He used explosive devices to kill others and, eventually, himself. In a 25-minute recording, he detailed the weapons he had made and confessed to the crimes. He terrorized the residents of Austin, Tex.Right. You can blow up people or shoot them in large numbers, but if your skin is white, you're not a terrorist.
But law enforcement officials said that [the Asswipe of Austin] was not a terrorist.
“What I can tell you having listened to that recording, he does not at all mention anything about terrorism nor does he mention anything about hate,” said Brian Manley, the Austin police chief, on Wednesday. “It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point.”
Just like those right-wing nutjobs who go on killing sprees, hoping to start a racial war. They're not terrorists, either.
SNOWFLAKE ALERT! 5 Facts that Gun Control Advocates Hate:
ReplyDeletehttp://commoncts.blogspot.com/2018/03/snowflake-alert-5-facts-that-gun.html
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ReplyDeleteCommon Cents, Rule 2.C violation. Yellow Card.
ReplyDeleteDA, Rule 2.A violation. Red Card.
All y'all want to push me to fully-moderating comments, keep it up.
The pisser is, until a motive is determined, the Sheriff isn’t entirely wrong. I agree the lil’fucker’s a terrorist in my books, but under the primary dictionary definition, an aim/goal is needed (other than kill people so the cops kill me).
ReplyDeleteI think our definition of terrorist is outdated. I would also suggest Stonekettle Station for a good read on how people are very quick to 1) Assume asking questions makes you against an idea 2) People are willing to risk kids to see if something works. He asks about training teachers to carry and people freak out, I think the questions are what should be asked now. The answers, IDK. Apologies if I crossed a line here, Comrade.
These bombs were clearly meant to terrorize the public. To say he wasn’t a terrorist is to play childish word games.
ReplyDeleteDA, the problem is the definition of a terrorist is currently one who uses terror in pursuit of a goal. The goals being political, economic, social or similar...simply scaring people is not a terrorist/terrorism. Until we redefine terrorism, we have a difficulty in called these asswipes terrorists.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how the definition of terrorist is ambiguous or needs changing for todays world from what it has been for decades.
ReplyDeleteFirst, though, we all have agree on what the definition of terrorist is. I myself would say that a person or persons who use violence to achieve a goal. Using that definition, a mentally ill person who simply likes to set fires, and watch them burn, but kills people incidentally while doing so, is not a terrorist, but merely a psycopath. That is not to say that a terrorist cannot be a psycopath, but just that this particular fire bug is not.
I am a white male, just as a point of interest, to keep us on the same page. So I do understand that white privilege is a real thing, and quite rampant and harmful. But in order to fix it, it has to be identified correctly when it exists, and not misidentified where it does not. And no, I am not going to go into the, " Well, I have black friends, so I am not a bigot." I understand very well my own problems and that I have to deal with them, and I am learning and growing.
So we don't know what his goal was in terrorizing Austin. I kinda don't think that he didn't have one, or he wouldn't have bothered with the bombing, let alone the suicide.
ReplyDeleteSo does that mean that someone has to have a goal that we understand in order to be labeled a terrorist?
I would go with "uses terror to achieve goal" as a definition, but if I'm to be honest, I would also agree to "uses terror", as I do not presume to be able to understand the mental workings of many mass murderers. as we have come to know them.
-Doug in Oakland
Terrorists use violence against noncombatants to achieve aims they cannot gain by force-on-force or persuasion.
ReplyDeleteOr, are mass murder and serial killing terrorism?
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize.
ReplyDeleteHummm ... so watch what they do to determine who they are has gone out the window???
ReplyDeleteMurdering TWO African-Americans and nearly killing a Hispanic woman doesn't make clear who he is?
Let's ask THEIR families, neighbors, African-Americans and Hispanics IN Austin,TX.
Oh ... that's right ... THEIR "terror" wasn't asked about nor is acknowledged!
white supremacist ideology IS the foundation, source and fuel of American racism even in 21st Century America!