistband and shot at a vehicle five times after a driver pulled a handgun on him — with one of the bullets being discovered near a school where children were playing.
The victims killed by Elkins have been identified as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5. Seven of the eight were his own children, and the eighth was their cousin. They were all found dead inside their home in Shreveport.
Most of the victims were shot in the head while they slept, Shreveport Police Department spokesman Christopher Bordelon told NBC News.
One child was killed on the roof while trying to escape, police said.
Elkins, who was later killed by police during an attempted carjacking, also shot and wounded two women — the mothers of his children — during his murderous rage.
He shot his wife in the face at the home with the eight kids, Bordelon told the outlet. The other injured victim is believed to be Elkins’ girlfriend, who was shot in a separate house nearby, the police spokesperson added.
Elkins shared four of the slain children with his wife and three with the other injured woman, according to Brown.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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