The Austin bomber. The Muslim Times has the best collection of articles about counter terrorism
Source: Washington Post
By Samantha Schmidt
For weeks, the 23-year-old suspected bomber terrorized the city of Austin with a string of explosions that killed two and injured several others.
But should the bomber, identified by authorities as Mark Anthony Conditt, be called a terrorist?
In the hours after police cornered Conditt, who died after detonating explosives in his car Wednesday, the conversation surrounding the Austin bombings quickly turned to labels, language and race. As with other attacks in recent months and years, such as the Las Vegas shooting that left 58 people dead, a debate soon began over whether to characterize the Austin bombings as acts of terrorism.
Authorities avoided using the “terrorist” label, instead describing Conditt — a white man — as a troubled person motivated by frustrations in his life.
Interim Austin police chief Brian Manley said Conditt made a 25-minute video “confession” on his cellphone explaining how he built seven explosive devices.
“Having listened to that recording, he does not at all mention anything about terrorism, nor does he mention anything about hate,” Manley said in a news conference Wednesday. “But instead, it is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point.”
Other officials also declined to tie the bombings to terrorism. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that there “is no apparent nexus to terrorism at this time.” Asked whether the suspect was a terrorist in an interview with Fox and Friends Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott darted around the label.
Suggested Reading
Should Terrorism be Defined by Religion?
Are Terrorists Christians, Buddhists or Muslims; Find for Yourself?
The Root Cause of Terrorism: An Unholy Thought
Categories: America, Americas, Counter Terrorism, United States
All such guys are ‘challenged men’ young or older …. this is becoming a joke really.
Well this is much easier to understand now. If you are white that you are misunderstood and challenged and not a terrorists even if you build bombs and kill people here in America. iT IS ALLOWED. But only if you are WHITE. If you are Muslim and if by accident you even sneezed and the bomb went off in the next country, you will be labelled as a terrorists and you will have to pay for that bomb forgoing off because of your sneeze.
What is this world coming to? It’s just very sad…
It seems that in America, ‘local’ white bombers and shooters can NEVER be terrorists as they have extremely troubled and unhinged backgrounds and brains. Their motives and entire lives are studied to search for the reasons behind their obnoxious acts while if a similar incident is perpetrated by a non-white, immigrant (s/he will never be called a ‘local’ even if s/he is a 3rd or 4th generation citizen), with a non-Christian background, it will be promptly assumed that the religious beliefs are to be blamed.
NOBODY will bother with trying to find out like in the present case, anything about his troubled background (maybe), life or a traumatic experience, etc.
This is becoming so disgustingly obvious, but it bothers very few.