10 people have died and 15 more were injured in a van attack in Toronto Canada. ABC News. The attacker has been identified as Alex Minassian and was arrested at the scene. Witnesses say the attacker drove up onto the sidewalk and hit multiple people. The attackers motivations have not been revealed but the attack resembles other major terrorist attacks.
The Guardian has a live update feed for the attack.
The rental van used in the attack. CTV/ABC News.
My Comment:
Scary situation in Canada. I was expecting a major terrorist attack there and it looks like it happened. An attack using a van isn't surprising either as the tactic has spread rapidly after the Nice attack in France.
I am not sure what the motivations for this attack were. The first thing you think is ISIS but given the man's name I am not so sure. The suspect, Alex Minassian, is most likely Armenian, a country not known for a large Muslim population. It's very possible that he converted but as of right now it's way to early to blame this on ISIS as there is a good possibility that this isn't an attack based on Islam. He's obviously using tactics developed by ISIS but other people have adapted this style of attack.
Indeed, it might be the exact opposite of an Islamic attack. From what I understand, the neighborhood struck by this attacker was an area with a lot of Muslims. It is very possible that this attack is one in retribution against Muslims for whatever reason. Armenians have a grudge against Islam and that could be what this about. That being said it could be for any reason at this point. With the suspect in custody, we should learn more about what his actual motive was soon.
Whatever the motive it just goes to show how easy it is to kill a large amount of people with a vehicle. As much as our media is harping on gun rights, it's very clear that Canada's gun control laws didn't do a thing to stop this attack. Anyone can rent a van and kill double digit numbers of people. And it's not like there aren't many other ways to kill large amount of people without a gun or a vehicle.
This seems like an isolated incident. Canadian authorities say that the suspect has no links to other terror groups and a follow up attack is extremely unlikely. With the motives unclear it is possible that a tit for tat game of terror attacks could happen in response to this attack. With the motive not revealed yet it's unclear if that is possible or not. Generally speaking though, I don't want to get into the blame game until the motive is revealed. It could be that this guy was just a psycho.
Video has been released of the arrest of the suspect and I have to say that I don't really agree with the way the Canadian cop acted. That's not a criticism of the cop himself as he was going by his training and acted bravely, but I don't agree with the department's policy here. It seems very clear that the suspect was attempting to commit suicide by cop and I am shocked that he wasn't shot and killed. The suspect pointed a gun like object at a cop several times and the cop didn't do anything but yell at him. He would have been entirely justified in shooting him, especially after the attacker killed 10 people. I'd much rather have dead terrorist than a cop put at risk of being shot. That being said, he was pretty close to the suspect and maybe he was able to tell that it wasn't a gun in his hand?
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