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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.Texas serial bomber made video confession before blowing himself up, police say
By Jon Herskovitz PFLUGERVILLE, Texas©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
57 Comments
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Tahoochi
...guess that's why he targeted Austin? Austin's got one of the highest LGBT rate of population in the US.
Strangerland
What a moron. Of course it's natural - it occurs in nature all the time. On top of that humans are natural, and if some humans are homosexual, that means it's natural.
Toasted Heretic
Where does the prejudice and bigotry come from, I wonder.
And why is it not being treated as terrorism?
katsu78
Or it could just be that he lived there.
clamenza
My god, yes. He was clearly a Hitler in the making.
Probably because authorities are not prone to the caterwauling histrionics and identity politics of the lunatic left.
Toasted Heretic
So terrorism is only carried out by other ethnicities?
Here is a young man who has murdered innocent people, causing mayhem and fear and you are calling those of us concerned about terrorism lunatics?
Hmm.
PTownsend
In the eyes of some, terrorists have specific identifying features and beliefs different from this man.
However, I'll invoke the duck principle and say he was a terrorist.
taj
I read on BBC that his mother had mentioned he may go on a religious mission after school on her FB page. Here it's only edited to " ... maybe a mission trip,"
Is this our first Mormon terrorist?
dcog9065
So.. he was a conservative suicide bomber basically
clamenza
Because he had conservative views from a college class 5 years ago? Well if it helps you sleep at night...
Facts are, there's no rhyme or reason for his outburst. No targeted group.
The lunatic left will, sadly, have to scratch off the "one for our side" notch on their little belts.
Strangerland
Maybe not, but bombs create terror, and anonymous bombings are terrorism.
Strangerland
Terrorist activities are not for any side. Except the side of terrorists.
Toasted Heretic
Yet. Apparently he's left a "treasure trove" of a footprint online, so I imagine his motivations will become apparent over the next few days and weeks. The logic of carrying out such acts are usually best known to the perpetrators themselves.
Why do you keep mentioning "lunatic left"? People are dead.
PTownsend
Carl Jung described himself as a ‘psychic process over which he has very little control; only partly directs’.
Some neuroscientists have gone farther, saying each living entity, which includes we the persons, is an amalgamation of genetically determined, organic (carbon based), bio-chemical algorithms affected by environmental, cultural, and social algorithms, and that our actions are either determined or random.
If so, good luck sorting out motive.
CrazyJoe
When are we going to use the term Radical christian Terrorist ? How can we prevent American youth being radicalized by christian churches and the Republican Party?
clamenza
as soon as they have evidence of someone chanting "Ronald Reagan" while stabbing people to death, they'll get right on it, Crazy Joe.
arrestpaul
A conservative? In Austin, TX? That's difficult to believe. Austin may be the capital city of conservative Texas, but Austin is a liberal bastion that rivals San Fransico. The motto of Austin is "Keep Austin Weird".
The city motto shirt:
https://poshmark.com/listing/Keep-Austin-Weird-Tylers-Tie-Dye-Tee-Short-Sleeve-5a81a8143316279671fa8d66?utm_source=bing&l_con=PREOWNED%2FUSED&gdm_bottom=false&campaign_id=293039826&utm_campaign=293039826&enable_guest_buy_flow=true
This psychopath decided to murder people for whatever twisted reasons he chose to believe. Is he a terrorist? Yes, he is. Does he meet the media's, or government's, or internet's definition of a terrorist? Who cares? This psychopath is a mass murdering terrorist and he just saved the State of Texas the time, and money, it takes to publically execute him. Good riddance.
Jimizo
I think the definition of ‘terrorist’ does matter because ideology matters. Practically, it helps to at least focus on particular ideologies which drive people to kill innocents. To lump those driven by political, religious or social aims in the same bin as the likes of Ted Bundy isn’t helpful.
PTownsend
Perhaps it's difficult to believe for those only able to see things polarly, who can't understand nuance, who can only defend a position by positing it against some opposite and extremist position, those who constantly bifurcate.
Austin's population is roughly 1,000,000. I think you'd probably find about 1,000,000 different perspectives among those living there.
But that would require dropping an over-simplified us-them way of looking at the world.
clamenza
Yawn. Another false narrative busted.
Mark Anthony Conditt left a 25 minute long recorded “confession” mentioning nothing of hate.
Strangerland
Nah, just the right-wingers who refuse to call it terrorism due to the suspect being white.
arrestpaul
OR perhaps it's because I have a daughter who lives in Austin, Texas. Even the residents of Austin will brag that they aren't like the rest of Texas. "Keep Austin Weird" is not just a saying, it's considered a way of life.
Jimizo
There is no evidence that this man can fall into the ‘terrorist’ category as far as we know ( I’m working from the definition of being ideologically driven ).
I don’t trust quotes from the Punch and Judy media show either. I think I’ll read something aimed at my age group ( over 6 ) before forming my own opinion.
Jimizo
All of them?
Strangerland
That was back in the day when the right was willing to call white people terrorists.
The new right refuses to call terrorism by white suspects terrorism. They will only call it terrorism if it's by a non-white person.
Terrorism is defined as 'the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.' Ideology does form the basis behind the majority of terrorism, but it is not required for it to be terrorism.
Strangerland
I'm not trying to control anything. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of the right after they went on and on about Obama not using the words 'Islamic radical terrorism', they won't even call terrorism terrorism.
How could it be? I'm not pinning anything on a race, only on the right. I guess I'm a rightist.
Nessie
This is called "the naturalistic fallacy".
Strangerland
I never said he did. Political purposes is not a requirement for terrorism.
Jimizo
@Strangerland
There is a lot of discussion about the definition of terrorism, but this from the US and is the one I’m working from:
I think it is worth keeping a clear definition of this word and an ideological motivation seems to give it its essence.
As I posted earlier, making this definition elastic is unhelpful. Could someone like Ted Bundy be defined as a terrorist?
PTownsend
Nor from Trump's followers.
Hats off to all law enforcement personnel involved.
Strangerland
I'm going off this one:
Link: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/terrorism?r=75&src=ref&ch=dic
I agree about a clear definition - that's exactly why dictionaries exist. And I don't think that ideological motivation is required for that - if it causes terror, it is terrorism.
Good thing we have a dictionary then.
clamenza
Love the consistency here. One minute, the authorities are all white supremacists because they didn't foolishly and without any logic refer to Conditt as a terrorist or white supremacist.
Now President Trump is immediately criticized for not issuing a statement congratulating the authorities while the situation is still on-going.
Reminds me of a certain poster who just 2 days ago was outraged! President Trump had remained silent on the issue.....Ignoring a quote from President Trump in the very same story......
clamenza
and ill ask the same questions a 3rd time;
What were Conduit's stated political purpose? What was he trying to coerce? What group was he trying to intimidate?
Toasted Heretic
That's your assumption. Personally, I was querying as to why the perp was not identified as a terrorist.
And what, exactly, this horrible scenario has to do with the "lunatic left".
As for other posters being concerned about your President's ramblings, that's down to them. Trump usually gets the timing all wrong and appears to be faster at the blame game when it comes to some terrorists over others.
Anyway, your President will soon be out on his ear and maybe the next one will have a more measured response to future acts of terrorism if and when they occur.
Toasted Heretic
The group known as innocent people. Usually they tend to be targets of terrorism.
M3M3M3
I don't think the dictionary is the best place to find the proper definition of terrorism. It's a word that has become politicised and who's meaning has been deliberately shifted over recent years. The dictionary has to take that shift into account, but it doesn't mean it's correct. I still follow the classic definition where you need to be targeting innocent and unrelated people for a political motive. Otherwise, nearly every violent crime could be called terrorism.
Moderator
Readers, you are going around in circles. No more arguing about the definition of terrorism, please.
viking68
Eric Rudolph?
viking68
Do you mean the beleaguered FBI conducting a witch hunt?
I am amazed that the FBI and local law enforcement closed this case so soon. They had some lucky breaks after chasing a bunch of worthless ideas, a cartel bomb mistakenly sent to a neighbor of a weed dealer.
It would be interesting to learn about the behavioral FBI group's profile of this guy. Probably close to the mark, white boy struggling with gay self-hate and religious guilt.
Toasted Heretic
Could be. So many theories as to what causes this kind of lashing out. But I'd say having your religion call you un-natural/immoral/wrong etc can't be good on a young mind that's struggling to find their way in life.
Some are able to overcome bigotry and others turn it inward.
In a way, I suppose he's a victim as well.
Tommy Jones
Trump supporters' go-to when Trump is called out for inaction: "the situation is still on-going."
Trump supporters' go-to when Trump is being called out for mouthing off about situations that are ongoing: "Total witch hunt. If there were anything, we'd have known about it already."
Talk about consistency.
MrBum
I think the point is that minorities are immediately labeled terrorists before any of those questions are answered.
Like when then-candidate Trump congratulated himself for "being right on radical Islamic terrorism" on the day of the Orlando nightclub shooting before any questions were answered and before most of the victims were even identified.
viking68
A broken clock is correct two times a day, but even still the CIA did not find any affiliation with terrorists.
The man's wife and family believed he was gay. . . . . and he expressed a lot of hate
viking68
He sounds like a very extremely religious person coupled with a lot of intolerance of the behavior of others.
Where did he get it from, I wonder?
He is not so different from an Islamic jihadi, except he is white and hopefully isn't part of a larger group. Just a lone wolf similar to a number of other domestic Islamic terrorist wanna-bees.
Tommy Jones
. . . wannabees. In the sense that they want to inflict death, suffering, and fear on people because of religiously instilled values.
Paul Leonard
Bungle, as your name suggests, well need I say more
wtfjapan
The lunatic left will, sadly, have to scratch off the "one for our side" notch on their little belts. well you know if they do take away the conservatives guns they can always make bombs to get their highs
theFu
I lived in Austin for years. Miss it actually.
There are conservatives and liberals and libertarians there.
There are wacko Christians, wacko Muslims, wacko Atheists there too.
And 99.99999% normal people of mixed backgrounds who get along just fine. We appreciate each others' views.
Pflugerville is an middle to upper-middle class suburb of Austin.
I miss the BBQ there and don't get back to visit friends nearly as often as I should. Hey Ya'll!
ACC is a normal community college just like most cities have. Many of ACC students transfer to U-Tx to get the "name brand" degree.
All I get from this story is that a smart person can come up with a way to kill others for reasons that are their own. Something failed in their socialization with other, different, humans. People who don't mix with others unlike themselves don't learn that differences aren't a bad thing. The people in this forum likely don't have that issue, since we are interested in different cultures, peoples, and living in very different places. Not sure we will ever understand someone like Conditt.
Toasted Heretic
I admire your optimism, sir.
I imagine we shall find out in time what demons or ideologies drove this kid to murder.
Wouldn't put me off visiting Austin, have heard it's a great place. It's on my list of places to see, post Republican admin, natch.
Tommy Jones
ModeratorToday 02:33 pm JST
Readers, you are going around in circles. No more arguing about the definition of terrorism, please.
Might I suggest it would be more effective for discourse to impose a definition by posting a link or the text?
Moderator: Certainly. Just call it murder and forget about definitions and semantics.
Touche. Nice one, Mod.