Stephen Colbert Gets Serious After Pittsburgh Shooting: 'Hate Is Not What America Stands For' (Video)

Stephen Colbert started his first monologue since the weekend’s mass-shooting in Pittsburgh with a very serious tone.

“It’s tragic, it’s sickening, and our thoughts are with their victims, their families and the larger Jewish community,” he opened Monday’s “Late Show.” “But more than that, I want to say, hate is not what America stands for. And tonight, all of us are with you.”

Colbert then pointed to examples of unity in the face of such horror, like a Muslim group that is raising money for those affected. Historically, that one feels unlikely.

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“Naturally, in times like these, our nation looks to its president for comfort and guidance,” Colbert said. “That’s our first mistake.”

That sad-but-true joke is where last night’s “Late Show” humor began.

Watch the video above.

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The fatal shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning killed 11 people and injured several others, including two officers and two SWAT team members. Suspect Robert Bowers has been charged with 29 federal counts, including 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder and 11 counts of obstruction of the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death.

Bowers was armed with an AR-15 rifle and at least three handguns.

Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)

Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.
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Washington D.C. — A former Navy reservist shot and killed 12 people on September 16, 2013, at a military facility. The gunman was killed.
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Tyrone, Mo. - On Feb. 27, 2015, Joseph Jesse Aldridge killed seven people — four of them relatives — in a door-to-door shooting spree before killing himself.
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Waco, Tex. - Nine people were killed and many more were injured after two biker gangs began firing at each other at a motorcycle club on May 17, 2015.
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Charleston, S.C. - Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a racially motivated shooting in a predominantly African-American church on June 17, 2015.
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Chattanooga, Tenn. - A gunman named Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez entered two military facilities on July 16, 2015, and killed four Marines and injured others, before he was killed.
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Umpqua, Ore. - On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper Mercer killed nine people and injured seven to nine more at Umpqua Community College before two police officers shot him. Mercer then committed suicide.
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San Bernardino, Calif. - 14 people were killed and another 21 injured after Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party on December 2, 2015. The pair were later killed during a shootout with police.
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Orlando, Fla. - 50 people were killed and 53 wounded on June 11, 2016, at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Just before the shooting, suspected killer Omar Mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terror group ISIS. Mateen was also shot an killed by police on the scene.
Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

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TheWrap looks back at recent mass shootings that have happened on U.S. soil

Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.

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Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)

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