'The President is not welcome here': Roseburg local newspaper chief leads calls against Obama's visit to meet the victims of the UCC shooting
- Publisher of a local conservative newspaper in Roseburg, Oregon, says Obama is 'not welcome' in the town on Friday
- David Jaques claims the visit is being used by the President to push forward his anti-gun agenda
- Obama will visit privately with families of the victims of last week's shooting at Umpqua Community College
- Nine people were killed and nine injured in the shooting last Thursday
- See our full coverage of US President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama will travel to Oregon on Friday to visit privately with families of the victims of last week's shooting at a community college.
But the trip has angered locals in Roseburg who say Obama is 'not welcome' because the visit is merely a 'grandstand for political purposes'.
They claim the President is simply using the massacre to gain support for his gun-control agenda.
Leading the chorus is David Jaques, the publisher of conservative newspaper the Roseburg Beacon, who said of Obama's planned trip: 'I think that's very inappropriate, and I think it's disrespectful to the families.'
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Angry: David Jaques, the publisher of conservative newspaper the Roseburg Beacon, claims that Obama is only visiting the town as a 'grandstand for political purposes' in a news interview posted to YouTube
Too soon? President Barack Obama speaking about the shooting at a community college in Oregon in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on October 1
Jaques told Breitbart News that he also believes Obama's press conference straight after the shooting was held too soon.
'We haven't even identified bodies, we've still got incident command trying to contain the scene, and he's holding a press conference 3,000 miles away from here, telling - almost implying that he could have single-handedly prevented this if the Congress would have listened to him.
'I think he admitted it himself.
'His visit here isn't a re-election campaign stop, but it is a campaign stop for an agenda that he and his associates believe is important.
'And that is to take away Americans' right to own firearms.
'It shows not only a total disdain, a disregard for Constitution, but our very citizens, especially those of us right here in Douglas County.
'We believe in the Second Amendment. We believe in the whole Constitution.'
In a separate interview with Mediaite, Jaques accused Obama of wanting to 'stand on the corpses of our loved ones and make some kind of political point'.
Despite crime scene tape still being stretched around large areas of the school, the Umpqua Community College campus was open to staff and students Monday for the first time since the shooting Thursday
In mourning: A woman navigates crime scene tape as she holds flowers on the campus of Umpqua Community College as it reopens on Monday
Staff members embrace as they arrive on the campus of Umpqua Community College as it reopens on Monday in Roseburg, Oregon
Jaques told Breibart that the region is proud of Sheriff John Hanlin, who he said 'put the administration on notice that if you pass any laws, edicts or executive actions that are either unconstitutional or extra-constitutional, they will not be enforced in Douglas County'.
He was referring to Hanlin's letter to Vice President Joe Biden in 2012, in which he wrote: 'Gun control is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimes like school shootings.'
Obama will visit Roseburg on Friday as he opens a four-day trip to the West Coast.
No additional details about his visit were immediately available.
Obama has renewed his call for stricter gun laws following the shooting and has expressed exasperation at the frequency of mass shootings in the U.S.
The gunman, Christopher Harper-Mercer, executed nine people inside a classroom last Thursday and wounded nine others. He killed himself after a shootout with police.
Some faculty, staff and students have been bringing flowers to a makeshift memorial as they return to the campus for the first time since the shooting.
Killer: Christopher Harper-Mercer, 26, executed nine people inside a classroom last Thursday and wounded nine others. He killed himself after a shootout with police
The president of the community college says at least one injured student has visited the campus on the day it reopened.
Faculty, staff and students began returning to Umpqua Community College on Monday, although classes don't resume until next week.
College President Rita Cavin didn't identify the injured student who came to campus.
She said professional groups are available to counsel faculty, students and staff, and there will also be access to 'comfort dogs' that can help relieve stress.
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