Sutherland Springs is just a tiny town in in Wilson County in the state of Texas with just two gas stations, one post office and a few hundred residents. The town is largely unknown to the world until Devin Patrick Kelley, a 26 years old former US Airforce personnel drove into the town with loaded guns and start shooting at churchgoers during a Sunday Service at a First Baptist Church. 26 people with ages ranging from 1 year old baby to 77 years old woman were killed for no reason at all. Another 20 people were injured, 10 in critical conditions. The attack was absolutely unprovoked and unnecessary.

Mr. Kelly was a father and a husband until he was discharged from the US Airforce in 2014 following a court martial for assaulting his wife and child. The Police actually identified him as a "young, white male" and according to same Police his motive is not clear yet.

But, according to Donald Trump, this "shooter" is "a very deranged individual". The President noted that Americans "have a lot of mental health problems in our country, but this isn't a guns situation". In other words, this is NOT a terrorist attack because a white bloke is always going crazy and shooting people for fun they don't commit terrorist attacks. Though he killed 26 people.

On 31st October, 2017, Sayfullo Habibullaevich Saipov, a 29 years old Uzbekistan truck driver drove into people in Lower Manhattan, New York and killed 8 people and injured 11 people. 5 Argentineans, 2 Americans and 1 Belgian were the people killed. He was an Uber driver with several 5-stars and he is a father of 3 young children.

He was an accountant back in Uzbekistan before he won the Diversity Immigrant Visa in 2010. He was known to be " little aggressive" and not very religious when he arrived the US. He was known to be a very nice man. He's a Muslim.

But according to Donald Trump, this particular killer should "get death penalty". Later that night the President also twitted that the Judiciary "should move fast. DEATH PENALTY!". In other words, this guy is a Muslim, not one of us and should be executed as soon as possible. He killed 8 people.

On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64 years old retired wealthy accountant, shot and killed 58 people and injured 527 at a Las Vegas music concert. He set up a firing point in his hotel room on 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Hotel. 23 guns were found and another set of 19 firearms and explosives were found in his Nevada home. Tannerite were found at his home and ammonium nitrite were found in his car.

According to his brother, Stephen is "a regular guy who liked playing video poker, live music and eating burritos." But he had a troubled childhood with a bank robber for a father. In fact, his father was once on FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

But according to Donald Trump, Stephen Paddock shooting is "an act of pure evil" and he described the "shooter" as a "sick man, a demented man". In other words, this guy is just another troubled man who is mentally sick. Not once was "terrorist" used to describe him even though he killed 58 people and injured over 500.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a 23 years old Nigerian who was sentenced to 4 life terms and 50 years without parole on February 16, 2012. He is presently cooling off his heels at ADX Florence, a SuperMax Federal Prison at Colorado.

He was convicted of 8 criminal counts which includes attempted use of 'weapon of mass destruction', attempted murder of 289 people, and attempted destruction of civilian aircraft. What exactly did he do? Well on 25 December, 2009 he was caught attempting to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his pant while on board Northwest Airlines, Flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, USA.

He DIDN'T killed anybody yet he is on 4 life prison sentences and 50 years in jail without parole. He was a Muslim and he is black so he was branded a terrorist.

On June 17, 2015, during a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, South Carolina, Dylan Storm Roof, a 21 years old 'white supremacist', took a Glock 41 semi-automatic pistol and a Colt .45-caliber automatic hangun, and assasinated 9 African-American churchgoers including a Pastor and State Senator. One person was injured.

Dylan confessed that decided to killed these innocent people because he wanted to ignite a race war in the US. He was indicted on 33 Federal charges and none include terrorism or even domestic terrorism. He was convicted of hate crimes, murder, attempted murder and obstruction of exercise of religion resulting in deaths. He was found guilty of all charges both Federal and State. On January 11, 2017, Federal sentenced him to death while on April 10, 2017, State of South Carolina gave him life imprisonment without parole.

Dylan Roof was never addressed as a terrorist but as a 'white man shooter' or a 'white supremacist mass murderer'. He is white, he is Christian so he was probably incapable of commuting a terrorist attack.

But does the words or phrase used to describe an evil and violent person after a mass murder matter at all? Dylan got death sentence and a life sentence, Umar got 4 life sentences. Both of them probably won't ever be free again. Stephen and Patrick are dead so it probably doesn't matter anymore. Sayfullo is most likely going to be sentenced to death. Fact is they all end up dead.

Nevertheless, the psychological effects of branding a killer as a terrorist or not is never the same on the perpetrator's family, race and religion. The physical ripple effects are also more grievous on the family, race and religion of the perpetrators when they are branded as terrorists as opposed to the free ride enjoyed when the word 'terrorist' is deliberately omitted when describing a mass murderer.

What is terrorism and what is not? This is the big question. The question that is dividing not just Americans but the world at large. Does race and religion matter in describing a violent criminal act as terrorism?

The Nevada State Law, described terrorism an "any act that involves the use of violence intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population."

At the Federal level in the US, "domestic terrorism" is classified as any violent activities committed on US soil that are dangerous to human life, that violate federal or state law and intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or governments.

The FBI also suggested that for any violent crime to be considered a terrorist attack there must be a deliberate intent to "intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives".

Are most of the mass shootings committed by white men not intended to cause great bodily harm? Are these crimes not dangerous to human life? Are these crimes not against both federal and state laws? Are these crimes by white mass murderers not intended to intimidate the civilian population in furtherance of at least social objectives? Why aren't any white male mass killer ever described as a terrorist in the US?

Is this part of the institutionalized hypocrisy in the American justice system?


OAM4J
Mynd44

Let's see how NwaAmaikpe will commment on this

This Land Is Not For Sale

That is America for you: not all occupants will get same type of justice.
Check their distorted symbol of justice.