Friday, October 24, 2014

New York hatchet attack called an act of terrorism. Yahoo/AP

Suspect Zale Thompson right before he attacked a group of NYC cops. 

New York's police commissioner says that yesterdays hatchet attack on a group of cops was an act of terrorism. Yahoo/AP. The suspect, Zale Thompson, had terrorist websites and news about beheading and the recent terror attack in Canada. Thompson attacked four cops wounding one severely and slightly injuring another before being shot dead. Thompson does not seem to have any links to any terror groups and was most likely self radicalized. Thompson was a navy veteran and had legal problems relating to domestic violence. A bystander was wounded in the attack by a police bullet. 

My Comment:
Yet another radical Islamic inspired attack. These kind of attacks are very hard to defend against because all it takes is a lone wolf to read the right website or follow the wrong person on twitter and they could be inspired to copy these attacks. At this point all they would have to do is watch the news. And if all they need is a knife, hatchet or primitive rifle then there is little that can be done other then having armed people around. The only good news I have seen for this trend is that the Jihadi's are attacking soldiers and police who are likely to be armed, or at the very least, will have combat training. If they wise up and start attacking civilians, like the failed plot in Australia, then we might have a serious problem. Of course a person tried that in Oklahoma and was shot by a civilian. He still managed to kill someone so even armed civilians isn't a complete defense. 

As much as censorship disgusts me perhaps it is time for Twitter and other social media to crack down on ISIS and other extremist groups. It's clear to me that these lone wolf attacks are being inspired by radical websites and twitter accounts. Shutting them down won't solve the problem completely, but it would make a difference. 

No comments:

Post a Comment