Man who lost two cousins in Dayton mass shooting makes heartbreaking plea to Trump: 'Do something!'

A man who lost two cousins in the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend has begged Donald Trump to "Do something!" in a heartbreaking interview with local media.

Damon Davenport's relatives Thomas McNicholas and Lois Oglesby, 25 and 27 respectively, were among the nine people shot dead by Connor Betts near a busy nightspot, the gunman's own sister Megan was also killed in the attack despite local police officers taking just 30 seconds to 'neautralise' his killing spree.

As new details emerge about the attacker and his motives - a Twitter account linked to him identifies him as a "leftist" opposed to Trump and ICE agents and in favour of Antifa and Elizabeth Warren - Dayton remains in shock.

Davenport told local ABC station WCPO:

Do something. That’s all I want: Do something.

Speaking to CNN, the bereaved's passion and clarity was admirable:

My cousins did not deserve to lose their life. They had children. Hard-working people.

All they were doing was enjoying a night on the town and they’re dead. Never to come home again. Never to see their family again. They’re gone.

And I want the president to hear this. Donald Trump, I want you to hear this: You need to be here right now. You need to.

Davenport's phrase was precisely the same as that shouted at Ohio governor Mike DeWine by a frustrated heckler when he addressed a candle-lit vigil on Monday night, inspiring the #DoSomething hashtag to trend on Twitter.

Trump is due to visit El Paso, Texas, scene of the weekend's other massacre in which 22 died, on Wednesday before arriving in Dayton later this week.

The town's mayor, Nan Whaley, appeared unenthused about his prospects of bringing consolation to grieving locals, joking that he was more likely to turn up in Toledo instead, the president having expressed sympathy for the wrong town in his White House press conference on Monday.

Trump's reluctance to blame gun laws, preferring to cite scapegoat issues like mental health and violent video games, has hardly inspired confidence that he and his fellow Republicans are serious about change.

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