Jimmy Kimmel Tears up Discussing Hometown Las Vegas Shooting

As every late night host opened their respective shows with a tribute to victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas, many eyes went to Vegas native Jimmy Kimmel, who delivered and emotional, angry monologue.

“Here we are again in the aftermath of another terrible, inexplicable, shocking and painful tragedy, this time in Las Vegas which happens to be my hometown,” Kimmel opened Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday night, voice quivering and fighting back tears.

The host tearfully delivered the death toll and statistics of the mass shooting, sharing that is now the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, just 16 months after the Orlando nightclub massacre.

“This morning we have children without parents and fathers without sons,” Kimmel said. “Mothers without daughters. We lost two police officers. We lost a nurse from Tennessee. A special-ed teacher from a local school here in Manhattan Beach.”

He continued to express his disbelief and disgust: “It’s the kind of thing that it makes you want to throw up or give up. It’s too much to even process: all these devastated families who now have to live with this pain forever because one person with a violent and insane voice in his head managed to stockpile a collection of high-powered rifles and use them to shoot people.”

Kimmel pivoted to address that the shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, showed no typical warning signs of a domestic terrorist — a criminal record, mental illness or affiliation with extreme political or religious groups. The host said he’s seen many commenters online noting that nothing can be done to prevent this type of violence if weapon buyers pass these checkpoints, “but I disagree with that intensely,” he told the audience.

The host mentioned President Trump and displayed photos of 56 senators who voted against a bill that would have closed loopholes that allow firearm purchasers to avoid background checks.

“I want this to be a comedy show,” Kimmel addressed those who wish he would avoid talking politics. “I hate talking about stuff like this. I just want to laugh about things every night, but that—it seems to [be] becoming increasingly difficult lately. It feels like someone has opened a window into hell.”

Getting tearful again, Kimmel moved to the final section of his near 10-minute monologue.

“Las Vegas is a funny town,” he said. “It’s easy to forget people live there, but they do. Lots of good people. These people showed in droves today to donate blood because it’s the only thing they could do, and so they did it. But there is more that we could do, and we need to do it.”

He continued with a message to the scary event’s many heroes: “And thank God for the police in Las Vegas, who risked their lives trying to locate the man with the gun. Thank God for the doctors and nurses and firefighters and paramedics who rose to the occasion, as they always seem to do when we need them to. And for the concertgoers themselves who helped each other; who threw their bodies on top of each other; who drove their private cars full of people who were bleeding to the hospital. Don’t forget them.”

“And don’t forget what’s going on in Puerto Rico, either. Because just because they’re not the lead story today, they still need help. And if you want to help either one . . . a good way to do that is to give to the American Red Cross. We send all our love to our family and friends in Las Vegas and everyone affected by this terrible event.”

“I’m sorry for getting emotional,” Kimmel said to wrap up the opening. “I’m not great with this kind of thing. But I just think it’s important, you know?”