Editing Long Island Rail Road shooting (section)

==Reaction==
Many [[African-American]]s expressed concern that the LIRR shooting would lead to a backlash of violence and racial animosities against the black community.<ref name="Rabinovitz1210" /><ref name="McQuiston1213" /><ref name="Williams1213">{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Lena |date=December 13, 1993 |title=After Train Killings, Worry About Backlash |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/13/nyregion/after-train-killings-worry-about-backlash.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009}}</ref> Civil rights activists [[Al Sharpton]] and Herbert Daughtry urged that African-Americans in general not be blamed for the crime; Sharpton, in particular, criticized what he called attempts "to demonize black and Hispanic dissatisfaction" by linking those groups to the murders.<ref name="Rabinovitz1210" /> Civil rights activist [[Jesse Jackson]] delivered a sermon at the [[Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City|Cathedral of the Incarnation]] in Garden City, during a service attended by the victims' grieving families. Audrey Warren released a statement shortly after the shootings expressing sorrow for the victims and their families. Jackson stressed the shootings were the result of one man and should not be seen as indicative of all African-Americans.<ref name="McQuiston1213" /> The day after the shootings, Nassau [[County Executive]] [[Thomas Gulotta]] called Ferguson "an animal." Jackson and other African-American leaders criticized the comment as racially charged, but Gulotta later said his statement had nothing to do with race.<ref name="Williams1213" />

During a press conference in the days after the shooting, the Long Island Rail Road Police Benevolent Association called the trains "unsafe" and said the railroad needed to triple the size of its 216-person police force. LIRR officials responded by noting that the rate of crime against passengers had dropped over the past few years before the shooting.<ref name="Rabinovitz1210" /> The Long Island Rail Road and [[Metro-North Railroad|Metro-North Commuter Railroad]] placed more officers on trains and increased the visibility of police in response to the shootings.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rabinovitz |first=Jonathan |date=December 24, 1993 |title=Rail Lines Raise Visibility Of Officers After Shooting |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/24/nyregion/rail-lines-raise-visibility-of-officers-after-shooting.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009}}</ref> LIRR officials also made counselors available for passengers who wanted one, and sent senior railroad officials out to trains to answer riders' questions.<ref name="Barron1209" /> A ''New York Times'' editorial called for stronger gun control laws in response to the murders, specifically citing the ease with which Ferguson obtained a handgun in California, which had one of the country's stricter gun laws.<ref name="NYEditorial1210" /> Several Adelphi University students expressed concern that Ferguson may have been taking the train to the school with plans of shooting people out of revenge for his past experiences there, although the train Ferguson took was not the closest one to Adelphi.<ref name="Schemo1210" /> Most of the regular commuters who used the 5:33 Hicksville local returned to the train the day after the shootings. In interviews with the media, a number of passengers cited the need to face their fears and the psychological trauma created by the incident, rather than avoid riding their regular train.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McQuiston |first=John T. |date=December 9, 1993 |title=Death on the L.I.R.R.: Commuters; The Ride, a Day Later: The 5:33 Will Never Seem the Same Again |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/09/nyregion/death-lirr-commuters-ride-day-later-5-33-will-never-seem-same-again.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 7, 2009}}</ref>

=== Politicians ===
[[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]] took notice of the LIRR shooting, calling it a "terrible human tragedy".<ref name="Dowd1209">{{Cite news |last=Dowd |first=Maureen |author-link=Maureen Dowd |date=December 9, 1993 |title=Death on the L.I.R.R.: The White House; Moved by Killings, Clinton Urges Action on Gun Legislation |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/09/nyregion/death-lirr-white-house-moved-killings-clinton-urges-action-gun-legislation.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 4, 2009}}</ref> The day after the shooting, Clinton announced he had asked [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Janet Reno]] to review a proposal by New York City Mayor-elect [[Rudy Giuliani]] that would set up a national uniform licensing system for gun buyers. Clinton cited the Ferguson murders as a factor in his support of the program, which would include background checks, tests and required renewals every two years.<ref name="Dowd1209" /> About one week after the shooting, Clinton visited with O'Connor, Blum and McEntee.<ref name="Rabinovitz1214" /> During his first major speech since his election as mayor, Giuliani cited the Ferguson murders while he repeated his previous calls for the [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]] and a uniform gun licensing law.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Alison |date=December 10, 1993 |title=Giuliani Urges More Support For Police as Role Is Redefined |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/10/nyregion/giuliani-urges-more-support-for-police-as-role-is-redefined.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 5, 2009}}</ref> During his monthly radio call-in show, Governor Mario Cuomo called the Ferguson shootings "a dramatic, spectacular slaughter",<ref name="Barron1209" /> and called for stronger [[gun control]] measures.<ref name="Rabinovitz1210" /> [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] [[Al D'Amato]] said the Ferguson case demonstrated the need for capital punishment in New York State because "that is the only fitting punishment for this cold-blooded killer".<ref name="Rabinovitz1210" />