Reacting to Monday night’s mass murder of concert goers in Manchester, England, President Donald Trump told a group during an appearance in Bethlehem that “terrorists and extremists, and those who give them aid and comfort, must be driven out from our society forever,” the Seattle Times and Associated Press reported.
But if such an incident happened in Seattle, would the perpetrator be identified as a terrorist or as a “community member?” As noted in a recent KIRO Eyewitness News report, Seattle Police are now identifying suspects – including the teen who was killed in a gun battle with police last month – as a “community member,” rather than a suspect.
After Manchester, however, will such political correctness be dismissed?
“This wicked ideology must be obliterated, and I mean completely obliterated and innocent life must be protected,” the president said, after learning that children and teens were among the dead following the Ariana Grande concert. Miss Grande was not injured, but it is reported that she has cancelled her world tour.
CBS News in London has reported that the suicide bomber was identified by British authorities as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. The news agency added that he “was known to British authorities prior to the attack.” However, the report did not detail how he was known.
ISIS has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack that left 22 dead and 59 others wounded. The bomb spread shrapnel and ball bearings around the crime scene at the Manchester Arena, described as one of the largest indoor concert facilities in the world.
According to the Daily Mail online, Abedi was a Manchester-born “British-Libyan jihadist.” That newspaper puts the number of injured at 119 in its headlines. The Telegram is reporting that Abedi’s parents were Libyan refugees from the Ghaddafi regime. He was born in 1994.
The youngest bombing victim so far was an 8-year-old girl identified as Saffie Roussos. A handful of other victims have also been identified.
President Trump, in the middle of a nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe, called terrorists “evil losers.”
Various published reports suggest that the bomb was a “sophisticated” device designed to “maximize injury and death.” It reportedly contained bolts “and other bits of metal.”
As more becomes known, there are reports that security is being tightened “ahead of major cultural and sports events” around the world, according to Reuters.
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