Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

PHOTO: Photographer Pete Souza Remembers Obama After Sandy Hook

PHOTO: Photographer Pete Souza Remembers Obama After Sandy Hook

It's been five years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, when gunman Adam Lanza fatally shot and killed 20 students and six faculty members within five minutes.


As the nation continues to grieve and the debate over stricter gun control remains contentious, former chief White House photographer Pete Souza released a never-before-seen photograph of former President Barack Obama in a despondent state inside the Oval Office.

In Souza's new book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, the photographer said that December 14, 2012, was the "worst day" of Obama's presidency.

 

Souza told People, “[The shooting] affected me in a profound way that no other situation in the eight years did. I can feel my eyes tearing up now just talking to you about it,” adding, “It certainly affected [President Obama] … He cried on stage one time reliving that because I think he was reacting not just as a president, but as a parent.”

"It was about a month since he had been reelected to a second term, so there was that sort of afterglow that was still being felt, I think, throughout the White House," an emotional Souza told Business Insider.

It was also Christmastime at the White House, so there were these decorations, and Christmas trees, a very festive time of year. And word began to come out that there had been the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
 

Homeland Security Advisor, John Brennan, delivered the devastating news to the president.

 

In the picture, you see just kind of the energy just zap out of the president. I think he was thinking of this not only as a president, but imagining what it must be like as a parent. The horror of sending your six-year-old kid off to school, you put him on the school bus and you never see them again because some crazy guy shot them to death, point-blank, at their school.

So I think it was a very ... he was very emotional and just thinking about this as a fellow parent, almost more so than as a president.

 

The former chief photographer also revealed that moments later, Obama struggled to maintain his composure and cried while issuing a statement on the tragedy.

Five years later, there is no progress on gun restrictions.

 

Second Amendment advocates insist that possessing firearms save more lives.

 

Will America ever feel safe again?

 

David Wheeler, who lost his 6-year-old son Bejamin, still grapples with the event that claimed his son's life. He told the NY Times, "One of the things an event like this does — it doesn’t change you, it simply heightens who you already are. There are beautiful, meaningful, thoughtful and very kind gestures at every turn, from people you know well and people you don’t know at all.”

Abbey Clements, who was a second grade teacher at Sandy Hook, said, "We work really hard to be resilient and strong. And I think it’s O.K. to recognize that we’re still grieving, and that we should never forget. We don’t want to forget.”

Though the pain is palpable after five years since the shooting, Newtown strives to stay strong. Small miracles like charity organizations started by the parents of the Sandy Hook victims keep the community tight, and residents keep their eyes towards the hope of a brighter future.

Today, we see one of the reasons why Obama is missed.

 

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

 

H/T - BusinessInsider, Twitter, People, BusinessInsider2

More from News

Screenshots from Dove's ad featuring transgender women
Dove

'One Million Moms' Calls For Dove Boycott Over Hair Care Ad Featuring Trans Woman

The vehemently transphobic conservative group One Million Moms (OMM)—an arm of the Christian fundamentalist nonprofit American Family Association (AFA)—called for a boycott of Dove products after the company featured a transgender woman in an advertisement for their Damage Therapy Intensive Repair Conditioner.

The ad garnered attention after it was shared by the social media account Libs of TikTok—run by the anti-LGBTQ+ conservative Chaya Raichik—which described the ad as an example of "another woke company trying to erase women."

Keep ReadingShow less
Alyssa Milano; Julian McMahon
Michael Kovac/Elton John AIDS Foundation/Getty Images; Marcus Ingram/The Surfer/Getty Images

Alyssa Milano Shares Poignant Tribute To 'TV Husband' Julian McMahon After His Death At 56

Actor Julian McMahon lost his battle with cancer at the age of 56 earlier this week, and to say that the Charmed, Nip/Tuck, and Fantastic Four actor touched many lives would be an understatement.

When the news of McMahon's passing went public, his Charmed costar and "TV wife" Alyssa Milano came forward and expressed her sadness and condolences on Instagram. The pair were a favorite couple on Charmed, and it was clear from her post that their care for each other extended beyond the screen.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Who Slept With Their Best Friend Describe The Aftermath

When two people have a deep and meaningful friendship, the question might eventually come up of whether or not they could be more. Agreeing that their friendship might deserve more, they might try to date or at least explore physical intimacy.

But crossing that line carries with it consequences, and it's only once the pair crosses that line that they'll find out if crossing it was good or bad.

Keep ReadingShow less
child writing on chalkboard
Leonardo Toshiro Okubo on Unsplash

Bilingual People Explain Which Words They're Surprised Don't Exist In English

According to one report, approximately 3.3 billion people worldwide—43 % of the population—are multilingual, meaning they speak at least two languages. According to the last Census, 21.6% of people in the United States speak more than one language, while in the United Kingdom, the number is 36%.

More multilingual people speak English as a second language than English speakers who have learned another language besides English. Worldwide, people who learned English as a first language rate among the lowest in multilingual rates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Garfield at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival
Harry Durrant/Getty Images

Andrew Garfield meets fan with wild tweet!

American actor Andrew Garfield had a funny yet awkward reunion with a fan from a viral “Thirst Tweet” featured on Buzzfeed Celeb.

The Thirst Tweet compilation shows celebrities reading a collection of scandalous tweets from fans commenting on their looks, attractiveness, and sex appeal. Blushing stars include James McAvoy, Renee Rapp, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Mackie, and more recently, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, as they promote F1 the Movie that was released in theaters last week.

Keep ReadingShow less