Zeros

Cotton Candy, Crowds, and a Shaking System: Is This Our New Normal? There is a distinct, overwhelming rhythm to a late-summer county fair . If you close your eyes , you are right back in it: the dizzying, metallic whir of the Ferris wheel spinning against a bruised-evening sky, the sticky-sweet scent of cotton candy drifting past the livestock barns, and the deep, bass-heavy thrum of announcements echoing over a sea of shifting bodies. It is a sensory whirlwind . Walking through those thick, tightly packed crowds, you expect to feel a little disoriented . You expect to bump shoulders, dodge strollers, and lose your bearings in the cheerful chaos of community life . What you never expect—what no one should ever have to expect—is the sudden, terrifying fracture of that atmosphere by real-world violence. Reports from the grounds of the Canfield Fair revealed a shocking scene when an armed individual forced their way through the crowd and lunged toward Ohio gubernatorial cand...