Political cartoon stirs up mixed reviews in wake up Texas mass shooting

At first glance, it's just a syndicated cartoon that showed up in the Brockton Enterprise newspaper, but to others, it was so much more.

Anne Danehy, Communications Professor at Boston University, says any political cartoon is designed to be provocative.

"The deal with political cartoons is this; people aren't really paying much attention to the editorial pages and reading them. So, they need to do something that's gonna stir interest," said Danehy.

Boston 25 News Anchor Blair Miller took to Facebook to ask what people thought.

Many weighed in, including Michael Gosselin who wrote, "I find it very inappropriate especially at this time. Just goes to show you how people nowadays think. Hatefulness is in. Kindness is a thing of the past."

Christy Karanikas agreed, saying the comic was "Insensitive!! No respect to the victims and families."

Matthew Belcher offered a different view. "It's satire. It's supposed to make people uncomfortable. Nothing insensitive about it."

Boston 25 reached out to the Brockton Enterprise for comment. The Executive Editor Lisa Strattan emailed saying, "Thank you for reaching out. We have no comment"

The artist behind the cartoon lives in Columbus, Ohio and said it speaks for itself.

Danhey says a bold cartoon like this is a true sign of the times.

"It really is a statement. It's a reflection of where we are. That people have become so desensitized to these mass shootings that you can look at this and say, this is OK to publish this," said Danhey.

Blair Miller spoke with another political cartoonist who told him he too has been accused of being insensitive. He said sometimes it's just a matter of timing. Something like this can come across as being insensitive when it's published so soon after a tragedy.

Cox Media Group