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An Army veteran, a recent college graduate and a student who once won a poetry contest by condemning prejudice stirred up by the Sept. 11 attacks intervened as a man screamed anti-Muslim insults at two women in Portland, Ore., on Friday.
[...] Two of the men — Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53 — died in the attack, which occurred on a commuter train. The third, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was treated on Saturday for injuries that the police said were serious but not life-threatening.
Jeremy Christian, 35, of North Portland, Ore., was charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the attack and could face additional charges when he is arraigned on Tuesday. Mr. Christian, who the authorities said had a history of making extremist statements on social media, was ranting at, and talking disparagingly about, the two women, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
Source: The New York Times
President Donald Trump has released his first official statement on the attack in Portland, Oregon, more than 48 hours after the two victims died.
"The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable," Mr Trump tweeted. "The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them."
Source: The Independent
Portland law enforcement leaders were tightlipped Saturday about the investigation into Friday's attacks that killed two men on a light rail train but a federal official did say it was too early to label the incident a hate crime.
[...] Loren Cannon, special agent in charge of the Portland FBI office, [...]
"It's too early to say whether last night's violence was an act of domestic terrorism or a federal hate crime," he said. "However, in the coming days, the FBI, PPB and the prosecutors will work together to share information, leverage resources and make determinations about future criminal charges."
[...] Leaders of the Muslim community said they were thankful for the men who gave their lives to save the girls from harm. They have raised $50,000 toward a goal of $60,000 to help support the victims and their families.
Source: The Oregonian
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday May 30 2017, @07:02PM
Yeah, see, I think your argument is backwards here. The problem is NOT that this should be called a "terrorist" attack. The problem is that attacks perpetrated by Muslims are often categorically branded as "terrorism," even when ties to larger political organizations or proof that those were the primary motives are lacking.
To my mind, the entire point of using the term terrorism is, well, to cause terror. That necessarily requires EITHER a series of ongoing attacks from someone still at large OR direct affiliation with an organization that can pose an ongoing threat. Otherwise, such events aren't effective "terrorism." There's no reason to feel unsafe if an isolated lone attacker is behind bars or killed (and thus the threat is removed). Just because a violent act is associated with a political viewpoint shouldn't mean it's "terrorism."
(And yes, I know my viewpoint doesn't necessarily accord with official FBI definitions or whatever. But this seems to accord with the root of where the word comes from.)
This is becoming an increasing problem these days with the rise of more and more "lone wolf" attacks. Many such attacks have tenuous ties to larger political movements (if any at all). Nevertheless, if the attacker is Muslim, ISIS will claim responsibility, the media and politicians will portray any vague ties with any suspicious people around the person as proof of "terrorist links." The implication of such connections is that the larger organization is the one who threatens MORE such attacks. But if the larger organization had no direct control, how can it reliably threaten such attacks? In which case, it seems odd to term it "terrorism," other than terror trumped up by the media and politicians as part of a reaction.