The very definition of terrorism is:chaos wrote:Edmonton
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/edm ... ist-attack
Police say terrorism charges are pending against a suspect arrested after a series of violent attacks that saw an Edmonton police officer stabbed and several pedestrians run down by a truck. . . .
Las Vegas
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... 22267001/#
MESQUITE, Nev. — Police have identified the man accused of killing at least 58 people and wounding 515 in a Las Vegas shooting rampage . . .
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.
When you have a guy committing attempted murder with a clear political agenda, even it it's *just* a small handful of people affected, I have no problem calling it terrorism.
IMO, the Vegas shooting indeed fits the criteria for "...fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization" even without the as-yet revelation of any motive on the part of the shooter. The Vegas shooter obviously had been planning the act considering he had a huge cache of weapons (which already appears to be military grade, illegal no matter what kind of gun laws could possibly be enacted in the near future) he had accumulated and brought to the hotel, booked a room overlooking the concert grounds and waited until the evening of the final band when the grounds would have the largest crowd under cover of late night darkness.
From a accepted pathological or sociological standpoint, the guy was deranged to pull off this mass shooting, despite coldly and deliberately carrying it out. What will probably ultimately decide if the label "terrorism" fits is if a reason or excuse is found which targets a specific group or political idealogy.
Sadly, the politicizing and hand-wringing in the aftermath of this event will do nothing to address the root cause of why these things continue to happen with escalating frequency.
On the other hand, these kind of tragedies bring out the worst and certainly jaw-dropping stupid in some public figures:
CBS Legal Exec: No Sympathy For Vegas ‘Because Country Music Fans Often Are Republican’
October 2nd, 2017
"A top legal executive at CBS, Hayley Geftman-Gold, said she “is not even sympathetic” for the victims of the shooting at a country music festival at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Sunday night.
“If they wouldn’t do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing,” wrote Geftman-Gold on Facebook, perhaps referring to Sandy Hook. “I’m actually not even sympathetic bc country music fans often are Republican gun toters.”
CBS has a history of hostility towards Republicans. Shortly after the attack on the GOP congressional baseball team gravely injuring Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise in June, former CBS anchor Scott Pelley questioned whether the shooting was “foreseeable, predictable and to some degree, self-inflicted.”
The original thread was deleted, but not by Geftman-Gold.
CBS did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation for comment."
What would possess someone to make these kind of comments jeopardizing their company's public image and their own job?