Another example of someone spreading mayhem without any apparent motive. Perhaps the motive was psychological. Someone who targeted random people, but kept the messy part at 'arms length', using an explosive device set off by a timer, a temblor or a trip-wire. Someone who got an ego boost by dominating his victims, and from all the commotion he caused. Someone who never channeled his energy into something pro-social, like volunteer work or a college degree or a job or a work of art.
3
Seems to me we should have a travel ban on white Christians from Texas.
11
One can only guess what motivates this person. However, he might have felt he had no future due to his lack of social intelligence. In this case, he expressed his despair and rage into something lethal. Why some become homicidal and some not is a question for researchers, perhaps, to answer.
Thanks to good police work and cooperation between agencies, this criminal was caught. But Conditt made it easy. Conditt made a big mistake by disguising himself and being in surveillance. He even wore distinctive gloves so that could be tracked. He drove a vehicle that could be traced back to him to the FedEx building. He was traced purchasing items from Home Depot, again under surveillance. He may have thought he was smart, but he made a lot of stupid mistakes. Thank goodness.
Several people mention the use of the term "17-year-old man" instead of "boy" for the victim as evidence of racism, bias, etc.
Did it not occur to anyone that many people are now bending over backwards not to be accused of racism for calling black males "boys", just as they make sure to call females "women" and not "girls" so as not to be called sexist?
The rules for when to call someone a child and when to call them adults is fuzzy and seems to depend on the situation and the eye of the beholder. 17 is borderline.
Not long ago we were supposed to say "high school women" when describing teenage girls, and "high school men"...to emphasize they were adults and had reproductive rights, etc., but now it is back to " boys and girls" and "children" when they are victims of violence?
Sigh. It's a linguistic minefield...
4
Detective work at it's finest. Some may argue that it should have come earlier. But it's amazing these detectives narrowed down the culprits so fast. Real detective work, better than those from Steve Cannell or Grippando. ( although it says a lot about my tunneled reading choices! )
2
I want to point out an error in this piece which is significant and I hope that the Times will be more careful in the future as a really excellent news source and one of the few I consider reliable. The article refers to one of the bomber's victims as a 17 year-old "man", who actually was a youth, or child by legal standards in any case. Being that this was unfortunately used to describe a young African American male, I hope to see more careful reporting in the future. This paper has reported about the biased perception of African American children as being older and therefore less "innocent" than their age peers of other racial backgrounds. It may be a small thing but the Times should be vigilant in correcting this kind of bias in its reporting.
1
I'm waiting for someone to blame his homeschooling. Why does the press always seem to mention that, but not when the criminal goes to public or parochial school? Homeschoolers are not more prone to crime than mainstreamed schooled people.
Curious that the article so clearly states that apprehending the criminal was enabled by security cameras that showed him driving a 2002 red Ford Ranger ( a pick up truck) while the photos of the capture of the criminal clearly show a red Nissan Pathfinder ( an SUV).
1
After watching what might be considered too much true crime TV, my husband has commented many times, "You can't get away with anything these days." It seems that is true, as the great detective work by law enforcement (and video cameras) proves in this case.
I'd like to address the "why" issue. There must be a reason, some sort of motivation behind this event, as well as every other violent event. Even if we know the "why," how does that really help us?
I think we need to know why so the rest of us can somehow separate ourselves from people who carry out these horrific acts, by telling ourselves we could never be that person.
1
Based on the information about the anti-social bomber so far, he is likely to have benefitted from being socialized in the wider world of public education, exposed to a variety of peers and teachers different from him, learning to express, think about and defend different opinions, and having more opportunities for ordinary friendships. It might not have been a guarantee of pro-social future behavior, but it would have been a wider and more complex social world to learn how to navigate, from early on.
As loving as his family is reported to have been, tragically, it wasn't enough. For him, did being in a home school orbit for so long during his development exacerbate his lostness and set limitations on his thinking and actions, making it harder to adjust to adult challenges in the larger world?
Is there any research on how well home schooling teaches white kids (especially boys) to learn about and accept social, economic, and cultural differences, and to control their violent impulses, compared to public education? This question may be unanswerable; it is certainly difficult research to design adequately.
5
I'm confused. Law enforcement searched the records for every red Ford Ranger in the state of Texas. (I guess they ruled out my red Ford Ranger.) But when they closed in on the suspect, he was driving an SUV of some sort, maybe a red Ford Explorer. That is what is in the ditch in Round Rock. Somehow they were able to link his license plate to his cell phone (??), and track his movements, presumably to this vehicle that is not a Ford Ranger. Did this young suspect really own two cars?
In the process of the pursuit, law enforcement managed to pop a few shots off after the suspect blew himself up, just for good measure. And I guess they crashed a van into the SUV to finish the deal.
I feel like I am missing some information.
4
It is called a "relational data base." The truck was registered to Conditt. From TX DMV they then got other vehicles registered to Conditt, AND his SSN. Have you noticed that your cell phone service provider has your SSN? Have you noticed that your credit card company has your SSN? Once they got the plate number on the truck, they got Conditt's identity, where he shops, what he had for breakfast, what he bought at Amazon, and the websites he visits.
The NSA and the FBI know that I subscribe to NYT. You too. Someday in the not-too-distant future, they may come for us.
2
To all Law Enforcement Agencies who were involved, we are thankful and proud of your exhaustive investigative skills, determination and dedication!
5
If these bombings were in fact motivated by racial hatred or politics (thus qualifying as "terrorism" according to the narrow definition favored by some commenters here), we'll most likely never hear about it.
The suspect left behind a list of targets and addresses that, if pursued with vigor, might provide clues as to his motive. However from a law-enforcement point of view, the case is "solved" and the suspect is deceased. There will be no trial, so there is no legal imperative for them to suss out a motive.
The local police have taken a quick look at the list of potential victims, shrugged their shoulders and said, "there's no rhyme or reason." They'll soon move on to the next case. As with the Las Vegas shootings, public curiosity will fade, and be overtaken by the next sensational crime. We'll all be left with our own views, disinformed by our own prejudices, as to whether or not these were "hate crimes" or "acts of terror."
When motives for crimes like these are not fully investigated, it makes me wonder: Do those terms, and "official" statistics on their perpetrators, have any objective meaning?
2
Authorities say the target list "makes no rhyme or reason." He did not target racial groups, ethnic groups, churches, political headquarters, abortionists, gays, lesbians, etc. He planted bombs in an upscale white neighborhood as well as in a racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood. Rigorous investigation may reveal his objective was to make everyone feel unsafe.
Something I find interesting is the 25-minute confession, “the outcry of a very challenged young man”. We can hear all the details of the investigation, but not hear what this was about? And why does Chief Manley then say ”we don’t understand what motivated him”. It sounds like maybe they do understand. I also agree with another commenter that the 17-year old victim should not have been referred to as a “man”. I realize it’s hard to refer to a 17-year old as a child and that may even seem disrespectful, but a 17-year is not an adult—perhaps just calling him a 17-year old is enough.
5
Based on a few replies, I believe I could have been more clear with my initial comment.
I have no idea what goes through the minds of these people. When they set out to kill others (primarily thinking of students here) would they be determined enough to find a way if a gun was not available? My guess, is yes. But not having one available certainly decreases the threat by a great deal.
To be sure you understand where I stand on the gun issue; not that my opinion really matter a whole holler of a truth. I truly believe a firearm is way more threatening to the lives of others compared to homemade bomb making and automobile dereliction, arson, chemical poisoning, etc... Sad.
I've been around firearms a tiny bit off and on for a most of my life. I do enjoy practicing when the chance is afforded to me. I have two friends who enjoy them very much. I never got hooked on them to where I would buy a collection that they have.
i think our country needs to grow closer for the sake of your children's future. to many people are left behind and outside of mainstream worlds. if you see others having difficulty, maybe you can network to the right people who could help right that young person before it is to late.
1
The repetitive, "Why isn't it called terrorism? It inspires terror!" is getting stale.
Since many people are either too ideological themselves, or too easily distracted by the use of the term "terror", to accept the current definition that the perpetrator had to have an ideological motive and not just a personal one, I suggest we need another word to replace "terrorism" to describe what it officially does today, i.e. violence with an ideological (or political or religious) motive.
Let's get rid of the "terror" part and use another term to mean "violence in the name of a political, religious, or ideological cause". Anything. Call it "XYZ acts". Or "ideologism" and the perpetrator "ideologist criminal", and other acts of terror that are personally motivation or for which motives are unclear, "personalist criminal". Anything that puts the emphasis on the MOTIVE rather than the TERROR.
I'm sure I'm not the only person to point this out, but I'll put my vote in.
"The attacks began when a package bomb detonated on the porch of an Austin home, killing Anthony Stephan House, 39. That was followed 10 days later by two bombs that were found outside homes, one of which killed a 17-year-old man."
White 17-year-old males are "teens," "students," even "boys." Please extend the same benefit of the doubt to a gentle musician whose life was ended probably because he was black.
7
So I'm a bit dismayed that they refer to this 17 boy as a "17 year old man." I would refer the authors & editors to multiple articles & studies on racial bias. http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/03/black-boys-older.aspx"
1
Home schooled! By the president's fevered logic on chain migration, we need to outlaw all home schooling.
6
Speaking of Mark Conditt, the Austin police chief said, “It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point." I'm trying to imagine his saying so if the young man were black, Latino, or Muslim. And had he done so I can imagine the outcry that that would have raised.
Certainly we need to understand what might drive anyone to commit such terrible acts so that we might better prevent them, and to prevent anyone for being so destroyed that he would choose to act so. But we need to to look at our responses, and not limit our effort to understand to those who on the surface look like us.
44
You need to look at your own response, and your inherent bias that led to this comment.
• “We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did,” the Austin police chief, Brian Manley, told reporters.
Mr. Conditt was a quiet, “nerdy” young man who came from a “tight-knit, godly family,” said Donna Sebastian Harp.....
God made him do it!
"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man." - THOMAS PAINE
7
What chance do you have to develop as a normal young adult when you are deprived of contact with your peers in public school and subjected to religious propaganda 24/7?
Guns and home schooling should be illegal because they both carry intolerable risks to greater society.
3
Good question!
Why should we allow home schooling? A better question is how are the inner city public schools doing?
Now to follow your line of thinking:
Why should we open our borders and allow people, who may or may not have been exposed to 24/7 religious training in their country of birth?
If we should ban guns and home schooling... what about the damage being done with the unregulated, wild Internet? After all, people are now expressing anti-gun and anti-home schooling comments... Shouldn't there be bans on religion - which has killed more people than all the guns ever made combined!
What about bans on written words (called Freedom of the Press) which as we know "The pen is mightier than the sword" and has inspired more death than any US home schooled kid. Heck, just look at all the hate and division caused by the writers and editors the NYT has caused!
What about knives and other sharp instruments? During the Rwandan Genocide, the weapon of choice was the machete, which killed 500.000 to 1.5 million in thirty days!
Think about it... after the UK banned guns... the weapon of choice is now knives and their crime rate was reported higher than the United States by one of their own major newspapers!
Come to think of it... you are correct... more bans, laws and regulations will keep us all safe... just like the drug laws and murder laws already on the books do!
I am not totally against home schooling but do think if parents don’t see their children in the context of fellow students they might not be alerted to troubling behaviors. Even when compared to other students parents often don’t realize their child’s problems. It’s easy to attribute problems to other students, blaming them instead of admitting to faults of their own child. I feel for this man’s family. I’m sure it is beyond shocking to discover secrets your child has been hiding.
3
While it is fortunate that this bomber will no longer be able to murder others, it seems to me that it wasn't a 'lucky break' for the police. I am under the impression that many hours of mind-numbing viewing of videos which finally caught him with the pink gloves were required by the police. They should be praised for their dedication and very hard work.
11
So many commenters seem to know exactly what motivated this individual. And yet their explanations fall all over the map: racism, extreme religious fervor, anti-gay, social alienation, effect of home-schooling, workplace troubles, anti-government, etc., etc. Let's try to get a few more facts and be prepared to still not really know what led to this sad story.
4
I hope the media and law enforcement takes to heart that Language Matters.
Most of us thought for a while at least that Mr. Conditt was some sort of troubled teen recently graduated from his own mother's religiously-based home school program until we read that he was actually a 24yo man who "graduated" YEARS ago but more recently had dropped out of community college and who had lost his job for "failing to meet expectations".
Conditt's confession on tape was met with an odd sympathy that should be looked at in our law enforcement- their language hid the viciousness of his cowardice towards innocent victims. The friend they have interviewed who has not really been in contact regularly for the last 4-5 years is not qualified to say that Mr. Conditt "is not a psychopath". A kid from a community college class saying that her acquaintence was "a nerd" is not a character witness. We end up filling the gaps with ideas that some white country boy with a religious family cant be a terrorist because our language makes it "not so".
Tell us what he was doing and viewing online, why he knew to disguise himself, why he picked victims in East Austin to hand-deliver a death sentence to or set up what people thought was a military-style understanding of trip-wires, perversely tied to signs warning: Watch For Children, and his belief that sex offenders should not be registered and you have a broader picture based on Conditt's actual behavior, not the projections of family and neighbors.
10
Mark Hammond,
Evil knows no color? Then explain why an unarmed black man in Sacramento was gunned down by police--shot 20 times--in his own backyard?
Race has everything to do with why this terrorist was referred to as a "culprit" in the Washington Post and why the media have focused on his perfect family and sleepy town. When you control the narrative, even your crimes can be whitewashed.
10
The only thing that this article (and other similar articles) does, is provide a step by step guide of things not to do!
Don't buy pink glove - or gloves that are easily identifiable. (I thought that lesson was learned from the OJ trial.)
Don't use Google... use Duckduckgo instead!
Don't use your cell phone... buy a throwaway with cash from a store (Wear a hat and sunglasses while making the purchase!)
Don't buy unusual batteries from Amazon - (Heck, even the Unibomber bought generic batteries, then removed the labels... have people not learned anything?)
Leave your actual cell phone at home and make sure it is turned on so that you have an alibi. (This was taken direct from the NYT Mad Bombers Guide List!)
Don't ship bombs from FedEx stores... they have cameras!
What readers should be commenting about is how news media, like the NYT, is not reporting the news but in actuality, they are publishing a how to list for nut cases and terrorists - They are also inspiring the next bomber, just like they do with school shooters by publishing the bombers name.,,
Which experts state SHOULD NOT BE DONE!
3
Yesterday I posted that the bomber had served in the military because I read it on another site. According to this article that is not correct.
The article says, "Mr. Conditt grew up as the quiet, socially awkward oldest child of a devout Christian family that held Bible study groups in their white clapboard house, where an American flag hangs from the front porch."
Public education is SO important because it socializes people outside their own tiny little universe. This event is very troublesome at many levels but it may have started with the bomber being "protected" from the thoughts of anyone but his "devoutly christian" family and their friends/family.
9
I'm not going to read through 1,408 comments, so if I repeat what anyone else has already said, my apologies: I wish that the authorities would not provide their methods for catching suspects, because while it is interesting to read about, it, more importantly, tells the next crazy killer what NOT to do. That's way too high a price to pay to indulge my curiosity.
18
The whole thing saddens me incredibly and gives me a sense of relief. I live in the area, and the bombing at the Schertz facility was close by. I was sorry to read of those killed and injured by the various bombings, and I like many wonder why this kid did what he did. But that is what saddens me too: he was a kid. I was teaching a class yesterday and one of my students showed me a photo of the bomber on her tablet and I said, "he is a kid, a pup. Why do this?" Why have so much anger at the world that it turns to a killing rage?" My students and I talked about this for the remainder of the class. We have no answers. But, deep sadness remains. This was a young man, recently a child to an adult, and whatever made him do these actions ended up destroying him. There is nothing to be gleeful about here despite our president's tweets on the matter.
31
Well said "teach", we preach a lot of hate in this country.
You are correct... just look at all the people who scream they hate Trump!
While Trump does his best to denigrate and discredit the FBI, the hardworking agents of the FBI and ATF helped our local law enforcement to crack this case and save innocent lives. Is there any better illustration of Trump's venality, mendacity, and cluelessness? I commend our federal agents and their organizations for the great job they did for us here in Austin. They work for us, for all the citizens of this country--not just for the current resident of the White House.
16
The media's focus on hand-wringing investigation over this criminal's mental state, personal life, and psychology instead of focusing on the lives of his victims is a perfect example of institutional and systemic racism.
11
THis young man is a domestic terrorist, but since he is white, conservative, and Christian (and home schooled, a preferred mode of education by the conservatives) that I see the kid gloves have already been putting on by the media, the police and the politicians. When the bombing was going on and no one knows who is killing innocent people, "hate crime" was mentioned. And now, we know this young man was against LGBT, abortion and no one dare to mention "hate crime" at all. Why? Why? Why? Because US is still a white nation. Period.
14
Why are they proclaiming "it was not terrorism" -- if not, what was it? Bad Behavior?
4
How can bombing unsuspecting people not be called terrorism?
7
Anyone who causes terror is a terrorist. Terror is a human emotion. A "War on Terror" is a stupid idea. It has produced more terror, human fear, world wide. What you do with human emotion is notice the feeling inside yourself and master it. Master your own fear, not by ignoring it and blaming, harming or killing others but by calming yourself and deciding to be peaceful and working at it constantly.
2
Why do you say he "stopped" in a ditch? He "was rammed in the rear and forced into a ditch" would be more accurate, as is obvious from the photo of his truck in the ditch. It was very brave of that officer to ram his car knowing it probably contained explosives. Let's get the details straight here.
7
Why is the Times referring to the suspect as Mr. Conditt? That’s far too much respect for a terrorist who killed and injured!
1
It’s NY Times style for all men, no matter who
2
It occurred to me to wonder why Conduit was wearing construction gloves, and of course it must have been to keep his fingerprints off the package so he wouldn't be detected. And then the gloves were a clue to finding him. Fascinating!
5
We don't need a wall: all the violence done in our country for the last how many months/years involve, in the main, problems related to mental issues. Las Vegas, the orphan Cruz in Florida, and so many now in the past. This recent episode in our country was home-schooled and lived, so it appears, an ordinary and in fact, quite comfortable life. Our communities are often too dispersed, too connected to all devices and activities, but too many are seemingly without the human touch to remain humane. It does no good as Trump did to call Mark Conditt or others like him "evil and sick." Mental health, socialization, which as in two shooters' lives, did not work in school (see Sandy Hook and FL), and work that connects people to the wide world, not just the web.
4
This is terrorism and very likely a hate crime. You could argue that all terrorists have mental health issues, but most people with mental health issues do not commit heinous crimes. So I'd argue that sure, we should be helping people with mental health problems, but these cases are about bigotry and racism and other hateful things that are unique to young, white, fearful men.
6
With all due respect, the fact that you singled out young, white, fearful men is in fact an example of racism!
3
There is a persistent strain of racism in the way this set of crimes is described. The Black 17 year-old victim is described as a “man,” rather than as a child; a teenager; or as a promising high school student from a prominent family - all of which would be more accurate than calling him a “man.” Meanwhile the White 23 year-old bomber is described as a religious conservative and “a very troubled young man.” If the races of the minor victim and perpetrator had been reversed, I’ve no doubt that the promising DEAD CHILD would have garnered a more sympathetic and accurate treatment in articles than the terrorist MAN. And NOWHERE is there contemplation of describing these calculated serial bombs as hate crimes; nor as domestic terrorism. Why? Given the supposed “lack of information” about motives, why so much deference to the bomber and his family? If all we had known so far about this “troubled young man” is that he was a conservative religious Muslim, our President, our politicians, AND our media would have been naming this “terrorism” from the moment he died. I expect more thoughtful reporting from the NYTimes.
23
The black victims of the bombing attacks were describe as young men with terrific potential. Draylen Mason was as characterized as "most remarkable talent in a most remarkable youth orchestra program called Austin Sound Waves." Austin police Chief Brian Manley said, "From everything I've heard about Draylen, he was an outstanding man who was going places with his life, and it's an absolute tragedy that he's no longer with us.” Teenager Anthony Stephan House was described as a senior project manager at Texas Quarries, a supplier of limestone from the state.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/us/austin-package-bombing-victims/index.html
3
If this murderer were a person of color and/or an immigrant, President Trump and the right-wing echo machine would be screaming about terrorism and banning Muslims (or some other group of brown people) from our country.
But no, as in Charleston, Las Vegas and Florida, it was another violent homegrown white male. So "terrorism" is totally absent from our government's response, and from this article.
What in the world would qualify as terrorism if not a bombing campaign?
12
"What in the world would qualify as terrorism if not a bombing campaign?"
If there was any indication he had political, religious, or ideological motives, rather than simply personal ones.
1
You would not call targeting black people an “ideological motive”? Hmm. Ok
1
why detail the way the investigation went down? Doesn't it just inform the next serial criminal how to do it better? Like don't bring your phone along to every crime scene?
6
“We haven’t seen an effort like this in many, many years,” said Christopher H. Combs, special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s office in San Antonio.
Why not?
According to authorities, the Austin bomber left a target list that “makes no rhyme or reason.” He did not target any racial, ethnic or religious group. He did not target political headquarters, abortion clinics or gay nightclubs. He seems comparable to the “Mad Bomber” who terrorize New York City in the 1950s by planting pope bombs at random locations, including Central Station. The Mad Bomber turned out to be a disgruntled Con Edison employee who was angry because the utility refused to pay him disability benefits. The Austin bomber had recently been fired due to poor work performance at a semiconductor manufacturer.
4
Thank God he wasn't a terrorist.
If only there had been a good guy with a bomb.
This never happened before God was taken out of homeschooling.
If only his classmates were kinder.
Another example of the futility of bomb control.
There was bad behavior on both sides. Both sides.
Just a lone wolf in need of guidance.
What a waste of a young life.
Austin can breathe a sigh of relief.
#blessed
#thoughtsandprayers
10
I made a similar comment on a earlier article about the bombings that was posted by the NYT and which was later deleted.
Following your lead (and along the same post that was censored):
We need more laws to keep us safe from bombers!
We should ban bump bombs!
We should ban rapid fire bombs!
We should require background checks for all bombers!
We should ban people with mental issues, felons and other criminals from having bombs!
My comment was no different from yours... yet it offended people. Truth has a way of doing that!
Not only is he a TERRORIST but he also is a suicide bomber as he detonated a bomb inside his car to harm the officers zeroing in on him.
4
"He always seemed like he was very polite."
"He was a nerd, always reading, devouring books and computers and things like that."
It's so nice that Conditt's been remembered kindly by neighbors and family friends, even though he terrorized an entire city for a month. He blew two good men up and hurt several other people, then tried to kill more. His views would protect sex offenders, while punishing women for getting pregnant. Those who knew him described him as forceful with his beliefs.
I seem to remember Trayvon Martin, the young man who was murdered for walking through a neighborhood while black, being vilified in the press for trouble with pot at school, the photos posted of him made him look like a thug. In reality, he was a smiling kid experiencing the normal growing pains and had merely gone to buy tea and Skittles from the corner store.
I am tired of looking for "where he went wrong" in white murderers, while victims of color are forgotten or made to look like they deserved what they got.
Conditt may have looked like the shy kid next door, but he was a monster. Instead, let's spend our time remembering Draylen Mason, a talented cellist whose life was stolen too soon.
26
Trayvon Martin was shot because he was slamming the neighborhood watch patrol member's head against a concrete sidewalk. And what was the watch member doing? Observing and reporting, like his job says.
1
Your premise is false. Many white murderers have been described by friends and acquaintances as ticking time bombs who should have been institutionalized or incarnated before they killed. The Parkland school mass shooter is a recent example. However, many murders exhibit no warning signs, especially when they are young, as was the Austin bomber. Reporters asked Mark Conditt’s friends and acquaintances about him, and they answered honestly. Do you think they should have answered dishonestly?
Draylen Mason was as characterized as "most remarkable talent in a most remarkable youth orchestra program called Austin Sound Waves." Austin police Chief Brian Manley said, "From everything I've heard about Draylen, he was an outstanding man who was going places with his life, and it's an absolute tragedy that he's no longer with us.”
2
If George Zimmerman did as he was told by dispatcher and waited for the police, T. Martin would not have had to defend himself from a grown man and gotten murdered!
3
Domestic terrorists seem to kill a lot more people than foreign. Instead of putting money into a flippin' wall, why not invest it, to look into the root causes of these situations?
5
From 1995 through 2014, 3,159 American died in terror attacks committed within the borders of the United States. More than 2,900 of the 3,024 victims were murdered by foreign or foreign-born terrorists. The total includes the 168 American killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing by native-born terrorists.
https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_AmericanTerrorismDeaths_FactSheet_O...
1
Well, of course, you're including 9/11 which skews the whole argument. Perhaps the original commenter should have said, since 9/11 and this would have most definitely be true.
1
Of course the statistics include all terror attacks. Why should they exclude the most deadly? Would you argue its worng to include the Oklahoma City bombing, which account for the majority of fatalities inflicted by native-born terrorists.
Wonderful amazing investigative work! Proud of all of you who cooperated to put a stop to this terrorist's attacks.
6
Why was the term 'Terrorist' not used? What he did were not considered acts of terrorism?
5
The FBI defines terror attacks as acts "perpetrated by individuals and/or groups inspired by or associated with primarily U.S.-based movements that espouse extremist ideologies of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature." The Austin bomber doesn't appear to fit the definition. He left a target list that authorities say "makes no rhyme or reason." He had no apparent ideological, political, religious, social, racial, or environmental motives.
5
Great observation... so why are you letting "Facts" into the conversation?
Good work by FBI,ATF and other law enforcement to prevent further deaths. Where was this Suicide Bomber radicalized? Who helped mold this young man's mind and turn him into weapon? Will they be held accountable? Not holding my breath.
4
We should thank the "deep state" for sending all of those Feds - career AFT and FBI agents - to Austin to assist in this investigation.
10
I'm surprised they had any agents available. I thought they all were investigating Stormy Daniels and/or working for Mueller.
Disenfranchised young men radicalized
This is the global problem we should be working to solve.
4
Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, said that when Mr. Conditt left the FedEx office, he got into a pickup that had been called in by others as a potential lead. “And then they got the license plate and from there were able to get the cellphone number,” he said, adding that from there, agents could track the cellphone directly, “as a location device.”
This paragraph in the middle of the article stuck out to me. It seems to have no relevance to the other statements regarding the detective work used to identify him.
1
One of his aunts was quoted as saying, “We love, we pray, we try to inspire and to serve....”. ‘We try to inspire’ implies that maybe this family considered themselves a bit more righteous than the ordinary humans around them. Maybe this holier than thou attitude is partly to blame for his actions. This home schooled bomber definitely was raised to think that anyone homosexual was not entitled to marry and that women shouldn’t have control over their own bodies. He spoke out against gay marriage and abortion rights. He was also pro gun and anti sex registry. What a strange collection of beliefs.
10
My wish would be these perpetrators were all caught alive. Most times they get off easy by killing themselves or being killed. They are spared the pain and suffering they caused up close in a court room. The victims deserve to look them in the eye and to ask for the why. In reality, however, they are cowards in their crimes and in dying.
3
"... “He was a nerd, always reading, devouring books and computers and things like that,” said Donna Sebastian Harp, who had known the Conditt family for nearly 18 years. “He was always kind of quiet.” ..."
I do much the same thing. I read a lot but I'm just not into killing other people. At all. Is there something wrong with being non-political and reading and also being a programmer type? Or do I have to be 10 years old and on a moviescreen or a TV?
4
Trump has been very quiet on this issue. Had the bomber been Mexican or Muslim we would have heard a great deal.
13
it might be that his home-schooling in a religious family turned him into a socially-aloof, hateful individual to whom mischief means killing people.
the way his parents and neighbours describe him is typical to an airbrushed suburban community that wants to keep appearances
7
So why is this guy disturbed, etc, and not called a terrorist?
If he were Muslim, he would be called a suicide bomber. But no, its all about how he was disturbed, a nerd, a loner, etc.
Aww poor baby.
6
When anyone is taught that their way, their belief system/religion, is the only "true way," and that everyone else's is apostasy or sin or abomination, a pathway toward violent expression is cleared; violence as an expression of self-righteousness, as rightness.
So much religious fundamentalism is sinking us backward into primitive thinking.
17
There's no excuse for these heinous crimes but it's likely that this man had had few moments of happiness/comfort/security in his life, which at 23, has been mostly childhood thus far. There was probably a vast gulf between what people thought and what was actually taking place in his mind. To him, 12 and 23 were likely more similar than different.
That said, when we get to the point where Psychiatry has advanced to the level of, and is treated like, a basic medical need we should expect to to see less senseless violence. In addition, society's role in the life of young adults must shift immensely. If you don't understand or think it's impossible then you are part of the problem. Civilization 101.
1
It might help if the authorities released the info that makes them think the young man was troubled so that we could try to help other troubled young people so they don’t try to take such desperate measures.
It takes a village.
7
The investigation by authorities was nicely done. Old fashioned shoe leather police work wins the day on most occasions. But the question that remains to be answered is why bombs and guns are the go to tools chosen by people with mental issues to confront those issues? It seems to be unique to the U.S.
1
There were no lucky breaks. It was dogged police work and should set an example for other investigations.
12
I'm curious who the addressees were for the FedEx packages.
2
Great work by all law enforcement. Thanks for all your diligence and hard work.
I am sure the people of Austin and surrounding areas are breathing a huge sigh of relief.
9
Law enforcement doing a great job!
This does bring up the concept that a letter or package should not be able to be sent unless it has been registered by face or fingerprint authorization. The device could easily be installed at home so it’s no big deal to implement. Unfortunately this is necessary because this awful stuff creeps up every five years or so and innocent people die because of it
nonsense. we don't need to put surveillance into place as a result of an extreme rarity.
1
There is a question as to why we publish the investigative details. This is a checklist for the next criminal.
Does the public have a right to know? Sure.
Does the public have a need to know this? Not at all.
Does the public want this information out there for the next guy?" Not likely.
4
Junkie, 99.99% of people are not going to take notes so they too can make a bomb. Information is not your enemy. Why would we not need to know that an unattended package could be cause for concern? I also appreciate knowing how these cases are solved. Why do you think "the next guy" is just some NYT reader like me who suddenly thinks "Wow! I never knew you could mail bombs at FedEx! I'm now going to do that!"
The author doesn't include a diagram or recipe or anything, so I'm not sure what information you feel is unnecessary here.
3
Thank you to the men and women of the FBI who undoubtably toiled tirelessly and quietly behind the scenes, working with local and state and police to find and stop this bomber.
Residents of Austin can now sleep peacefully, open their doors without fear, and walk unafraid through their neighborhoods.
Thank you.
12
He was home schooled. That might explain part of his loner personality. Also FedEx is more efficient than the USPS. Had he used the post office the police might still be looking for him. It took exactly one week for me to receive a priority mail package from the Bronx to Brooklyn. And the only reason I got it one week later is because I called the national 1 800 number to file a complaint.
5
@ Wayne
Recently, FedEx took over ten days to deliver a package to USPS who then took three days to leave it on my doorstep.
1
April Kane are you sure you read the tracking correctly? I know in the past where I got free shipping UPS delivered my package to the post office but the post office never attempted to deliver my package then had the mail carrier put a slip in my box claiming they attempted to make a delivery but I was not home. A complete fabrication. Then I had to go to the post office to pick it up. Once they claim they made one attempt they will not return unless you go online and request a redeliver.
Sometimes they don't even put a slip. Other times premium delivery from Amazon on a Sunday they claim they attempted to deliver but I was not home. Another lie. FedEx was in the news in the past where a snow storm affected their delivery. It depends on the state you live in and the weather conditions to move the package along. Most reasonable people would tell you that what happened in the scenario you describe is an anomaly.
1
It doesn't say where his phone was found. Good thing it survived the final blast if it was in the vehicle with him.
Where did this man get all of the money to create the bombs, pay for his vehicle, and rent a hotel room? Who funded this crime spree?
5
Probably less than a thousand dollars in total. Not that much money.
3
Uh, credit card?
“It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point."
I wonder if authorities would be talking about this young terrorist in such sympathetic terms were he a person of color, or of the Muslim religion. At least they didn't buy him Burger King before he blew himself up.
14
Heartfelt thank you to the Austin police and all the other officers from here and yon who helped bring this to an end.
6
Now that we know every detail about this man, and about the 2 innocent people he killed, will you please give some copy space to the equally innocent 4+ children who are killed every day in our country from child abuse and neglect? 1585+ innocent children every year.
2
Boy, those FBI guys are pretty handy to have around.
16
Lets not forget the ATF and all the other federal investigators who joined in. In particular, hats off to the Austin Police Department who clearly welcomed federal assistance to get the job done.
4
Detective Fugitt from Pflugerville. Really?
5
Yeah...and Round Rock is one town over from "Rock RIdge"....the town where "Blazing Saddles" took place....
Gotta love Texas! Wasn't there a massacre in a church there recently committed by another white youf?
2
Trump claims Illegal immigrants, and “radical Islamic terrorists” are some of the biggest threats to the USA, but clearly the biggest threat is from a handful of American men. Columbine. Sandy Hook. Las Vegas, Austin.
25
Wouldn't you think that ANYONE showing up at FED EX to drop packages wearing ANY kind of gloves in the middle of summer would be a HUGE signal to maybe kind of get those packages checked out immediately? What would be a valid excuse for someone wearing gloves to drop a package other than to hide his finger prints? FED EX should make it an unknown, private policy that anyone showing up with gloves gets checked out and the packages and the customer don't go anywhere until the bomb squad checks them out.
AND PLEASE, all the experts on TV telling us how the bomb was constructed, what materials, all the specific information - how about NO ONE gives out that information anymore, it just gives more idiots more ideas. WE DON'T NEED to know the details of pipes, pressure cookers, foreign batteries, you keep that information to yourselves, so no one else gets stupid ideas.
15
Summer? What calendar do you use? In reality, his terrorist attacks began in the closing days of winter and continued in the first days of spring.
3
Well done to law enforcement for finding and apprehending this murderer
10
There's a cancer on the United States--the State is sick because the leader is sick; the symptoms, school shootings, lone killers, angry social media, might diminish with a new leader. Oh for a leader who wants to unite Americans in love instead of playing on division.
http://www.thecriticalmom.blogspot.com
8
Full stop:
Thank you FBI.
13
"Investigators then began trying to match the records with a white male, possibly in his 20's."
So white males can be profiled, but black males cannot?
3
He's dead that's all that matters. Thankfully there will be no lengthy trial.
2
no lengthy trial. how convenient.
vegas gunman committed suicide with 'bullet casings neatly layout. bomber committed suicide.
dead men don't talk.
1
Challenged young man?
If he was black, he’d have been described as a thug. If he was Hispanic, he’d have described as being representative of illegal immigrants endangering America. And, of corse, if he was a Muslim he’d have been described as a terrorist. But he’s white, so he’s challenged.
He may have been your next door neighbor, but he was a mass murderer. He was a terrorist. And if he hadn’t been cornered and killed himself, there would have been more victims.
We know he was a conservative. We may not know his motives. But a good start in this investigation is to call him what he was - a thug, if you like. Or a criminal. Or, most accurately, a terrorist.
35
He is a TERRORIST unless otherwise proved! He use bombs as his method. Call him what he is: a terrorist.
14
He was a terrorist and should be described as such.
18
Please say it and write it - he is a Terrorist.
14
Did the CIA members have a contest as to who would make the video or was it a group effort?
3
Why were Texas politicians given information so they could feed it to the press? Is this Texas politics as usual?
9
It's too bad that the bomber did not have a manifesto for a recognizable cause. Then we could call him a "[name of cause here]" terrorist. Now he is just a "bomber". We need to publicize the idea that all bombers are terrorists, so that everyone who can help prevent a bombing or catch a bomber understands how important it is to speak up.
12
Right, because people would be *so* much more likely to turn in a serial killer if we labeled the killer a "terrorist" instead.
2
“It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point,” the Austin police chief, Brian Manley, said.
He was a radicalized domestic terrorist. Call it what it is.
Well done to the investigators for the long, painstaking work that led to his identification.
24
Who may have helped him? Who may have known? How did he learn so well and never have one device not work or go off prematurely? Look at roommates and family computers because this diabolical demonic horror was unlikely to emanate from a vacuum!
13
Would someone at The New York Times please explain the discrepancy between the vehicle sought by police – a 2002 Ford Ranger – and the vehicle shown in the photographs, which is not a Ford Ranger. The Ford Ranger, even the SuperCab design, is what most people would readily call a pickup truck. That is not a pickup truck in the images, it is an SUV.
8
Possibly it was misidentified as red 2002 Ford Ranger in the first place from the security footage. Should be easy to confirm with the registration number.
Years ago my dad was stopped going through a small town in his big old green Land Rover 4 door wagon (a real one with the narrow headlamps) because they were looking for a Jeep. I remember my dad trying to explain to the hick police that this wasn't a "Jeep". Nor was it red. Nor did it have a black convertible top like the one they were looking for.
1
How long did it take until the public discourse called the Tsarnaev brothers terrorists? One minute? They were rightly labeled terrorists, even if I oppose the death penalty for the younger brother who survived the manhunt. Mark Conditt, however, is a "troubled" young man. No "nexus" to terrorism, says Sarah Sanders, because the killer is an Evangelical, like herself? Homeschooled by religious zealots, he probably felt offended by diversity and "secular" wealth and targeted two black families, successfully, and a poor 75-year- old Hispanic woman who was taking care of her mother. Call this what it is. It may not be terrorism, but it was a hate crime. And NYT, give the victims their due, too, with an article commemorating who they were.
28
Luck favors the prepared and kudos for great police work. Regarding the "confession," why not simply allow it is just another sociopathic action emanating from an evil, murderous individual with no more significance than that.
5
Now that the bomber’s identity has been revealed and thereby his race, what have we heard from our President? Absolutely nothing. No tweets of terrorism. No tweets of congratulations to law enforcement for locating the suspect. If something doesn’t fit his narrative Trump ignores it.
It won’t be long before we hear how misunderstood the suspect was, or that he was mentally ill. In Trump’s eyes, white skin = not a terrorist. Any color other than white = terrorist.
17
"By the end of the day Wednesday, police had another tool: A 25-minute confession, left on the suspect’s phone, in which he attempted to describe his odyssey. “It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point,” the Austin police chief, Brian Manley, said." Talk about white privilege - not only is he not labeled a terrorist, but the police chief is concerned about the challenges in his personal life that led him to this point.
He terrorized a community, killed two people and injured others. "Challenges in his personal life" don't excuse murder, and shouldn't even matter in this news story.
22
The natural question "why" is always asked, but insanity can't be explained with accuracy. Futility matters!
Worse, "political" views are mentioned, as if they hold any clues. All rantings of a madman mean little.
Worst: the incident is used for political purposes. The GOP, if the killer isn't white, begins the usual mantra over immigration/race.
Here we CAN ask the question "why," assuming the GOP is sane, giving it the benefit of the doubt.
1
".....one of which killed a 17-year-old man."
I'd like to know the journalistic reasoning behind using the word "man" here? Is this standard practice? I don't know if I've ever heard the phrase "17- year- old man" before. It stuck out to me and I thought I'd point out that he was African American, and often young, African American boys are seen as much older than they really are, leading to stereotyping and worse. Was there a specific reason for calling this child a man?
29
I thought the same thing.
7
Thank you for this comment. I had the same thought. Draylen Mason was a talented young musician, still in high school and recently admitted to the University of North Texas muscis school. He was a teenager, murdered by a domestic terrorist. Let's be clear about that.
17
These acts which I consider terrorism by young white men are pure acts of evil. What is it that's missing here? How do these kids get this way? Not just to talk or taunt or bully but to carry out these premeditated acts? How have they become so lost in life? One thing seems clear. They are severely lacking in empathy. They have no ability to understand the immensely painful consequences of their intended acts. What is it about this culture that leads to such callous, cruel and hopeless young men?
6
Why are Federal, Texas, and local law enforcement officials clearly protecting Christianity in describing this terrorist? It's alarming that the obsession with protecting Christianity, as well as the feelings of militant Christians, even extends to a mass murderer.
By avoiding the negative aspects of Christian brainwashing through many avenues, including homeschooling, all of the government officials involved are paying fealty to the concept that Christianity and homeschooling are not at least partially to blame for this teenager's delusions.
It has been staggeringly obvious from past incidents – and it's equally obvious here – that Christian cops will refuse to discuss and assign blame to the Church (religion) for a killer's acts if Christianity is going to be defiled or damaged.
Right-wing Evangelicals and other Christian sects work daily to erode the principle of the separation of Church and State as mandated in the United States Constitution.
Real Americans – true patriots – are those who adhere to all facets of the Constitution.
19
It's because we are a Christian nation founded on Christian beliefs, if you claim to know our history and background, you would certainly know that.
I didn't "claim" anything. I stated facts. The Christian right is undermining the separation of Church and State principles in the Constitution on a daily basis. The Founding Fathers may have been Protestants and Catholics, but they were brilliant in recognizing the need to keep the Church out of government decision making. But, thanks for making my point about the rigidity of the Christian right.
6
You are wrong. Our "Founding Fathers" were Deists for the most part. Google it.
3
Could we please stop using the expression "senseless act(s) of violence"? If they had not made sense to the perpetrators, they would not have happened. I have yet to read - anywhere - "a sensible act of violence occurred today..."
5
When was the last time a terrorist was called a "very challenged young man" as the Police Chief just did. All terrorists, often young men, are very challenged yet they all terrorize, maim and kill innocent people. Until we accept that terrorism does not know creed, color and country, we won't be able to fully combat it. Lets call this what it is - home-spun terrorism in America's heartland.
14
I would like to ask the Times to consider that perhaps the inclusion of information about his family life is a bit premature at this point as we don’t know what he claimed his motivations were - perhaps there was great dysfunction there, perhaps not. In the meantime are presented here in a somewhat sympathetic way that creates a narrative that he is not a “terrorist”. But he was; he targeted only people of another race, and deliberately so by his placement of packages etc.
Additionally I would like to ask the Times to include a statement about how upset and confounded the members of any family are that has had one of its own create terror. By being silent with one cohort (usually foreign) you are setting them up as different in very basic ways and so feeding the narrative that “they are not like us” and so not deserving of our understanding and even sympathy. This is destructive.
I know the Times is trying to bring information to us quickly and accurately but I would ask that you do so in an evenhanded way.
This article strongly adds to the narrative that homegrown terrorists are simply people who had a tough time of it and so dont deserve the epithet - while those we know less of are assumed and often presented as only making deliberate choices to harm. This guy made deliberate choices, he terrorized and he murdered - he was just as different from us as those foreigners with different religions and Boko Haram are.
11
Newspaper reporters are incredibly smart people. For example... they have a photo clearly showing damage to the front of the white van, immediately behind the suspect's blown up vehicle. Yet they report he simply blew himself up as officers approached on foot. Clearly, it's not that straightforward. Either SWAT used their vehicle to "encourage" the suspect to leave the roadway, or he reversed his vehicle after stopping and struck theirs.
Looking at this picture, and considering the lack of investigative journalism necessary to account for what we can see with our own eyes.... one clearly has cause to read NY Times articles with skepticism.
2
The other possibility is the white van hit the truck, for good measure, after it was stopped in the median. The question seems to be why did he stop in this "ditch", which seems to be little more than a median? Willingly or forced to?
Perspective is interesting. The other photo, shows the vehicles lower with a fence and trees in the background that make it them look close to the vehicles and more like a ditch.
1
One more attempt to fund the federal government is thrashing around Capitol HIll that COULD include CDC funding to study these young disaffected and dangerous killers. Thanks to the Parkland FL kids this legislation COULD include money for studies that have explicitly been blocked by N.R.A. directives to their high-priced lackeys in Congress.
Contact your House members and Senators to let them know you will send them home this November if the ban on - and money for - CDC study of these young killers is not included in what is sent to the President for signing. Need help finding phone numbers? Go to indivisible.org for help.
3
Along with the psychosocial study of people like Mr.Conditt who compulsively murder complete strangers that have never harmed them, we need to perform studies of the anatomy and physiology of the brains of as many of them as we can get permission to do. I'm confident there is a large component of neurological disorder present going hand in hand with so called environmental causes.
1
Amazing police work - not luck but skill and determination !
7
It seems that "why" is the big question that forensic psychologists will tussle over for months and years. My suspicion is that this gent lived in his own world, his own mind. And in that mind this made whatever "sense" he lived with to kill indiscriminately. Why? Did he feel power? Disenfranchised? It is a long shot, but it seems his methods are indicative of proficiency in making terror inducing explosives. As pat as that sounds, this guy was set to kill, did, then did not get sloppy, but the 24/7 eye of the world finally led to him. It seems to me his death was part of the plan all along--a nobody in his own mind who wanted to lash out. What is it about our world that creates this mind? I think that question needs to be answered to heal our Republic and stop the hate and divisiveness encouraged by DJT and crew.
1
Only in my America do both very well educated and not so well educated people see their fellow Americans in terms of two pure groups one designated as "white", the other designated as "black", groups seen by the US Census Bureau as races and by people like Donald Trump as genetically distinct units one superior to the other.
I write that because I see that a familiar discussion is taking place here in comment land, a discussion symbolized by these lines from Paul A currently with 819 Reader recommends: "Why are people "making this all about race?" Because a lot of our country's history is intertwined with issues of race. Because race underlies a lot of the current social problems in our country."
The problem is racism, not "race". The concept of "race" is, as Professor Dorothy Roberts has pointed out so well, the fatal invention of racists. The concept was invented to facilitate the creation of racial orders, with the American racial order being started in 1790.
Racism in its many forms - discrimination based on difference whether of color, religion, or some other variable - is forever. But describing people in terms of one either-or variable black or white is not particularly useful. The same is true for terrorist/non terrorist.
We are an infinitely varied set of human beings in both my countries, USA and SE. Why not recognize that?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
3
I can't remember an equivalent situation where a 24 yo man who personally put bombs on people's porches, sent explosives through the mail to intentionally murder innocent citizens, set up a trip wire that could have killed the 2 bicyclists, and who finally detonated a bomb in his own car would be described by law enforcement as "a challenged young man". I don't think any other type of person on the planet would be described with even an ounce of that kind of sympathy by law enforcement. They did a terrific job- and that statement really stuck out.
9
Conditt's vehicle was not a red 2002 Ford Ranger. So the detail of this story, that they traced the vehicle by matching all similar Ford Rangers, seems incorrect. If as the story details, officials traced all the same make and model plate numbers, then they'd still be looking for him. A moot point, except that the story relies on this detail.
2
Perhaps the time has come for the journal of record to use a standard form to record what is known about the individual who has engaged in the killing or attempted killing of 3 or more people in a short period of time:
Gender:
Age:
Education:
Medical history:
Social media record:
Haplotype:
School and public behavior record:
Religious belief:
If we were able to do this, which elements of that record do you think would have told us most about the individual American's likelihood of becoming a killer of many? Note that I have left out skin color. Stated differently, what is your level of confidence in believing that a potential killer of many could be identified in advance?
And, in conclusion, if your level of confidence is as low as mine is, what are the most useful public-policy approaches to making us a little bit safer from harm?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
2
Please don’t undermine the skills and perception of the local and federal officers by calling them “lucky “. It might be lucky if an untrained civilian or journalist picked up on these clues, but please give credit where credit is due.
2
I will not be satisfied with the advance of American society until 'In God We Trust' disappears from legal tender, the Bible is no longer used for political oaths, and innocent schoolchildren are not obliged to take a pledge of allegiance to the flag for 'one nation under god'. I am optimistic about most millenial youth who are far more tech saavy AND aware of other alternatives in living one's life than the pathological Judeo-Christian mould shaping the American mindset since the arrival of the first European settlers. Meanwhile most European countries have put the church in its place. Those that haven't -- Poland comes to mind -- are backward and reactionary places where women's rights are starting to draw uneasy parallels with similarly conservative regimes in the Middle East....
4
In a free society it seems well neigh impossible to be proactive, the authorities are always there after the shooting, after the bombing, we hear of thwarted threats but all too few, mostly we see the carnage after the fact.
The question we have to ask is why are there so many mass shootings and bombings by Joe citizen, could there be something wrong with society, with the social contract, the contract between Joe citizen and society as whole, the contract that is supposed to enable Joe citizen to go about his life as a responsible contributing member of society, to get an education, learn a trade, get a job, set up a business, prosper and lead a meaningful life.
The answer can be found in how society is failing the disadvantaged, the mentally and emotionally frail, in how society is telling those most vulnerable to fend for themselves.
Trillion dollar tax break for the rich strains the very fabric of American society, the obscene wealth of the minute few contrasted against the living from paycheck to paycheck of the masses just cannot be reconciled. American society needs to reorient its priorities before the fall from the bastion of everything becomes irreversible.
4
@ Sohrab Batmanglid Tehran, Iran - Sohrab your comment just below one of mine suggests that you are well qualified to perhaps answer the question(s) I pose. Not only that you seem to be thinking in part along the lines of my other main comment. However, I would be more careful about believing that a main factor behind the creation of terrorists is failing to help the disadvantage. The Las Vegas killer of I think 58 people was, I think, a millionaire or at least very rich.
Good comment
Hoda hafiz
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
'Dual citizen US SE
1
The lack of answers as to why he did it, is disturbing. Same happened in vegas. We yet don't know why.
Terribly sad all the way around and exceptional work by law enforcement.
You wonder what his motives were, but unfortunately, there are plenty of possibilities.
I am not surprised that this young man followed his path. I AM surprised that this type of thing is so rare. In fact, bombings, shootings, violence, and lack of civility and simple kindness are escalating. What can we expect when our leaders are mocking people and calling names? When many jobs do not pay a living wage? When families are fragmenting and the social net is fraying?
I also call out television, film and video games- anything that normalizes violence and disrespect toward others. I consider myself progressive, but I pine for the old censorship standards.
We each need to make it our goal to extend love, compassion, and generosity.
3
At the time of his blog writing he did not at all appear to be persdon with a virulent angerr or hatred. And his political beliefs at that time, while characteristically libertarian conservative do not seem extremist. One can surmise that this was a classic early adult unto psychosis - what we used to call dementia praecox. Questions: What was his earlier 'domineering' attitude all about? Why did he fail to completye his degree? Whaty was he fired a few months ago?
1
Is it normal for people in Texas dropping off packages at Fedex wearing pink gloves and blond wigs?
19
Actually, it kinda is. I live less than a mile from that FedEx store and if I saw someone dressed like that walking down Western Trails Boulevard, it would not give me pause.
4
It seems great detective work rather than good luck.
This story is sad and terrifying at the same time. What makes individuals like this man feel so hopeless and careless of other human life?
I hope that, if we learn anything out of this and other events like school shootings, is that we need to give younger generations more optimism and/or mechanisms on how to cope with difficulties of life.
8
The kid seems to be another example of a sociopathic misfit. You can't help but wonder if this is a product of homeschooling by a very conservative, religious family. While the police say there is no evidence of hate, there was plenty of hate in the blogs he posted about homosexuality and abortion. Hopefully they'll release the transcript of his recorded 25 minute rant - then we can all decide for ourselves if this was based on hate. In any event, its definitely another example of homegrown, conservative terrorism.
54
Or maybe he's just the product of the intentional alienation of white males in Liberal society? I could see both theories turning out to be true, and they aren't mutually exclusive.
2
Chris: as a white woman, I say that white males need to get over themselves.
This has nothing to do with a "liberal society": this has everything to do with a profoundly disturbed young man who felt he had license to hurt other people. I don't care how "alienated" he felt: he had no right whatsoever to murder and grievously injure his fellow citizens. He had no right to terrorize an entire city. Life owed him nothing; the world did not revolve around him and his desires and problems. His job as a human being was to treat people the way he wanted to be treated, and he didn't do that. Any attempt to paint this crime spree as the cry of a poor, unfortunate, "alienated" white man is sophomoric and stupid, and a tremendous insult not only the collective intelligence of Austin residents but to the families of those whom Conditt murdered and injured in cold blood.
4
@Lindsay K: as usual, you're missing the point. We can all agree on the fact that shooting people for whatever reason (except maybe self-defense) is wrong. My post was a direct response to Charles, who seems to feel that conservatism and home-schooling are likely to blame. I've never seen the public-school-raised, not-likely-Republican gang kids shooting each other in south Chicago (and elsewhere) being pointed out as evidence that public schools, or minority, Democrat-voting families are responsible for the murder rates in those areas, although killings there are significantly more prevalent than the lone, conservative "misfit" blowing people up. That was my retort to what I felt was bad logic.
Regarding the rest of your post, you may be eager to condemn the guy wholesale without finding out what mechanism brought him to kill others (leaving the door open for others to follow suit, btw), but since his motives were questioned, I dared to give a possible alternate explanation, not to offend you personally, but to advance the debate. As a spectator of the popular white male bashing in these pages and the Liberal media in general, as responsible for everything that is wrong with society, I often wonder how they (the more alienated ones) manage to keep it together and not lash out more often. When every minority (and women) seems to be afforded a claim of unjust representation in the media and/or oppression, white males are in my opinion, the poster child of unfair demonization.
1
These are the same federal agents that President Trump is trying to discredit and vilify.
89
Austin Texas bomber Stephan House acted like the Unabomber, and like many other mass killers, school shooters, including Stephen Paddock, our Las Vegas Mandalay Bay massacre shooter. For various reasons, they just snapped and decided to take out their anger and frustrations on innocent people. The infamous "DC sniper" was targeting his ex-wife over a bitter divorce and child custody disagreements, but he and his young accomplice killed many other folks at shopping malls to cover his real target and avoid being arrested for her murder, which he never managed to accomplish. Usually murder is very personal and done by family members or lovers, but in these mass killings the perpetrators take out their hatred and anger on a lot of random, unlucky victims.
7
Stephan House was the first victim, not the bomber. The bomber was Mark Conditt.
Mr House was the victim
4
Stephan House was the name of one of the victims, not the name of the bomber.
2
In the other NYT article, "Who Is Mark Conditt the Suspected Austin Serial Bomber?" we find this passage:
"His six posts, which date from January to March 2012, include arguments in favor of the death penalty, against the legalization of same-sex marriage and in support of the end of sex offender registries."
Who would blog - essentially a public announcement - in favor of abolishing sex offender registries? Hmmm.
21
A lot of people would, and have. Many judges have come out against sex offender registries, which they deem unconstitutional. I myself have big problems with them, because they brand minor sex offenders for life, and lump them in with pedophiles and rapists. I also don't have faith in our justice system, and wonder how many innocent people get put in those registries. Regardless, the bomber's views were not different from many conservatives and libertarians, the vast majority of whom are non-violent. Unless it's someone who is posting violent threats or hate speech, you really can't predict this kind of behavior just by political views alone.
3
There's plenty of reasons to question and criticize sex offender registries. Registries that comprise, and effectively ruin the lives of, people caught unintentionally peeing too close to playgrounds at night (when no one, never mind kids, is around), or wrongly accused by a spouse of paedophilia or marital rape to hasten divorce proceedings SHOULD be questioned.
I understand that in totalitarian Liberal circles, controversial topics are NEVER to be discussed, but others in society (the rare classical Liberals left, and Conservatives) think otherwise. That he wrote about topics you find too touchy to mention doesn't necessarily point to evil-mindedness.
@Bongo: "Adjustment to a larger communtiy might be difficult and result in dysfunction."
Amen to that; especially a society whose main concerns seem to be "manspreading" and "toxic masculinity". No wonder young minds go desperate, if it seems like everyone around them has lost their collective mind.
2
Home schooling may have virtues, but it could result in social isolation....Adjustment to a larger communtiy might be difficult and result in dysfunction.
27
Call him by his name: terrorist.
64
But in America, only someone named Abdul or Mohamed is linked to the terrorist label. With the exceptions of the Unabomber and Timothy McVeigh, Americans cannot accept terrorists springing from people who grew up within a Judeo-Christian background. A racist omission with ultimately tragic consequences, as the Texas tragedies demonstrate.
2
While the fact that Conditt was home-schooled only triggered incomplete memory associations, I searched to see if there were other incidents of home-schooled teens committing murder. I clicked on a site at random and found a list of names; again at random, I chose a name and clicked on it. Jake Evans, a 17-year-old lad from Aledo, TX, shot and killed his mother and a younger sister, also home-schooled with him, in 2012. He confessed to the 911 operator for 45 minutes, saying he wasn't sure why he did it and had intended to kill his older sisters and grandparents, too. Said he guessed he was just evil. But we are in heavy discussions about schooling in our nation with a cabinet secretary who knows nothing about education other than how it can be used for propaganda purposes, with her focus on religion and fascism. But I sense there's something missing in these youngsters' lives, a socialization app that isn't used, whether it's a sense of community or shared experience--joy and anxiety--a sharing of fears and desires, the angst of adolescence. The Conditt lad was nice-looking and reported to be polite and quiet. But I suspect he was deprived of feedback from peers, feedback we respect far more than from our parents. I remain curious.
31
"But we are in heavy discussions about schooling in our nation with a cabinet secretary who knows nothing about education other than how it can be used for propaganda purposes"
Now THAT'S rich! Given that the education system is rife with tenured Liberal professors who largely view their classrooms as indoctrination grounds for neo-Marxist, post-modernist ideology, the mere mention of conservative propaganda is ridiculous.
You were making an otherwise valid point, too bad you invalidated it with such a preposterous claim.
1
there is an alarming pattern and the last 15 years that homeschooled children in the US and elsewhere are found to be very disturbed adults. They're released into the real world environment after being isolated and unprepared. there is very or in fact 0 regulations in all 50 states with home schools. There's no proof of exams or education or curriculum. And not even proof of an annual medical exam just to check for eyesight for scoliosis.
I'm enclosing a link to an op-ed piece only because they list all the Federal and National agencies that have research this for over 25 years. At least one homeschooled child a day has found to be abused or tortured in America!
An easy prevention would be to demand regulations that homeschooled children must submit an annual Medical report. to make sure they're physically and psychologically okay. and in most States they give free medical exams so that could never be an excuse for a family not doing it. And many private Charities would pay for the medical exams if not the state.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-coleman-brightbill-turpin-hom...
34
You may have a point (or not), but evidence of disturbed adults hailing from a specific education option doesn't point to a cause-consequence link. After all, most of the prison population has been in the public education system at some point. Does that mean public schools specifically produce criminals?
1
In Lititz Pa two home-schooled teens ran off together after the boy shot his 14 year old girlfriend's parents. The pair had met on some web site run for home schooled families. The home -schooled murderer received a life-sentence.
1
Thank you to local, state and federal law enforcement for their Herculean efforts to so quickly find and apprehend this terrorist.
25
This was an effective instance of federal and state law enforcement working in concert. I hope that Trump’s undermining of FBI leadership does not incapacitate and paralyze field operations. This apparently was not the case in Austin. Trump’s gleeful announcement that the bomber is dead is a feble attempt to appeal to his “law and order” constituents.
156
Monmouth poll defines deep state as "a group of unelected government and military officials who secretly manipulate or direct national policy". All of our fire fighters, police, paramedics, soldiers, ATF and FBI agents are unelected. Doing their job everyday regardless of the party or politics of 'leadership' is just what we want. Not knowing who they are individually does not make them "secret". People at a policy setting level are subject to political control, directly or at one remove. To think that some secret cabal is "in control" is illogical and innumerate. But the human animal, Homo (not-so) sapiens, is susceptible to conspiracy theories that push theirs buttons.
1
What is the content of the 25 minute confession on his cellphone?
Being caught, or dead, does not solve the cultural or emotional or psychological issues that caused this.
12
Great job to all institutions who helped resolve this case. Especially to FBI, as Trump has been demoralizing them for his gains.
23
On the bell curve of humanity, some people are psychopaths. It has nothing to with religion, where they went to school, their political views, etc. Sometimes a psychopath is just a psychopath.
22
And sometimes they are not. Important to learn what drives people to choose these courses of action.
Not sure what you are advocating? I would hope to gain as much information from any kind of perpetrator, to maybe find ways to limit future ones. Even genetic defects (if I read you correctly) could offer insight that may prevent future harm.
To whom were the FedEx packages addressed?
21
That is a great question, and I would be interested in knowing that myself.
Incredibly thorough and exhaustive police work. Some luck, for sure. But no substitute for the sweat and long hours of all those working the case. Great work.
14
Putting politics, race and all that aside, my sincerest, proudest hurray!!! to the Austin PD, FBI, CIA, ATF and whoever participated in bringing closure to these trying times. Heck of a job! This makes me a proud American. Sheer ingenuity! The icing on the cake is that the sorry excuse for a human being took care of himself.
8
More questions on the photo
- The truck front fender/hood also seems to have hit something, offset slightly to the right, as if it hit the van in front. The left rear of the front van is not shown
- There doesn't seem to be any explosive debris on the ground, so it's doubtful any explosion caused the damage in the rear van, unless it was a well-directed bomb.
- It seems weird that the only people in the photo are standing by the surveyer (photo) tripod.
As for comments
- Not one of the comments asked how this guy could be making bombs for weeks with two roommates, and neither one notice a thing.
13
Same way I guess that the wife of the Boston Marathon bomber didn't know he was making bombs in their kitchen.
The dehumanization of the perpetrator is evident in the fifth paragraph, where it says the "deadly trail of homemade explosions...left two people dead." It actually killed three people, if Mr. Conditt is indeed a person. He was still considered thus when he was a "person of interest," but I guess when he became a full fledged suspect or a confessed bomber his essential humanity slipped away. I wish peace for all of Austin, (and the whole world, for that matter.)
8
You need to explain yourself better.
Nope, sorry: call me what you wish, but I have no interest in considering Conditt’s “humanity”, nor your claim that the Times “dehumaniz[ed]” him in this article. Conditt certainly didn’t consider the “humanity” of any of his alleged victims or the law enforcement officials who were working on this case. He lost any claim on my sympathy and consideration of his”humanity” when he built homemade bombs and mailed them to innocent, unsuspecting people.
He was not a "bombing suspect" or a "bomb maker." He was a terrorist. Why will the news media not use "terrorist" to describe Caucasians? Why is that word used only for Muslims and people of color?
42
If he was a terrorist, it will come out. We don't know if he had political or ideological motivations for his actions. This is basic.
2
Because it's not quite the same thing to blow up a building or an airliner, or oneself in a crowd of random people, and address small bombs targeting specific people. The MO, and very likely, the motives were likely completely different. For the same reason, we don't necessarily call random murderers terrorists, even though both tend to kill.
1
Why do you believe he is a terrorist?
1
What a terrible tragedy. People killed and injured by a young man who seemed polite and decent. Probably more is known about him than what is written in this article, but no doubt, not enough to make sense of his issues. What a shame that a young person could go so unknown and presumably lonely through his life to the point of suicide. Tragic.
8
The story doesn't add up:
- Who these days doesn't understand that there's video everywhere and that you can be tracked by your phone location?
- If he's a bomber and a prime suspect, why not just pick him up?
- Per the photo, he didn't pull over, his truck was rammed from behind.
- Why would the officer fire at the vehicle after the explosion? How do they know the explosion killed him and not the gun?
I'm glad for the police work, but in this case he was found through his incompetence and killed through their's, no?
6
Huh?
The article does not refer to the bomber as a terrorist because he had no ideology. He victims were indiscriminate, ideology played no role in the selection of his victims.
A Christian evangelical terrorist would not be killing Christians, ok, that’s why Conditt wasn’t a terrorist. If he selectively targeted a group, say like Muslims, then he would be a Christian terrorist.
It is not that hard to understand.
10
I would point out that it does not follow that a Christian evangelical terrorist wouldn't attack Christians - as long as the violence is in pursuit of political aims, it is terrorism regardless of who the victims are. Terrorism also isn't necessarily religiously motivated, and even if it is, it can target groups (like LGBTQ people or different ethnicities) who are co-religionists.
That said, perhaps it is time we reconsider whether we should apply the term terrorist to any lone wolf attacker. As it is applied now - in the West and globally - 'terrorism' is an extremely problematic framing device which easily becomes a tool of oppression. By means of (escalating) examples: the NYPD's unconstitutional post-9/11 surveillance of Muslims, Israel's illegal policy of communal reprisals, Assad's butchering of civilians, and the Burmese genocidal actions against the Rohingya are all justified as 'counter-terrorism'.
I think people are frustrated by the perception that the unique refusal to label white 'lone wolf' attackers as terrorists isolate their mainly well-off white communities against heavy-handed and collective state responses. There is a sense that many believe a minority community must all be culpable for one of 'their' lone wolf attackers, whereas a white community is never considered liable for a 'mentally ill lone wolf' who comes from theirs. Given the aforementioned government over-response to terrorism, this seems deeply unfair and repressive. Food for thought?
It is reported that Mr. Conditt's blog contained stances AGAINST gay marriage and for an END to sex offender registries. Two obvious clues to his mindset right there.
13
Well then, we may as well lock up the millions of other people with the same mindset. One's political views is not an indication of violence. And why do people on this thread keep bringing up his being against sex offender registries as proof that he's a horrible person? Many good, thinking people--including many judges--believe sex offender registries should be abolished. I am a staunch liberal, pro-gay marriage, but think sex offender registries are flawed, unduly punitive to minor offenders, and unconstitutional. Does that make me a bomber? If a person is making threats, and spewing hate speech--that's one thing. But just having certain political views is not a sign of violence one way or another. It's a dangerous path to go down when we start thinking that way.
3
That he questioned two out of many Liberal policies? So his mindset was that he did not wholeheartedly subscribe to Liberal doctrines (but maybe to the rest of them?). I don't see what's supposed to be conclusive there.
2
I'm so relieved that this terrorist will not terrorize anyone else.
10
I wonder how many non-whites in a similar situation would be described as "a very challenged young man" by the police.
36
Any "non-white" similar to this creep, by any reasonable measure.
When his family learned that he was the suspect, his mother sent this SOS to a friend, “Pray for our family. We are under attack.” Wouldn't the Christian thing to pray for be the victims that her son maimed and murdered? Doesn't reality tell us that the ones under attack were the citizens of Austin? Fundamentalist Christians behave like cultists: their righteousness is absolute and unassailable. Even when they're perpetrators (or one of their own is), they're the "victims."
44
To Gustav
I was taken aback by Conditt's parents. They were totally oblivious to the juggernaut of destruction they raised, still in denial of the cruelty of his acts.
Chalk that up to the racial differences of MAC's victims....
"Fundamentalist Christians behave like cultists: their righteousness is absolute and unassailable. Even when they're perpetrators (or one of their own is), they're the "victims." "
Replace "Fundamentalist Christians" with "Liberals", and it's just as accurate. How interesting.
2
except evidence and reality tell us otherwise. but "i know you are but what am i? is always good for a laugh.
Man, this sounds like some really great detective work and teamwork. It's good to be reminded that law enforcement is full of smart and dedicated professionals. Thanks.
28
As a resident of the targeted area thank you to the FBI agents and ATF for their extremely competent help.
Now let's identify Mark Conditt for what he chose to be- Domestic Terrorist. He was a terrorist- home grown, hateful and twisted.
39
It is really tragic what is happening in America with guns, bombs and general violence. I have to say that I was relieved that the culprit was not a non-white or Asian. That must be why the POTUS is silent! He raves and rants only when it is someone who is non-white clearly showing his petty prejudices and complete unsuitability to occupy that job! There is something seriously wrong with the young folks in the country that they resort to violence against the innocent instead of dealing with their own problems! Not sure what the solution is to this.
20
Why is coverage of this criminal emphasizing his identity as a "normal" young man from a "good" family and not as a criminal? White boys and men commit crimes of terror in schools, public venues and in entire cities and there is still no type of profiling; all white men who are loners who carry concealed weapons and make bombs in the garage and profess extreme views are all just "misguided normal guys"? And any man of color who merely walks down the block to the supermarket or gets in a car to drive to work is a potentially dangerous criminal... hmm. I am disappointed at the reporting both here and on NPR. I am about to write NPR now.
52
" I am about to write NPR now."
...And I'm sure they'll be very impressed with your wisdom.
He's described as a normal young man from a good family, because he fits the stereotype of millions of other white males (the majority in this country, actually) who behave normally and don't kill people. THAT's why what he did was surprising. The white loners who carry guns and act out violently one day are the rare exception, because statistically in this country, they are few within their share of demographics. Gun violence is painted as more prevalent in the black population, simply because are many more of them than minorities. But statistically, with regards to respective demographics, black men kill more than white men despite
Regarding Donna Sebastian Harp, the family friend who described Conditt as a “nerdy”, and “quiet” guy who was always reading and into computers, this description does a grave disservice to actual quiet, intelligent people who favor intellectual pursuits and are - surprise! - not violent. Quiet people are not automatic weirdos who are going to hurt others, and liking books and computers is not the red flag of danger. It’s ridiculous that these were the attributes which she found negative in Conditt, not the fact that he was apparently a psychotic who made bombs and killed people with them. Conditt wasn’t “nerdy” any more than he was “godly”: he was a psychopath, and as a Christian I’m sick of evangelicals feeling as though they have exclusive rights to the adjective “godly” simply because they’ve cracked open a Bible and can muddle through the New Testament. Books and computers didn’t make Conditt this way any more than homeschooling did, as that’s also been tossed around as a reason for his being the way he was. Nope: he was an evil person, plain and simple. As for the Conditt family feeling they’re “under attack”, give me a break. Try telling that one, with a straight face, to the families of the people who were killed and injured by Conditt’s bombs.
22
He could have been another terrorist, but he is neither black nor a Muslim. May be that is why it took three blasts for media to notice the act of pure hate and violence. And our dear president did not say anything about these incidents, because victims are all blacks, and the terrorist was home-grown white 'mentally-ill' male. Is 'America First' just a punch line when he is posing around, making photos, and speaking to his ilk. Did lives of these victims matter?
Being white with gun is a privilege, an excuse to exercise 2nd amendment. Being any other person without a gun is still a suspect. I hope the enablers of hate and paranoia are voted of the office in next election.
18
He was definitely disturbed and caused great harm. I doubt ISIS or any another known terror group will take credit for his crimes but if you want to call him a terrorist I wouldn't argue that point.
However your comment has a factual error. While tragically both of the fatalities were black, two victims who were injured by the tripwire bomb were Caucasian. One of these two lived a block from the bomb site. We do not yet know where the package bombs were headed that I am aware of.
1
Another White Christian Male who evolved into a domestic terrorist like Timothy McVeigh, Stephen Paddock, Dylann Roof, etc.
When will the Mr. Trump and his supporters wake up to the reality that White Domestic Terrorism has already taken more lives annually in this country than any fictitious foreign threat?
52
kudos!
Quite apart from the perpetrator, what I find fascinating about the narrative is the careful work of those investigating the case. The methodical and extensive work of the police and national, state, and local agencies gives me comfort. Yes, there were deaths and injuries along the way, but the cooperative work of a lot of people prevented the death/injury of many more. Well done by all involved!!
34
GREAT detective work. Luck is a combination of skill and perseverance.
30
Yes, or as Pasteur said, "Chance favors the prepared mind."
1
Why does the description of the final chase not match what is seen in the photos?
News articles say that Conditt fled in his vehicle, the SWAT team vehicles followed, Conditt pulled into a ditch, the SWAT team vehicles pulled over and team members got out of their cars and approached Conditt's vehicle close enough to bang on the windows of his car, Conditt exploded a device and the impact of the explosion knocked back a SWAT team member so that he was injured.
From the photo here (and other photos online), however, it looks like the SWAT team vehicle rammed into the rear of Conditt's vehicle and forced it into the ditch. The driver's side door on Conditt's car is pierced with multiple holes in a triangular pattern--is that bullet holes? The back window and side windows of Conditt's car are completely blown out, but the front window is surprising clean and in place although completely cracked (perhaps secured by window tinting). I don't see much glass on the ground though for all the loss of windows.
It looks as if the windows were blown out before the car reached its position at the edge of the ditch. Did the shooting cause the detonation or the detonation cause the shooting? If the SWAT team forced the car off the road, why not say that instead of implying that Conditt drove himself into the ditch?
I'm not at all a conspiracy theorist, but I don't understand what I'm seeing.
33
Reports in local media here are that the police were in unmarked vehicles following him as he left the hotel, and they then forced him off the frontage road rather than allowing him to get onto I-35 and possibly get away or lead to a high speed chase. My guess is that they rammed him from behind as they were forcing him off the road. The implication that he drove himself into the ditch is misleading. I don't know where the cop who fired the shots was coming from (driver vs passenger side), so I can't speak to the holes in the driver side door, the glass breakage pattern, etc. We're all just thankful it seems to be over.
I too found it peculiar that he would "pull into a ditch."
Use the zoom feature on your computer. It looks like the windshield is cracked, and the swat vehicle is up against the back of the bombers but there doesn't appear to be damage.
My my how convenient. What possibly could have motivated this person? Now we will never know. Nothing to see here.
7
Well, we may eventually hear the lengthy 25 minute recorded "outcry" now mentioned in the article.
4
What do you mean?
I have encountered home-schooled children in the company of their parents in several different situations. They were invariably polite, seemed happy, and, in one instance, the whole family -- they were Libertarians -- pitched in to cut and trim lawns and driveway verges in the 1.5 acre gardens of my home in Missoula. (They worked lawns in the mornings, home schooled the rest of each day.)
The insinuations of your comment are pure speculation, with no evidence or historical records to support them. Weighing in to denigrate a subset of the population because you have a prejudice against their life style is exactly the kind of demagoguery that has brought the world to where it is now.
So, yes, consider yourself blasted.
24
Actually the CDC and the National Health Institute both federal agencies as well as Legacy news investigations have found there is a pattern with the isolation of homeschooled children growing up to be very disturbed adults.
I'm enclosing the link to an op-ed in LA times because the author of The Piece list many agencies in the USA that did thorough research.
and it is being found 1 out of 100 homeschooled kids in America are being abused and harmed everyday. the suggested way to prevent and help out is demand that any child that is homeschooled has at least an annual medical check-up. But at this time all 50 states do not demand anything.
There is no demand that The Homeschool students even have to pass any exams or practice a specific curriculum. It is all on the honor System. So they find that these children go into the real world, and Workforce and are very unprepared, full of anxiety, full of many psychological and anti-social problems.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-coleman-brightbill-turpin-hom...
10
Evidently the method does not work for everyone.
I see no insinuation relating to home schooling here - merely a statement of fact.
How about some praise for FBI, ATF, local law enforcement for their good work. Good job!
88
Are blaming the bomb....or the person that made and placed it??? Do we blame the vehicles in a car wreck??? Do we blame doctors for a diagnosis of cancer??? It makes about as much sense to blame guns for gun crimes.
5
If you could walk down to a local bomb store, purchase one complete with tripwire... you’d better believe we’d be going after the store and seller.
2
Great point! In fact, we'd all probably be better off removing all existing controls on explosives! The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a bomb, after all, is a good guy with a bomb.
14
@Z.Itchy NC
It was only a matter of time before an NRA bot sent out this threadbare meme.
You left out ladders, knives, swimming pools, and a host of other tools and devices used to impress upon gun worshippers that guns are good.
But at the moment, the subject is something else.
8
Instead of spending $70 million on a wall, or $30 million on a parade to feed trump's already out of control ego, why don't we put that $100 million into helping the young men in our country who have clearly lost their way.
We need to research why exactly young white males are flipping out and turning to terrorism, and then we need to work on fixing it.
111
Why are they reacting this way? It's the entitlement, everyone gets a trophy, mom tells me I'm perfect, it's someone else's fault, I'm the victims here mentality.
4
Great job for the FBI and law enforcement. Bad Trump bashing the FBI.
50
“AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned!”, President Trump tweeted." That's it? No mention of the dreaded "T-word" whatsoever? Really?? I can only imagine what Mr. Trump would have said if the perpetrator had been of Middle Eastern origin. Oh, wait, never mind. I don't have to imagine it. In fact, I already know what he would have said. After all, he has said it many times before.
35
What is the dreaded "T-word" that you didn't mention either?
Ding dong!
Gratitude and great respect should go to those in law enforcement for their determined and successful detective work and their courage in going to capture him.
48
Marianne, yes appreciation but that is their job! The taxpayers and residents of Austin Texas for being under a terrorist attack and all the authorities are paid to do a job. The ones that we should go above and beyond gratitude is the residence that called in with witness tips. And they're not getting paid a dime. There was a reward out and now it is going into a court of law because the police are refusing to give the reward to three different people that called in with direct information to catch this guy... and now it will lead to citizens will not give any information to local authorities because they're treated like dirt. A similar thing happened in Los Angeles about 10 years ago when they were looking for a cop killer and the citizens the gave direct witness information never got paid the reward and they had to go to court... And still they did not get the reward because it was found the LAPD did not have the funds and a private charity dispersed funds to the citizens
6
We another human being risks their own life to keep us safe - approaching the car of a bombing suspect rfor example - one might reflect with gratitude that it certainly goes well beyond doing what you are paid to do.
Not knowing the whole story makes it hard to give a rational reason why anyone elects peccancy. Issues that we're facing have the potential to cause anyone to resort to extremes to find some control--positive or negative. No amount of mental health care is going to change that since one's breaking point finally hits. Fixing the problems America has that cause people to believe that there is no hope, will. Address poor wages, inadequate medical care, bullying, finger-pointing, ingenuine promises as these all keep people from having or achieving dreams. We are taught that if we work hard, we can do anything or become anyone we want, but that is proving more false daily. The average honest joe can't make enough money to feed their family or pay their bills, they are labeled losers and should they need a hand-up they are further denigrated, greatly distorting one's thinking which can cause behaviors that make them feel they have a modicum of power or control. Reasonable discussion or group therapy is not going to right the wrongs that are steadily shoved down our throats by those in whom we have placed our trust. Being fed constant lies, hearing a daily barrage of negativity, lies, blame, bigotry, or witnessing people prosper on the backs of others can cause even the most stable person to abandon reason. Failure to curb those in power that incite violence and hatred creates emotional and mental chaos even in relatively calm people, and people will eventually respond in kind.
34
welcome to the club of black Americans especially black American men. They have been living this negative life and the barrage of distrust and disparity and lack of equality since the day they were forced here and enslaved. oh, but very rare that there's any onslaught against the white Americans... I guess black Americans have better anger management instead of taking it out on a whole group of people in America...?
9
Opportunities rise out of failure. It's too early to know whether changes in education, religion, health care or family/friends could have made a positive difference. "If you see something, say something" is wise advice. As a society, to what level should we engage people to be able to see warning signs and help prevent these kinds of outcomes? At first glance, Mr Condit seems less obvious of a potential problem than the Parkland shooter was. What should we be looking for? There is an opportunity here.
The law enforcement successes in this case far outweigh their failures. But this case should prompt several wish list items that could have brought even more success. Could spy satellites have been retasked over Austin after the second bombing and provided more intel? That's a scary thought, but worth consideration. Could law enforcement have utilized different techniques or tactics to isolate and immobilize Mr. Condit? Letting him leave the motel may have been the best way to reduce risk to others, but was letting him kill himself the best solution? For this large of a law enforcement effort there ought to be a methodical "lessons learned" program to generate and communicate better ideas. Can/should homeowners/businesses repurpose security cams to provide street level surveillance? Can "big data" be used better to generate leads? There should be opportunities here. We can't expect to get lucky next time.
5
Depends on how much freedom you want to give up for security. Have you read 1984?
1
In addition to local police and the ATF, the FBI illustrated first-rate investigative work in this case. Too bad that our president--who is determined to undercut public confidence in the FBI--couldn't bring himself to mention the agency by name in his tweet.
52
Really, do we expect DJT to think of absolutely anyone other than himself? It hasn't happened yet.
5
This case illustrates one danger of home schooling: Children are less likely to become well-socialized if they do not socialize.
58
Who says the only way to socialize is in a traditional educational setting? Why is socialization in a traditional school better? Cliques, bullying, groupthink, etc. Yes, let's continue socializing kids with that model.
3
Yes, exactly. Homeschooling was also the cause of every single one of the school shootings in the last 20 years, too. Oh, wait... No, those kids all attended public schools. Hmmm.
Oh, and this kid did attend a public community college. So there's that.
Maybe you need to re-think your assumptions about home schooling, Richard.
Nice godly evangelical who hated gays and targeted minorities and a wealthy liberal neighborhood.
My guess? In view of his focus on gays, I suspect he was dealing with repressed homosexuality in an ultra-conservative environment (family and church) that only intensified his self-hatred, and the painful tension developed into rage. Eventually the rage expressed itself in homicide, but he targeted people it was "okay" to hate instead of those who taught him to despise his shadow-self, because to attack the latter would force him to identify consciously with his shadow, the repressed side of his personality, and that's what he was trying to escape.
The people he did target were people he recognized, consciously or unconsciously, were despised by the group with which he still wanted to identify. It's as if by killing them he was saying "see, I'm one of you" to the conservative community with whom he wanted to identify; the bombings a combination of rage at himself and desperation to reject his shadow side.
I'm just guessing, as I say, but it's a first impression.
54
That was my first impression as well.
21
Whether true in this case or not, it's a worthy explanation. It reminds me of how angry Trump supporters remain in spite of their victory--their guy is a loser and they're misdirectedly angry at the rest of us.
4
well he wasn't totally after minorities because he ended up killing himself... But they say he was Croatian.
1
"One police officer was blown back by the blast and another officer fired his weapon." So this cop was shooting at an exploding bomb? That is just incredible.
15
Maybe the officers thought they were being shot at when the explosion went off?
1
I've got my gun pulled, finger on the trigger, yeah, if an explosion happens I'll likely pull the trigger, out of shock, because it's what I've got, or even because of the shock wave.
Condolences to this troubled kid's family. He was, after all, someone's son. That said, I'm glad it is over and hoping that no one else will be injured or killed. Hope that nothing is 'in transit' and there wasn't an accomplice.
27
While it is tempting to feel sympathy for his family, be careful. His family may have molded this monster into the hateful terrorist that he was. Home schooling and Christianity are both red flags that could indicate a future terrorist.
7
The military uses bombs, among other weapons. Aren't they included in the 2nd amendment as a natural resource of that "well-armed militia" we keep hearing about? How could they possibly be considered illegal to own? That is a form of regulation, and the 2nd amendment forbids regu-- Oh, wait.
47
and I always State, don't bring up Second Amendment until you abide and cherish the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the 14th and 19th. The laws of the land. You're not allowed to prioritize just the second... because that would just prove that the NRA tells you how to think...
1
Concerning the military (Armed Services): that would be Article 1, Section 8, Clauses 12-14 of the US Constitution, not the Second Amendment.
It's "well-regulated," not "well-armed," by the way.
In other attacks, if the alleged perpetrator was Muslim, that is one of the first things mentioned in such an article. Why wasn't this alleged perpetrator's Christianity mentioned in initially in this article? Hmmm?
148
well, this is coming from white officers of Texas!
Thank You!
I saw a documentary on another killer from a white strictly religious family in Texas, who had lots of money and parents and brother who loved him and he planned to kill the whole family who were out celebrating his so called gaining of a degree. He had a secret life his parents never knew about, dropped out the college and his parents never knew, etc. He was a con-artist and compulsive liar. Hello! Something wrong with the parenting.
Problem was the father forgave him and he got off death row as father was religious and was into forgiveness. Honestly! No wonder these spoilt brats do what they do when religion doesn't teach them about right and wrong behaviour and consequences.
Lots of religious people are all about saving the neglected millions in the world, and are not into strict discipline and parenting and ignore all their own kids bad behaviour. Forgiveness is not teaching kids about consequences for your actions.
Maybe old fashioned parenting skills need to made available to the middle and upper classes as well. These killer religious kids obviously were angry people with not much for society or the people in it. Hypocritical.
12
Strange, how the "godly" types are often near a trigger or a detonator?
63
What's the problem..in today's world, when we say terrorist it specifically refers to Muslims..It's been like that since Munich
In today's world, there is no such thing as white, black or yellow terrorists.
It's not racist, it's our common lexicon, it's American/European vernacular..
White terrorist...it doesn't mean anything..
Maybe we can say domestic terrorist, we kinda understand that, but white terrorist is obscure and always needs annotation..
16
The problem is that the word "terrorist" actually has a meaning.
It doesn't mean Muslim, it doesn't mean anything that scares people, it has a real meaning. It means someone using violence, intimidation, especially against civilians, IN SUPPORT OF POLITICAL GOALS.
If you're doing it because you want to terrify Americans into leaving the Middle East - or Switzerland - or anywhere else - that's terrorism. If you're doing it because you are miserable and you want to kill people - it's not terrorism.
Thus far, this isn't terrorism, because there is no political goal, no attempt to cause something to happen. It's not about the skin color, it's not about the religion (this time - there have been cases of Christian terrorism against abortion clinics that is not called such) - it's about what is and what is not terrorism.
2
If you can replace terrorist with freedom fighter than the word is appropriate
1
Mark Conditt's mother ( according to friends and neighbors) did a thorough job of homeschooling him where he developed a early hatred of gay and lesbians along with a strong theology of bomb making, not too mention his belief system in which sex offenders should not be required to register.
What is going on in American homes that is producing so many sick and violent minds. AND you want to talk about terrorism and the Middle East?
97
Your excellent question is also its answer. Most of our nation's messages through sloppy media, tribes like religions, political, ect, are breathtaking oxymorons. If our nation were a brain in one organism, it would default to insanity.
I can't believe terrorist equipment like battery packs, nails...are available to just anyone. we have GOT to ban these things. People don't kill people..BOMBS kill people. I bet he had wire too...are you serious?? these are terrorist type weapons, I bet it was bump wire and semi-automatic wire too. Battery packs are killer weapons, can't the government see that? and HOME DEPOT?? shut down home depot. Maybe even shut down the city of Austin...if Battery packs, wire and the city of Austin didn't exist no one would be injured or killed. Maybe we can shut down the whole state of Texas..people aren't to blame here. he was a good man...BOMBS kill people.
10
If you’re trying to draw a parallel between regulating such things like high capacity ammo clips whose only purpose is to kill many people as quickly as possible and items like wires, etc. that usually have many legitimate purposes such an argument is vapid.
41
Nail - a small metal spike with a broadened flat head, driven typically into wood with a hammer to join things together or to serve as a peg or hook.
Gun - a weapon incorporating a metal tube from which bullets, shells, or other missiles are propelled by explosive force, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise.
Please pay attention to the first two words in the definition of "gun". Funny how one is used as "a weapon" and the other is used to build things.
4
Let’s see, in the US, over 30,000 deaths A YEAR from fire arms and under 1000 deaths in the past 30 YEARS from bombs...Also, nails and wire are not sold as weapons. They have many common uses, the same cannot be said of guns.
31
When is our president going to say the words, Radical Evangelical?
And considering that Florida has produced the Pulse killer and the Parkland killer, when is our president going to institute a travel ban on all people from Florida?
90
The 17-year-old bombing victim was a boy, not a man. This seems like a typo until you take into account that the victim was black. He's just a kid, killed by a white supremacist terrorist.
125
What a sad day for America when a bomber has to identified as a “white male with conservative views.” Why? Does that make him less evil? Had he killed people with a firearm, would the NRA call him a “good guy with a gun killing bad people, a.k.a., African-Americans?
19
A Christian fundamentalist terrorist, does not mean all Christian Fundamentalists are terrorists, just like not all fundamentalist Muslims are terrorists.
The vast and overwhelming majority of Christians and Muslims, fundamentalists or otherwise find terrorism totally repugnant. Lets not lose sight of our common humanity. Only a handful of deranged individuals of all religions have lost the sense of their own humanity, and in the process the humanity of everyone else.
39
I am waiting to see the media and citizens call terrorist, a terrorist. There is no need of sugar coating.
But he's not a terrorist, right? Phew, I feel better now.
20
And why isn't this guy being called a terrorist?
43
Conditt is male, white, and from the South (though I know some Texans would debate this point). A toxic brew of masculinity, racism, and white privilege. An apex oppressor. Deconstructionist will jump all over this.
33
This kind of violence shouldn't even be front page news anymore in America. Just a typical week. Over 37,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in the US in 2016 - that should have been front page news.
4
You're kidding right? Deaths per million and per billion vehicle miles traveled are at an all time low. The total numbers of death is comparable to the number of deaths in the fifties and we have a lot more people out driving around these days. Red herring.
2
Not a typical week at all if you live in Austin like I do. 7 bombs within 50 miles of where I work and live - in 3 weeks.
2
OK, it's not about race, but it's an interesting coincidence how christianity seems to follow gun nuts (and their subsidiaries) around.
34
These days it's some in the extreme right that are using violence in the mistaken belief that it furthers their agenda, yet it was the radical left that used these same means during the 60's. Any extreme position seems to end up this way if not diffused.
4
Why do all the white people on here get so defensive when a white guy does sonething horrible? It happens often enough. Pretty much all the school shootings were committed by white people, as I recall. So was the Las Vegas massacre. So was the Oklahoma bombing. The Unabomber was white, etc. Get used to it - white people are no better or worse than others.
64
Exactly my point.
If this were middle eastern person, few mosques/gurudwara would have been targeted already!
The foxe and vixen would be howling.
1
Not much of a "showdown".
He drove into a ditch. He blew h9mself up.
What is it about Christianity that breeds so many terrorists?
52
Whether this young man's motivation was racism, politics, hatred of society.... whatever. The good news is that he's removed himself from society and can no longer hurt or kill any more innocent people.
Good riddance Mark Conditt.
15
No. The only way you stop this is by prosecuting them. The idea of jail time for them is worse than death by suicide.
2
How, exactly, would you know what a killer who dies by suicide thinks about jail?
On the other hand, it is quite clear what this person thought about life--his victims and his own.
You really don't want to know my thoughts about this article, @NYT. The glaring omission of certain words like terrorist to describe this individual, and the recent sympathetic articles about white extremists are making me rethink continuing my subscription with you. I have been a subscriber for many years, by the way.
25
He's not a terrorist without a political motive. It's in the definition of the word. And while I suspect a motive, there were no targeted killings, no symbolic targets, no statements to the media, a 25 minute goodbye message without any mention of such a motive.
1
Is this terrorist tied to white supremacy? Donald Trump opened the floodgates of hatred. America is more dangerous after he was elected. How does he sleep at nights?
39
Remind me, was DJT in office during Ruby Ridge, Waco or Oklahoma City? Violent extremists spew their poison no matter what way the political winds are blowing.
5
There has been a serge in hate crimes, starting in 2016 and continuing into 2018. But there are some very fine people on both sides, right?
21
@FWIS,
Hate crimes have increased since Trump's campaign.
3
As most enlightened readers could have guessed, the Austin terrorist was of neither Middle Eastern nor Mexican origin.
Trump must sure be feeling sheepish about his grand plans to build the racist anti-Mexican wall, as well as with last year's xenophobic travel ban. What sort of a solution would he propose to protect the WHOLE population from the likes of such an antisocial freak who apparently retained nothing from his 'Christian' upbringing within the confines of his home ? Unfortunately the United States is brimming with such angry white young males who must be monitored at all costs, for the common good.
17
Trump does not have the emotional intelligence to understand the consequences of his actions.
18
IF this man were a muslim, we'd be having an entirely different conversation. Followed quickly and assuredly by demagogery from the "president".
40
Wow.
That is such a crazy thing to do.
5
Yup, another one of those lawless Mexican, Islamic, foreign terrorists loose in the American streets. It will not be defined as terrorism because he’s white, Christian and American. Trump will blather on about mental illness, but the mind set of conservative Christians will not be considered in regard to terrorism. The Christian Right bear a whole lot of responsibility for hate in this world.
31
Can the New York Times make an effort and write 'Christian terrorist' someday? I suppose 'terrorist' can only be affixed to 'Islamic', even though Muslims are perishing by the thousands at the hands of Buddhist bigots in Myanmar recently.
30
According to Trump, if that Wall had been built none of this would have happened. What’s that? He’s white? Um.......never mind.
32
Godly? Poorly socialized I think better describes the dynamics....
24
Wow, just checked out the ACC classroom blog, and that kid didn't set off any alarms. Sounded like most home schooled FOX fed munchkins. Homophobic, anti-female and not very bright. Did he attack those who still worked at that radio shack remotely?
I lived just a few miles from him, and they found him where my sister used to. I'm assuming my town's had enough of such Jareds, but you never know.
12
I'm guessing that Trump and GOP will characterize this perp as "insane", whereas had he been anything but white and Christian they would term him a "terrorist".
22
If this guy is not a terrorist, I don’t know who is.
Does he have to be a brown and/or Muslim guy to be labeled as such?
You know a terrorist from his actions.
28
Mr. Conditt was a quiet, “nerdy” young man who came from a “tight-knit, godly family,”
Like who killed and injured people. Humm....much to think when one hears this kind of comment about a stone-cold killer with no remorse for other living beings
22
I bet there are a number of minority groups, particularly Muslim communities, who are breathing a sigh of relief that the bomber turned out to be a native born white male. It’s white male terrorism and mass shootings we need to worry about.
22
The Unabomber. Now THAT was a loner. But he wasn’t religious. McVeigh. He wasn’t religious either. The Tsarnaev brothers? One of them was a married father and the other one had teen appeal. So there goes the theory about toxic male virginity. Jihad martyrs. Well martyrs are usually religious, political, virginal, loners who manage to find someone who talks them into it and someone to strap them up. I don’t think they’re motivated by hate or God. I don’t think they care who they kill. All these guys have one thing in common, including the guy who talks the other guy into it; they are all crazy. The reason crazy people do crazy things? They are crazy. No reason why. No reason.
8
'from a “tight-knit, godly family,” said Donna Sebastian Harp, who had known the family for nearly 18 years.
Mr. Conditt’s mother. It read, “Pray for our family. We are under attack” — a reference to a spiritual assault by Satan, Ms. Harp said.'
Just this alone speaks volume. It is unfair to brand all evangelicals are religious nuts but when they put their beliefs in front of - or in place of - humanity, home schooling is just a step from disaster.
To be clear, not home schooling is bad. Some are good and necessary, but when you are in a cultural bubble, it is just not so good
46
What kind of travel ban or wall will protect us from American, white home grown terrorists and mass shooters?
54
The travel ban was imposed to protect us from foreign terrorists like the ones who carried out the 9-11 attacks. The FBI is supposed to protect us from domestic terrorists.
7
A ban on insular homeschooling will help to ensure all kids get to see more points of view than just one....
12
William,
Yet most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, a country not on the travel ban.
When will these white males (especially those that are members of White hate groups) be classified as American terrorists? We have an "Angry White Male" problem in America couple with they can buy a gun anywhere anytime problem.
36
A recent joint F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security intelligence report revealed white supremacists were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2001 through 2016, more attacks than any other domestic movement. This works out to about three murders a year. The United States has about 12,000 murders a year, so white supremacists are responsible for about 0.02 percent of murders each year.
Only 23 of the 49 victims were racial or ethnic minorities. Of the other 26 victims, 12 were Jewish and eight were law enforcement officers shot while attempting to arrest suspects for a variety of crimes who turned out to white supremacists. Four of the victims were white supremacists murdered by other white supremacist and two were white homosexuals.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3924852-White-Supremacist-Extrem...
7
William,
One is far less likely to be killed by a person from the Middle East than by someone born in the US. So I assume you are equally critical of the travel Ban?
4
Since 2001, Middle Eastern terrorist have killed more than 4,000 Americans in domestic terror attacks. That make them far more dangerous than white supremacists who have killed 49 in the same timeframe,
1
I am tired of reading about Sam shot Joe or vice versa. Anything happening in congress, the White House, Berlin, Paris Rome etc.? This non-stop publication about gun violence only encourages other nut-cases.
It is past time for the NYT to resume printing "all the news that's fit to print".
Sam or Joe and relatives may be interested in their activities. I (and most of NYT readers) are not.
7
Terrorists typically have an ideology in whose name or for whose goals they perpetrate their actions. Islamic terrorists are terrorists. Nazi skinheads killing people would be terrorists. White supremacists who kill are terrorists.
Kids throwing rocks from an overpass and killing people in cars are murderers, but they are not terrorists, unless they have some further objective in mind other than mischief.
Until we find what this guy's motives were, we don't know if he is a terrorist or "merely" a murderer.
I know, this does not fit the narrative forming all over liberal pages: white, male, domestic terrorist. Let's see what the facts are. Opinions are cheap.
16
@John
The guy planted 6 bombs. That ALONE makes him a terrorist. sheeshhh...
I know, this does not fit the narrative forming all over conservative pages: white, male, domestic terrorist. Let's see what the facts are. Opinions are cheap.
25
@oldBassGuy:
Terrorist: "a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims."
Let's see what these guy's political (or religious) aims were.
Capitalizing "alone" and saying "sheeshhh", however appealing those are to this readership as signals of un-debatable liberal common sense, do not make this person a terrorist.
Generally speaking, all terrorists are mass murderers, but not all mass murderers are terrorists.
Some mass murderers are just twisted humans. Terrorists are not twisted: they have a clear goal in mind.
6
Your single definition of terrorist doesn’t begin to cover term, even if you use quotation marks to lend legitimacy. More importantly, aims can be political—they can be about power—without being directed at the state or at elected bodies. Terrifying and killing minorities? Political. And those you recognize more easily as terrorists don’t always have clear aims. Even when they do, though, having clear aims hardly means they aren’t twisted beyond belief.
My guess is he was “radicalized” by his fundamentalist mother: Home schooled, her hoping he would go on a “mission “ (well, you got your wish momma, he was on a “mission”, hope you feel proud of your job well done), his hatred of gays and same-sex marriage, repeal sex offender registration (did I read that right??)...
No matter the religion, fundamentalist all share a common thread; a deep seated hatred based in appalling ignorance.
40
That is so stereotypically reactionary and presumptive.
13
Privileged and unruly white boy's remain the scourge of our multi national society...............stop the crap about our minorities of which the American Indians are one's that truly own this land and still would if not of the "white boys"........Let's not return to those vicious days.
7
Not sure he was all that privileged, actually -- not that that would explain or excuse anything either way. But in the face of all the hatred we see these days, and that the young bombing suspect himself seems to have indulged in, I don't see what we gain by judge others solely on racial grounds ourselves --
4
Oh villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables! - Meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5
6
I feel that we all (no matter what political or religious affiliation) are so really quick to pray and hope first that the terrorist isn't "one of ours" so we can be the first to say, " see, told you he was Muslim!" or "see, told you he was KKK", etc. that we lose sight of the fact that people died. People's lives have been destroyed for some reason or the other and they are all Americans, no matter their affiliation!
I'm a Democrat, but if you think it would bring joy to me to watch someone blow up Republicans then boy, we have failed as a Nation, under whatever ever God you believe to be looking over us! I know people stood and cheered when it was announced that FDR had died and when JFK had been shot, but I'll be damned if I could look Barron in the eyes and tell him his father was dead with glee in my heart. I wouldn't even want to be the one to tell him daddy is going to prison for a long time.
We need to be able to feel for ALL of our citizens and for that matter fellow human beings around the world.
16
A neighbor of the young man who knows his parents a few blocks away, describes the family as "church-going" faithful and kind people. Hell, the KKK lynchers were all devout Christians. That means nothing except that their particular god forgives their sins--like murder and racism and bigotry? Harrumph! The lad was so inoculated with his bigoted religion that he decided to play god and kill them. His targets though seem inexplicable. We will learn more, I'm sure. Trump has said nothing here, as well, but then Austin's the one city in Texas--home campus of the U. of T.--and the capital and extremely liberal. Trump justice was likely his view of the bombings.
20
Oh, he was white and Christian. From a "godly" family, even.
So I guess it wasn't terrorism after all. Just a mental health issue.
Right? RIGHT?!?!
36
Why is the "Racial Status" being reported of this dead young man ?
Who unequivocally stated that he was "White".
And if he is, by whatever standards the New York Times goes by -
why is it being reported ?
6
Whenever I hear "godly" I think of all the religious nuts that have killed thousands of American! Nothing godly about a killer, nothing!
We don't need to fear "Islamic jihadists", white men are to most prolific terrorists in our nation!
27
kind of like the crusades...
7
Thank god he was white.
Otherwise this could have been another 9/11.
12
"conservative and godly"...
What could go wrong?
A neo_nazi who hated gays and was AGAINST sex offender registries?
Maybe I got that last part wrong...but if not, it figures. Frustrated evangelicals have to do SOMETHING with thier free time ...
The FBI, ATF and Texas authorities MAGA'd on this loser!!!!!!!
12
Yet another piece by the Times about a white domestic terrorist that allows him to be "quiet" and "nerdy" and from a “tight-knit, godly family."
Can any NY Times staffer point to an article about black/hispanic/Muslim murderer that offered such a sympathetic view? The Times called Mike Brown "no angel" and he's infamous for being killed—a white male murders people of color and he gets to be from a "godly family." As Deray would say, watch whiteness work.
23
Draylen Mason, the 17 year old teenaged boy was identified as a man and this terrorist man gets to be a kid. None of the Backstories of victims are told. Their names were not mentioned, while the New York Times humanizes this monster. Do better New York Times.
18
Amen. The victims' racial identities were kept on the down low in national media for two weeks, but once someone identifies the shooter as white, everyone is up in arms. It's disgusting.
2
Terrea M - The NYT previously published articles about the victims in which Draylen Mason was described as an outstanding young man and a talented musician.
2
What's up, NYT? The tone of this article is very different from what has been written about incidents involving People of Color. You all need to check yourselves and quit slanting your stories for the racist, homophobes among us.
18
I haven't noticed information or speculation on where he acquired bombmaking skills.
10
A lot of commentary here about semantics, race, and politics. I can tell you the main reaction I have heard from friends and co-workers in Austin is one of relief. This event did scare the city and had us all on hyper-vigilant status. We echo our very liberial mayor in thanking the law enforcement efforts - from the city, state, and federal agencies involved. They did an excellent job of bringing this ordeal to a rapid conclusion.
This is a great example of the government doing well, working together, and I would like us to celebrate that effort much like we celebrated the efforts of the first responders to 9/11, to the Boston Marathon bombings, and to other calamities that have hit our cities over the years. Whatever label you want to put on this evil, it was cut short by a lot of hard working first responders.
This Austinite would like to say thanks to the all those who helped bring this chapter to an end.
41
I'm glaf to have this thorough report on what happened. Let's not jump to conclusions on why the NYTimes didn't call him a terrorist earlier. Good reporting is good reporting, no need to criticize anyone's method of reporting until all the facts are in.
If you need to criticizr anyone, criticize the president for his inability to communicate like a mature adult.
9
According to someone who knew him and his family, he "came from a tight knit, godly family." He was also home schooled. So much for so-called "tight knit, godly" familes that home school their children. Always be wary of these religious extremists schooling their own kids. Wolves in sheeps clothing.
33
On some level I believe homeschooling is a factor. Are homeschooled kids too sheltered? I've only met a handful but every one was socially awkward; their parents aloof. I'm sure the parents had the best intentions but sometimes that can have a detrimental effect on their child's well-being. Homeschooling isn't the culprit but I bet it points to the underlying truth.
17
Many homeschooled kids get into the Ivy League/MIT/Stanford. I don’t think it is homeschooling alone...
4
Until we have more information, we can only be grateful that this man has stopped preying on innocent people for his own reasons, which may or may not come to light. I am glad we won't see more people maimed or killed by this man and hope that if he had accomplices, they are apprehended quickly. Good job, law enforcement!
9
If there were a bomb-manufacturing industry, they would be screaming that people kill people, not bombs. Because bombs are an "arm" just like automatic rifles, and are protected under the 2nd Amendment. While we are at it, driverless Uber cars could also be an "arm" in that arms are instruments of killing that can sometimes be useful for other purposes, and as such driverless cars are a right protected under the 2nd Amendment.
My point being, the 2nd Amendment was a mistake grounded in a particular set of historical circumstances. Its language and meaning are now being twisted and misused. It is unforgivable that our political representatives, and the base that votes them in, and media that have spread misinformation and violent ideology, have in effect colluded in these tragic killings that result from the toxic confluence of twisted minds and profit-driven overabundance of lethal means.
13
Great. Now what are we going to do about the guy in the Oval Office who continually encourages violence at his 'campaign' rallies? Who offered to pay the legal fees? Who quite obviously loves violence, except when he's threatened with the draft and actual military service? Who loves his great big nuclear buttons?
17
A cursory review of reader recommenced comments leaders one to conclude that Russian trolls are using this tragedy to further divide the country along racial and political lines.
If you doubt this for a moment, look at the comments which have the greatest number of reader recommendations
Sadly, Facebook is not the only social media platform which has been re-purposed & weaponized by the Russian Federation.
5
What are you talking about? The most liked comments are exactly the opposite of what Russian Trolls would post.
14
Talking about details of every shooter or bomber really distracts the national news dialog from things we as a country need to be considering. Just like stories about Trump's tweets distract from his actual actions. I subscribe to the NYT to support high quality journalism, and I ask you folks to avoid turning into a tabloid. No, details of the next bomber or shooter are NOT really important to dominate the news cycle of the day. Let the police and courts do their job. Save our country's voters from these distractions.
2
So the actions of some one who terrorized a major capital city should not be reported on? Maybe you should be reading some safe publication like "HiLites" or "Sports Illustrated" then. The Times reports what happens, and if you are disturbed by this, don't read it! Hide in your safe place, the adults will take care of the grown up stuff you can't face.
Two words-- Home Schooled. That's all I need to know.
16
Home Schooled like the Parkland shooter? Like the kids who killed at Columbine? Like the killer of first graders in Connecticut? None of these men were home schooled, nor were they immigrants or Muslims...
7
Oh, enough with the neighbor calling the parents "godly people." They are people who raised a murderer, people who didn't notice that while he lived with them he was making bombs and planning attacks. I'm not suggesting we hold them responsible for their son's actions; I'm suggesting that we recognize that just because you homeschool your kid, that doesn't make you godly. It makes you isolated.
25
The bomber wasn't living with his parents. He lived with two roommates in a rental house owned by his father. He was 23 and no longer under parental supervision. The fact is that many murderers come from good families.
7
The reporting says he lived in an apartment with two roommates.
3
He didn’t become that skilled in bomb making last month. He has been practicing for some time.
3
I'm glad he's dead - by his own hand.
Police shouldn't kill suspects when they are given a choice - but I've no appetite for weeks of news reports and statements and interviews and "let's look at his side of the story" for the murderer.
6
Excellent police work! Heroes. This nation needs more stories about its heroes.
11
Clearly, absolutely, positively a terrorist, per the definition --
Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror among masses of people;
or to create fear to achieve a financial, political, religious or ideological aim. --Wikipedia
16
Two dead and five wounded is a pretty low yield for all of that effort. A cheap AR-15 would have been a much more effective way to create havoc. My guess is he just liked things that went boom and the thought of the fear he was inspiring without actually taking that many lives.
5
Well, that's certainly callous! What if it was your child or loved one killed? Would that still be "low yield?"
9
Best resolution: don't have to waste money on prison or a trial. Does understanding motive really matter in a case such as this? He wanted power and to show how intelligent he was. Well, ultimately his power dissipated and he wasn't all that smart after all. Seen on surveillance cameras? Thought he was invincible after a few successes.
6
it seems like these devices were quite sophisticated. wonder how he amassed that knowledge?
10
The only good way to stop a bad bomber is to have a good bomber, if I understand the NRA's mantra on weaponry. This bumper-sticker approach to a complicated problem is an affront to common sense. Trump is gleeful that the bomber is dead - problem solved! I'll wait a little longer to get some facts before I make up my mind on what's happening here.
8
I have my answer to Nita in Philadelphia who wrote: "Another desperate example of how white males are in trouble in this country. From the president to school shooters, it's time to get to the bottom of the strain of remorseless sociopathy running unchecked through this group."
Reasons I can think of, Nita: (reasons that are always swatted down like flies by the experts who haven't figured out anything.)
1. Negative drumbeat against white males for 50 years. 20 years ago at my daughters' hs graduation, 20 girls went on to college, 2 males did.
2. Disconnection between society and nature; rude and crude ever expanding cities. Even the new ones, like Austin and Seattle, are growing grotesque. Only elite white males hear affirmations.
3. Pervasive Cultural Attention to noise and explosions, over 50% of our resources go to an industrial military complex that hasn't won a war in over 70 years but is defeating us.
4. No perceivable escape for individuals or society into a place where things make sense, are satisfying and sustainable. The wilderness is gone and we're overpopulated.
5. Their Conclusion: The system makes no sense. I am a loser So I am going to vote NO and taking as many as I can when I GO. (all the suicide terrorists around the world leave this final implied message)
Solution: Education, Equality, Environmental Quality, A New Frontier...
7
You ask for equality but claim that there has been a negative drum beat against white males for 50 years. You need to figure out that women, minorities, LGBTQ, and other groups gaining equal rights is not the same as negativity towards white males. Tell me, what rights have you lost? What rights are being granted to others but are being denied to you?
4
Why do most folks equate "quiet" personalities as good? or infer that quiet people are good people. I find people who are loners, quiet and keep to themselves as suspicious and odd, raising red flags. Humans are social creatures by nature. When a loner goes off into their own world, that's when bad things start happening or perhaps they are hurting mentally/self- isolating. Good people are involved and engaged with their communities, family, and friends, etc.
11
It's the quiet types you have to worry about; as the old saying goes.
6
Sorry, but being "quiet" is not an indication in itself that someone will turn out to be a bomber or killer. There are many who prefer to be quiet as opposed to all the loudmouths in society who say nothing of importance.
1
We talk about banning Muslims for potential terrorist attacks.
Given that most mass shootings and bombings are by white males, we should probably also ban white males.
I will have to leave. Hoping some country in Europe will take me.
29
They may not if you are white male.
2
Where would TV dramas and police procedurals be without the black-haired males? It's enough to make you want to get all blown up about it. I'm in pieces about it, myself.
1
As a Canadian myself,you'll be welcome in Resolute Bay where I used to work for Nordair in the 70's.Lots of white whales but,but,don't shoot them please. P.S. Bring warm sous-vetement.
4
...a quiet, “nerdy” young man who came from a “tight-knit, godly family,” said Donna Sebastian Harp
tight knit. godly. family. all the prerequisites for a cult. Think David Koresh.
47
Home schooled, apparently. The insular kind of home schooling.
5
Another home-schooled individual. Home schooling needs to be revisited, yes regulated. Perhaps it should be allowed only under certain ages, in cases of certain illnesses, or in geographically remote areas on a limited basis.
We have the Turpin's who home-schooled and abused their brood of children. There was a recent NYT article on a young woman getting a college degree whose initial lack of knowledge of history, current events upon entering standard schooling was astonishing.
4
Would a "beautiful" wall or a flight ban have stopped him? Should we start profiling young to middle-aged white men now since they are the new face of terror?
34
Hardly "new," JackieR.
Same lovely college town, 62 years ago. Look it up.
3
@JackieR - young to middle-aged white men are not the "new" face of terror. Ask any history book.
1
I wonder what "godly" means to these friends and family.
28
'Godly' as the high ranking Catholic ecclesiastics guilty of sexual misconduct or covering up the crimes of their colleagues. And US politicians still receive the pope as if he were royalty, for the most inexplicable reasons....
5
I spoke to God...he told me to tell Edie Trimmer, "Me TOO!"
2
I hate crazy conspiracy theories, but I'm really starting to wonder if these Republican shooters/terrorists are being encouraged, triggered by the increase of right-wing propaganda online. And it's usually the young men who consume the hateful junk and go off the deep end, too.
26
Robin, please: "usually" the young men?
2
I am sure others have had similar thoughts, but had this guy last name been Muhammad, it would already be considered a terrorist act by many on the right including the POTUS, even though we don't yet know the motivation behind these acts of violence.
30
It is interesting that you note in this article that Governor Greg Abbott is a Republican but make no mention of Mayor Steve Adler's party affiliation. Mayor Adler is a Democrat and maybe this was just not important to note.
12
They probably assumed that if you read the statement Mr. Adler made in the last paragraph it would obvious his party affiliation. No boasting, no chest beating, just doing his job...wish every Mayor in America was "Steve Adler"!
2
amazing how many of the commentariat are trying to drive the narrative that white guys are the problem, his guy had to be a terrorist, etc. The FBI uniform crime stats clearly show that the murder rate for blacks is 7x that of whites. And while bombings are scary, they are quite rare events. We also don't know the motive(s) of the bomber...so let's not jump to conclusions as to his reasons. I'm sure will find out soon enough and everyone can save themselves from the embarrassment of speculation.
9
Those who post here only claim that they know the data, they only know the data supporting their ideology.
2
"Murder rate" among African Americans is NOT the same as acts of terror by white males! The majority of massacres and bombings have been done by white males, do you need a list?!
6
People are doing that to point out the absurdity of taking the action of one person and generalizing it to a whole group, as often happens when a perpetrator is Muslim.
5
Other reporting with a bit more "profile" information (from Daily Beast):
-23 yr old white male
- nice, quiet boy
- home schooled
- "Christian"
- graduated from high school in 2013 but, according to a posting from his Mother, hadn't decided what he was going to do but..."maybe a Mission trip".
- and from 2012 online blog writings: conservative, anti-Gay, anti-abortion
Thank goodness he can do no further harm. Great job law enforcement. And fingers crossed there have been no "packages" left behind. Be careful out there, people.
26
I know where his last "mission trip" is going...hot, hot, very hot...
4
This is really pathetic news coverage. We know about all the past bombings. Give us something new. You mean to tell me we don't have any pictures of this young man. You mean to tell me what his motivation was? Let's get going. Doesn't anybody know him? Where did he grow up? Friends? Jobs? etc.?
5
Possibly you missed the article under RELATED COVERAGE "Who is Mark Conduit, the Suspected Austin Bomber?"
5
"The attacks began when a package bomb detonated on the porch of an Austin home, killing Anthony Stephan House, 39. That was followed 10 days later by two bombs that were found outside homes, one of which killed a 17-year-old man."
Why did the description of this 17 year old change from boy to man in this story? In your earlier story he was a boy, as 17 year-olds are, you know - and even Fox News' website, like everywhere else, referred to him as a teenager/teen/boy - not a man.
Here, the victim is a boy: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/us/austin-package-explosions.html
It sounds like a little thing, but when some people already have in their minds that all black boys are actually hulking criminal black men who pose a threat - even when they're the ones killed by a bomb - seeing this teenage victim described as a man in the Times does not stop them from imprinting that image.
We see the alleged 23-year-old bomber being referred to in this story by a neighbor as "a nice young kid". I'm sure we'll hear that all week. Shouldn't the 17-year-old boy/teen he allegedly blew up in a terrorist attack have that courtesy?
35
"He was the nicest cutest quietest....kid I have ever known" And, of course, he cane from a very godly family!!!
14
This is a classic example of terrorism by whites against minorities. Homeland Security needs to focus on this and other white supremicist groups.
13
Were the first two bombs addressed to those families? If so, that would support your theory, particularly if those families were well-known in their community, as reported.
It is ironic that all the bombers and shooters so far have been US white man. Yet, trump keep saying that immigrants from Muslim, Latin America and other countries are terrorists. No wonder why he has not tweeted anything that blames such countries. And it is awkward that the press does not mention that the bombings were the attack of a racist terrorist. You do not need to be a rocket scientist or journalist to see and clearly deduce that his actions are racist because he planted bombs in black neighborhoods and a terrorist because he terrorized Austin for more than two weeks.
16
The hatred in many comments here against white males is outright and revealing. The Times chose to identify the gender and race of the perpetrator in a single sentence at the top of the report. Would they have done so if the criminal was of any other race? Doubtful. No, not doubtful. Never. That information would have been buried at the bottom of the report, if it appeared at all. And the comments excoriating white men reveal the racism and bias of those making the comments.
10
I respectfully disagree; completely, that there is an anti white bias here.
This clarification at the beginning of the story underscores the simple mindedness in thinking that terrorism is caused by other “types”.
It also underscores that race, religion, country of origin have a lot less to do with terroristic crimes than, say , ideology, economic status, closed minded academics and education. Many layers here.
To suggest that there is an anti white bias here is to suggest that the race of the suspect doesn’t reveal the flaw in our national thinking on the causes and cures of violence.
This person was evil.
Why does evil happen?
NOT:
What color are evil people ?
13
I don't know if I approve of blowing one's self to bits. I know it saves the expense of a trial and imprisonment, and that's good. But we are denied the death penalty phase, and that's not good.
It seems white guys are doing all these ;mass killings, and they are all crackpots. At least they can't blame it on blacks.
8
listen, I know the term “terrorist” is thrown around loosely in our world today, but this terrorism, whether this young man was black, white, Hispanic, etc. We have to call it what it is.
11
Too many folks -- unfortunately, in the most Recommended comments -- are giving this bomber the "honor" of being labeled a terrorist. To be a terrorist, one must have an agenda, a -- to the bomber -- rationale for his actions.
This guy had no agenda. Just a desire for eventual notoriety. From what this story reveals: He was a frustrated nobody, a nebbish. Look it up.
By the way: We became very cautious, here in Austin, and followed instructions regarding suspicious packages and boxes scrupulously, reporting well over a thousand such. But we were never "terrorized."
11
So...you terrorize a huge city with bombs, murder and injure people, but with no clear agenda, you don't qualify as a terrorist? Got it!
5
He sent packages to black people, I think he's motive was pretty clear.
2
You have absolutely no evidence to support your assertions.
2
Congratulations to the Austin police and the FBI for all their hard work in identifying the suspect.
16
I'm OUTRAGED that the bomber is described as a white man. HORRIBLE! And why call him a bomber. He is a creator of offending packages. And he's not white...that is offensive. He's not a person of color. All the materials he used to build these offending packages need to be banned from stores too.
Please, if we are going to PC the world, then let's be consistent.
3
It is heartening that the most recommended comments are those that take this as an opportunity to politicize.
Not.
7
Because conservatives like you never politicize anything.
5
The word terrorist in the current "official" American dictionary is defined as, "an Islamic male or female, black or brown skinned, of foreign descent." The perpetrator of the bombings does not meet this definition so, folks, let us quit trying to call him a terrorist. Ain't gonna work…
2
Perhaps he’s evangelical Christian ? His mother who home schooled him said he was considering going on a “mission” ...
In my experience that is going to another country , probably 3rd world to preach about or work in the service of Christians.
5
Turns out the FBI was not too busy with the Russia investigation to get this bad guy.
6
Did you hear? They got him.
1
Apologies for my earlier comment; I misread you. Yes, it seems the FBI is more than capable of addressing multiple investigations.
It may well be that we are in the beginning of an era where people who are not connected with peers...who may be depressed, feel rejected by peers, have financial troubles (Las Vegas shooter) or who feel alienated in some major way....will decide to destroy the lives of others with guns or bombs. So far, only males...so far only Caucasian except Parkland FL is Latino. No immigrants...so, can’t point that finger. But decide to end the lives of others while fully expect to die themselves very soon.
Sad state of affairs. I think media should not divulge names of assailants. Identify by date and place. Remove the glory. Make them anonymous.
TPS needs to take a deep dive into this family. If they indoctrinated this kid to act as he did, they are as guilty as he is--or thankfully was.
5
Let's have the conversation about why, this white young man, who terrorized a community and in particular, directed his bombs at people of color, why exactly is he not considered a terrorist? And why is this not domestic terrorism? What is wrong with this picture?
12
Everything is wrong with this picture.
2
Our mean society alienates youth, and we get this problem.
Why in our current America do folks go driving around in all black vehicles with all black trim and all black wheels? Is it to intimidate others?
Us Americans being intimidating and mean and competitive to our neighbors cannot help but contribute to this alienation.
Gosh, we even have a bully for President. And Americans love it.
Welcome to the breakdown of society as we know it......
It only takes a few dozen shooters and bombers to disrupt our lifestyles.
Be kind and friendly and helpful to everyone you encounter, before it is too late!
4
If Don the Con is so supportive of law enforcement "getting their man," he should shut up about Special Counsel Mueller's investigation .... or just turn himself in.
16
To the neighbor who said, "Makes no sense." Oh but it does. This killer fit the classic serial killer type: young white male, and loner. And there is no doubt in my mind that this loner had another life, online, where he read white supremacist, hate-filled materials and probably was a Trump-supporter, because let's face it: that's the pattern of insanity today in the U.S.A. Starting from the top.
14
Commenters here are obsessed with the race of the madman, and use this as yet another opportunity to bash whites. Just imagine the outrage if the same anger was hurled at any other group. Racial resentment permeates our society today, more so than I can remember in my 70 years. We are tearing this country apart.
8
Jeremy, I think you missed the point. The race of the madman is irrelevant. What is relevant, however, is that he is being called a white male bomber, instead of terrorist so as to lessen his acts.
5
When will the media be honest for once and call this perpetrator by his rightful label... a terrible terrifying terror-spreading terrorist? Terrorism comes in all colors, including white.
5
If only people had walked up to him in high school and said hello.
2
Home-schooled.
5
Well, he was home-schooled, as the article states...
3
Build the wall! Build the wall!
Sincerely - Mexico
17
So many people here are arguing that there is a white male violence problem, then take some money that is currently being spent elsewhere and divert it to helping these individuals.
2
As a Pflugerville resident, I just want to sat “Thank you!!!” to all of the law enforcement officers-FBI, ATF, state and local police- who worked so hard to end this nightmare! We are all so grateful!
8
The FBI that goes after a terrorist is good. The FBI that goes after Trump is bad. Got it!
2
A lot of commenters on here are complaining that so many other commenters (and the article itself) is "making it about race." To them, I reply:
- Go read what commenters are writing on Fox News; then report back about what kinds of people make "everything about race."
- Then go back and read comments posted on Fox News every day over the past 10-15 years; then report back about what kinds of people feel free to post hateful things about race, and advocate for violence against people of certain races.
- Then go speak with Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Bannon, et al, and ask them why they're so quick to label Black Lives Matter as terrorists, but don't apply the same standard in this case; then report back to us.
- Then go speak with Pres Trump, and ask him why he so consciously (and cynically) injected race front and center into our political discourse, i.e. by his racist questions about Pres Obama birthplace, by his racist comments about the Central Park Five, by hist racist comments about Muslims and Hispanics during his campaign, etc. Ask him to explain this to the American people.
Why are people "making this all about race?" Because a lot of our country's history is intertwined with issues of race. Because race underlies a lot of the current social problems in our country. And because Trump and the Rightwing cabal have made everything about race, because they believe that being divisive will garner them political power.
That's why.
1637
You've expressed my experiences living in the south perfectly. A lot of people here are so bitter and angry, while ranting that liberals are bitter and angry.
16
I have never watched Fox news and do not intend to. I read NYT and WSJ and sometimes similar--e.g., Economist--and some monthly journals.
So, back to NYT commenters . . . why should this be all about race?
Obama seems to have stoked the race fire with his chiming in on the Cambridge MA professor and the cop some years ago and inviting to the White House for a beer. After that he kept it up, stoking the flames on the right and the left.
3
This is comment that basically says "because they act badly, we should act badly too." I don't find it compelling, nor should anyone else. Grouping people together by their skin color, rather than judging people on their individual characteristics, is antithetical to fighting against racism. I get it, the perpetrator was white. But, by characterizing every event in modern America as heavily influenced by race, we are creating a narrative tainted with a biased perspective. Not everything is about race.
4
I am curious why no mention in the narrative of the fact that there is a van crashed into the back of his car. That makes me think he did not "drive off the road into a ditch." Why would they leave out of the story that they may have forced him off the road?
7
It seems possible that the damage to the van is from the bomb blast, not from a collision. The blast appears to have blown out the back window of the suspect's car.
2
true, but the police probably boxed him immediately so he couldn't go in reverse at them or get away. also, the reporters don't have eyewitnesses to the incident so they can only report what the cops told them. the whole story will come out later. this is a minor detail.
1
Couldn't he have pulled over suddenly, and a pursuing vehicle couldn't help but rear end him when he did that? Is ramming someone from behind while driving to force them off the road a thing that happens outside of tv/movies?
1
RE: Political motivation.
One person's politics is another person's religion.
Domestic terrorism is the random killing of citizens; murdering people in their homes or workplace, stalking and using weapons of death to terrorize.
7
Here's another weird thing about these comments. The overwhelming buzzwords and common themes seem to me to be: terrorism, white male, great job law enforcement (the most commendable meme), condolences to victims (also commendable, sadly scarce here).
Not many people are focusing on: bomb. People are making sideways jabs at the ongoing gun control debate, but clearly this murderer did not use guns at all, so the debate is not starting up here.
Why are we so blase about bombs? I've had a bomb go off near me, and it's a lot scarier than gunfire. In a lot of nations in the Middle East, bombing is a daily fact of life; in Syria it means bombs dropping on you (thankfully not a big concern almost everywhere else).
So I don't know the reason for this, anyone have insight over why it matters more to us that this was a white male, then that he used homemade bombs with untraceable components? I mean, if this catches on, most people could be highly murderous just by knowing about matches and gasoline.
2
Isn't it interesting that when mass murders use guns to kill people, Trump and other Republicans on the take from the NRA are quick to label them as mentally ill and posture about the need to screen, quarantine, and "treat" everyone who might be a danger to society. (Well, everyone other than Trump, that is.) But because Conditt did not use a gun to go on an extended spree of killing and injuring innocent people, Trump and the Republicans seem to have no concerns at all about his mental health, or the mental health of others who may pose a similar danger.
I would like journalists to ask Republicans about that. Do they believe that use of guns to kill people is a definitive symptom of mental illness? If not, why does a serial killer like Conditt get a pass from part-time Republican advocates of stripping people of constitutional rights on the basis of armchair assessments of their mental health status?
11
When will we see a profile of the victims? They were pillars of their community who were tragically killed by this terrorist.
13
I would like to see us as a nation quit mentioning the names of the killers and only talk about the victims. I can name the guy who shot 9 people in a church in South Carolina without the help of Google but I can not name a single victim.
I could pick Dylan Roof out of a lineup but can not even tell you how many of the nine victims were men vs. women. Our media practically glorifies the killer giving them infamy. We should blot their names from history starting with their birth certificate forward so that they have no legacy.
4
“There is no evil but the acts of man.”
We are all products of our respective environments.
Also interesting to note that a standard response to incidents of violence like the Florida school shooting by the right wing is we need to bring religion back into people's lives, have school prayer, base laws based on religious morality,..so what happened here when the scion of an apparently "Godly" family, raised with the 'right' beliefs, does something like this? Devil made him do it?
13
I hope that technological and scientific advances will soon provide incontrovertible truth about the mental sewage religions represent in today's modern world. Whether it be the jihadi sadists or the Christian terrorist in Texas, religious superstition continues to rear its ugly head in the year 2018, to everyone's detriment.
2
Yep, that will be one of their conclusions. Meanwhile their vile interpretation of religion aids and abets the violence. This is:
Another home-schooled, red-state, right-wing, fear-based, fact-impaired, evangelical christian afraid of his own shadow and all the ‘others’ out there. Their religious and political beliefs are fueled by the propaganda machine of the right is a cancer causing virus which is causing brain, heart, soul damage and rotting their true-believers from within while they explode their hate outward onto the rest of us.
1
The home schooled are worrisome - often isolated in a peculiar environment.
I encountered quite a number while in practice, and often felt very uneasy and concerned about the family dynamics by the time the visit was over.
62
I'm sure everyone is very impressed with your N = 1 observations.
I've met many, many professionals that were homeschooled, myself included.
1
There are dozens of studies suggesting the exact opposite - they tend to be better socialized and community minded than their public school counterparts.
2
Here, I fixed it: "Austin domestic terrorist bombing suspect blew himself up, police say".
(1) a terrorist incites terror--label him correctly
(2) the headline used his name to signal that he was not the same ethnic origin of Muslim bombers--when did other bombings name the the bombers in the lede?
(3) using his name glorifies him to other wack jobs to follow him
Do better, NYT.
55
Dear Kishari,
Sorry but you're wrong. A terrorist inflicts violence with political goals in mind. Lots of things incite terror, like hurricanes, scorpions, ebola, etc., that are not terrorists.
So don't chastise the NYT, but try to understand what the word "terrorist" means.
2
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a bomb is a good guy with a bomb... right? Right??
75
Exactly. A bomb for a bomb. The teachers with guns should have hand grenades too.
2
Really great comment!
2
Many of these comments demonstrate reverse discrimination against the white race. It is politically incorrect to say this but true.
This man was evil no matter his race. Let's not forget that evil knows no race, religion or ethic origin. Of course, liberals cannot admit this fact. They are colorblind except when it involves white people.
17
There is no such thing as reverse discrimination. In order for actions or words to be racist, those actions or words must be institutionalized.
Tell me, how was this bomber, or the White Race, systematically or institutionally disenfranchised? Was the Bomber denied due process because of his skin color? Do comments about White Privilege result in White People being unable to get jobs? Buy homes in a certain neighborhood? Work in their chosen fields? No.
Mass Shooters and Terrorists like this guy, DO have a race and gender. They are over-privileged White Males. Mucho science on this. Try reading some. Need links?
To the over-privileged, equality feels like oppression.
11
The bomber appears to have been a white person targeting black people. it's not reverse discrimination, it's pointing out the vast difference in coverage and response, especially from the White House, when a non-white person commits a crime, versus when a white person does.
Liberals don't bury their heads in the sand, and say "good people on both sides."
3
Reverse Discrimination is a myth.
4
What , no ISIS or immigrant connection ? Don’t worry someone will find something , somehow , someway ! Watch Hannity or Carlson tonight ! They’ll know ! Sad !
18
Figures. A home schooled Christian. He was described as a "loner." I wonder why.
54
And from a "tight-knit, godly family". So maybe his invisible sky friend told him to do this, as so many previous terrorists have claimed.
1
How do you know he was Christian? Does it say so in this article? The article says he was home schooled and that he posted conservative views, but that doesn't necessarily make him Christian. Perhaps you need to read more carefully. Or wait for the facts before you decide on what grounds you will condemn this man.
Did you write, "Figures. A public schooled agnostic," when you read about all the school shooters?
Instead of pointing fingers at home schoolers or Christians, perhaps you could consider the more broad and worrisome fact so many of our young men, of all races and religions and educational backgrounds, are so troubled.
Can you say, "domestic terrorist"?
36
Sure, Timothy McVeigh was a domestic terrorist. Ted Kaczynski was a domestic terrorist. Charles Manson was a domestic terrorist. See, it's easy.
But as this guy had no political message, he was just a murderer and a suicide. Don't go getting all terrorized for no reason.
3
I'm a white male and I wouldn't know where to begin making a bomb.
7
50 or 60 years ago, making your own explosives and detonating them was a right-of-passage for most teens. It's what you graduated to, after fireworks. We usually did it out in the woods, where the possibility of damage was remote.
Today, unfortunately, that sort of thing has become a felony. Even when there's no malicious intent.
How is it possible that the word Terrorist appears no place in this article? I can only imagine how this would have been portrayed had the person been Muslim. C'mon NYT, you can do it. T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T.
39
The word 'terrorized' is used. Until they can demonstrate a political motive, they can't call him a terrorist.
1
ter·ror·ism
ˈterəˌrizəm/Submit
noun
the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
Dear Steve R.,
I keep trying to correct people on this, but terrorist means someone who commits violence in support of a political goal. This guy had no message, no manifesto, thus he's just another psycho killer. As soon as evidence arises which pins a political ideology to this guy, then we can call him a terrorist.
1
It turns out that this killer is a member of the "superior" white race - like all the perpetrators of the school's mass shootings.
He is not an immigrant, a hard fact to swallow for the Fake President, always claiming that immigrants are the ones committing crimes in this country.
Besides the "superior" kid most likely was an evangelist: "schooled at home", living in rural America, unemployed...it fits the profile.
42
Yes but did he MAGA?!?!??
He got frustrated waiting for the Shoe Factory or the TeeVee Tube Plant to reopen in his home town, to provide him with the lifelong living wage Trump blatted about....
O well. At least we don't have to support him. Thank God (hopefully) none of his packages were air mailed.
You are incorrect. What ethnicity was the Virginia Tech shooter? How about the Oikos University shooting?
The answers to these questions can be found in seconds by utilizing your preferred internet search engine.
I would kindly suggest that you refrain from the use of hyperbole (e.g., "...like all the perpetrators...", "...always claiming that immigrants are the ones...") especially when the claims that you are making lack any factual basis.
1
Good goards, this kid comes off like a sad joke from the 1990s in ACC's blog site. Another stay at home audience. You let the kids get out of the house to develop a mindful picture of the world; what a regressive approach to the future! Don't be fooled by degrees of stupidity! Back to THIS future? Try again, game over.
10
Oh wait I have to retract part of my last comment. I did find a few comments thanking law enforcement on the first page. They were at the very bottom. Well ok I'm a little less disappointed in the focus here on making sure that everyone knows this guy is a terrorist (well duh) and making sure that everyone knows he was white.
I was just super impressed. It took months and months to find the Unabomber and they only found him because his brother went to the FBI. These guys found him within weeks and as far as we know so far they did it with some solid police-work.
I agree that this nuts spree shows that there is something very wrong with masculinity in American. I don't think we should give everyone else a pass because this guy is white. If we start racializing male violence we won't accomplish anything. Men of ALL races have problems with violence in America. While some races have unique challenges, all masculinity has become infected with something toxic in the last 30 years by society.
Now if this dude has some manifesto against black people on his Google drive then that's a different story. However, I would bet that this guy was just out to kill and terrorize as many people as he could.
7
Last 30 years? You mean before then male violence was only violent not toxic? Huh.
1
I dunno. It seems as though he was initially targeting the Mason family and associates, African Americans. Even the third package, which injured the elderly Hispanic woman, was intended for another associate of the Masons. Who knows why the killer changed his M.O.
1
People will probably get upset calling these people radicalized white christians but what exactly do you think Putin and Trump spent tens of millions of dollars trying to get them to do, sing kum by ya? White Christians are purposefully being radicalized by a foreign government and its puppets and the uptick in hate crimes, white terrorism, etc is just the statistical forefront of that.
27
Authorities are using the term "a suspect," not "the suspect." It would be really good to find out that the dead suspect was knowingly involved in his own death. It's entirely possible he was a lone wolf, and if so there will be some sort of trail. Authorities need to be forthcoming, even if it's as simply as it might seem.
3
Trump dropped the mother of all bombs on Syria but calls this guy mental. Kind of ironic.
16
It's funny that if you're white you're a "suspect", but if you're brown, you're a "terrorist". I think this is deliberate, no?
24
It's kind of hilarious how many commenters are leaping on a couple aspects of this as if their lives depended on it. Their hyperventilating claims boil down to this:
1) This is terrorism! Lots of people were scared and bombs were involved! Thus it is terrorism!
2) Nobody is calling it terrorism because the bomber was white! Everybody is therefore racist! White people are terrorists!
And so on, ad absurdum. I suppose if people want to work themselves into a lather, they should be allowed to do so, but I'd hope rational people realize that with no political message, no goal other than murder, this guy was just a killer. Doesn't matter what his skin color is.
Because if we keep expanding the definition of terrorist, then we are not only going to work even harder at scaring all Americans all the time, turning us into a batch of paranoid, xenophobic Trump supporters, but we'll drain the word of all meaning. Soon enough, O.J. Simpson would be a terrorist for having killed two people. Then vegans would claim all meat-eaters were terrorist for killing cows and such. Then snarky folks like me would point out vegans were terrorists for killing organisms like carrots and kale. Then everybody would be terrorized.
So if y'all want to call this dead reject a terrorist, I think you should go ahead and call yourself a terrorized too. If you're scared to open your mail this morning, bingo, you're a terrorized.
11
A pattern of similar attacks which appear to have been aimed at members of a specific racial group. How is that not terrorism? The intent was to kill or maim as many as possible, and the victims were likely randomly chosen for their race. How is that not terrorism?
2
Nihilistic acts of violence are quintessentially terroristic. There’s a reason that Ted Kaczynski is a terminal occupant at ADX Florence.
2
It should be pointed out how many KKK and Nazis are committing atrocities.
Look around at the acceleration of Trump's attacks on Gold Star Families and you might see why people are getting frothed up.
Look at the economic figures surrounding how immigrants are being hired and cheated for work in Houston post Hurricane Harvey, being punished with non-payment of wages and you'll get why there are folks who want to make a point about race.
Especially those folks criticized who walk down a street with a shirt on that says "Black Lives Matter" after a whole bunch of videos come out of black folks being shot in the back, yeah, they are frothed up.
I'm frothed up about jerks in my town driving loud pick-up trucks, blasting guns off intermittently and hanging around the polls in camo.
It is about time folks get frothed up about bothering other people and disturbing the peace or shooting those unarmed. Those people who have a history of being taken advantage of deserve some extra attention NOW.
2
Magnificent job FBI, don't let the current white house occupant talk you down.
26
and this guy's activities didn't warrant a Trump Rant on Twitter about terrorism because.............
12
One obvious question must be asked. The bomber is white. Most of the victims are not white. Is this yet another terrorist act perpetrated by American white supremacists? By the numbers this is also the most likely hypothesis. Since 9/11, more than two thirds of all terrorist acts on American soil have been perpetrated by neo-Nazi and other white supremacists. Such racist and anti-Semitic acts have become even more common since the inauguration of this president.
15
When did the NY Times start reporting people skin color in the headlines? I don't want to see this about ANYTHING, or ANYONE.
5
@Sidd
Skin color has not played a role in this country's history, and a concern with skin color is over?
2
I have not seen a NYT headline about this story that identifies the deceased suspect as a “white” male. No decent newspaper would do that in a headline. No editor would allow the extra verbiage in the limited space allowed for headlines. That a suspect of any crime is identified by sex, age, and race in the leading paragraphs of a news story is standard journalism 101.
Thank you, NYT, for your reporting. Looking forward to any commentary that may come out of these reader comments.
1
It’s probably done to try to preempt all the Islamophobic speculators who will jump and blame Muslims. That has happened before. Now, instead, as we see in a different comment, liberals are blamed for victimizing white men.
2
I don’t understand why you people can’t figure out what the root cause is of all this. You blame white boys for privilege, you blame the for every problem, white girls have been completely brainwashed that the white boys are toxic, they get picked on in school, treated like dogs at work, and all they keep hearing is how women and minorities are the victim. Guns are not the problem, the utopian ideals that have been set into American society by every outlet has caused this. The left has caused this, and it will not go away anytime soon. These white boys have been deeply affected by the left’s agenda, and by the looks of it there will be horrible repercussions.
4
Interesting comment. Charlene seems to agree with the many comments here which see young white men as a potentially dangerous group in Trump's America -- she just blames the left. Wow!
5
"You people" are not the subject of the article.
Troll somewhere else, Yuri.
2
You're blaming this kid's actions on the political "left" agenda??
That's so off. Is that how you legitimize the actions of the extreme right or "alt-right" neo-Nazies? Or Timothy McViegh? "It's the 'lefties' fault"? This kid was apparently antisocial. We don't know what his real motivations were. And you're essentially blaming the victims.
1
He was a 23 year old white male trying to murder blacks and Hispanics, therefore, by definition, not a terrorist. You apparently have to be Muslim to be a terrorist, ask anyone in the White House.
15
Weren't two of the victims white? Sorry, but until direct evidence comes out that shows racist intent on the part of the suspect, this is pure speculation.
2
Dear Alprufrock,
Like many here, you fail to understand what terrorist means. Terrorism is, "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims", go ahead and google it. It is not a "white male trying to murder blacks and Hispanics".
Now if he had the stated goal of doing that, like Dylann Roof, then he would be a terrorist. If he was affiliated with some KKK outfit, then he would also be a terrorist. As it is, since two of his victims were white, three if you count him, four if you count the Hispanic woman, we cannot call him a terrorist yet.
1
ctrl f this article and count how many times "terror" shows up. Hmm. Wonder why.
3
The commenters are demonstrating enough terror on their own. But if this guy was a terrorist, what was his objective? What was his political message?
Terrorist or racial, ethnic or religious hater? Let's let the police investigation supply the answer. In the meantime consider The Oxford English Dictionary's definition of "terrorist". "The unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims." If you kill someone of another race, ethnicity, religion or politics because you hate him, it's not terrorism. But if you kill that person to make people of the same race, ethnicity, religion or politics afraid and cower in fear that's terrorism.
2
At twenty three years old, the bomber would have graduated from high school around 2012, 13. Texas public schools do not have the resources to adequately take care of kids. There are thousands of kids who cannot participate in sports or extracurricular activities simply because we stuff hundreds and thousands of kids into over-crowded and under resourced schools. I'm not condoning what this guy, who was clearly mentally disturbed did. But I do think that it would be a huge mistake not to look at the lives and experiences of kids as they are growing up. The savage inequalities of socioeconomic realities has a deep effect on individuals and society. In 2011, the Texas legislature in all its wisdom pulled millions from public education, sending public schools reeling for funding. After a rare public outcry, some but not all of the funding was returned to schools. Texas businesses produce an extreme amount wealth using public and natural resources. Children and the working poor are suffering. And I believe that the ongoing violence is connected.
10
The article mentions that he was home-schooled. Just had some community college, not public schools for other education.
2
He was homeschooled
1
The article states the suspect was home schooled. So be sure to factor that in to your analysis. Clearly he was not well adjusted. Perhaps from a lack of social skills, typically acquired in school.
2
The term, "poetic justice", comes to mind.
1
A self described conservative, another lost soul, confused by the changing world, unable to adopt. Religious right is now the main source of producing terrorists in this country.
13
I think it's weird that the political parties were brought up. Is that necessary?
When it comes to Nazis and the Klan, don't you think it is okay to err on the side of caution? I mean, you want to take the time to get out in the street and support Nazi right to free speech? It is your right if you want, but for all intents and purposes of humanity I'd think you find something better to stand up for. Like kids who survive shootings and grandmas who don't what their country littered with Nazi bombers.
I realize we're all curious about who did this, but to wait until nearly the end of the article to mention that this person killed and maimed people is quite desensitized. It almost sounded like you were talking about a serial prankster than a murderer. I know he was young and it's shocking, but he put bombs on several people's front porch in order to kill them. The victims here have been largely ignored as we all enjoyed a thrilling new mystery to solve, which may be why I'm feeling so sensitive about it.
The more we highlight the mass murderers, the more we'll inspire other disturbed folks to find fame through infamy.
6
The poli-sci defintion of terrorism may include political motivation but to focus on this is to miss the point. Over the years terrorism has been used to describe state-sponsored violence, violence against the state, and particularly heinous crimes. We are confronted with heinous acts that inflict terror--school shootings, a bombing campaign--and this is the most descriptive word we have for them.
2
Neighbors may feel like they were a nice family, but this home-schooled young man, still living with his parents, didn't develop hate for blacks, gays, and whatever else on his own. Most likely his comments about blacks and gays were just parroting what he heard every day at home.
So the neighbors felt they were nice, because they were all straight, white, conservative, and Christian. Others may not have been met with such kindness.
14
The article mentions that he lived with roommates (not his parents).
5
"There's some very fine people..."
There are no very fine people in the alt-right.
There are terrorists that cause physical and mental harm and injury. There are terrorists that destroy property.
And, there are those that encourage their behavior.
11
Mom keeps politics and religion off her facebook page because she uses it as a marketing platform for skin care products and doesn't want to alienate potential customers. Son was homeschooled, and his picture shows him in a buttoned-up IZod collared t-shirt. Mom's music likes shows only a religious radio station, so it is extremely likely homeschool was filled with fire and brimstone.
There are three types of homeschool: religious zealotry based driven by the need to keep the children out of the godless evil schools, liberal elite intellectual based driven by the need to keep the children out of the horrible schools that will never provide the children a serious and competent education (my kids), and un-schooling based where there's no school like no school. My guess is that this boy's schooling was deeply rooted in religion not taught by a theologist but by a parent whose credentials were based in fundamentalism preached from the pulpit, and frankly, it is my opinion from seeing many of these types of homeschooled kids they are victims of circumstances beyond their control.
This boy was probably malcontent with the world, he'd entered it on his own only in the last few years and had not been inured to it through years of public school. Surely he would have known about the Unabomber and perhaps even read (parts of) the manifesto against technology and the trappings of the modern world. What it would be like to drop a person from 250+ years ago into this world today?
11
From the "Who is Mark Conditt" article:
"Mr. Conditt was also called a quiet man from a “tight-knit, godly family” by Donna Sebastian Harp, who had known the family for nearly 18 years."
"Mr. Conditt created a blog about his political views as a requirement for a political-science class he took at Austin Community College, according to McKenna McIntosh, a classmate of Mr. Conditt’s. In an author description, he described himself as a conservative. His posts include arguments against same-sex marriage and sex offender registries and a defense of the death penalty."
This kid had no obvious skills and a middling intelligence, imagine what a mad, trained and smart person could have done: more effective weapons, more strategic planning, more mayhem. Just like shootings have become commonplace, we should expect more of this type of terrorism by disaffected white christian fundamentalist conservatives.
Another lonely young male desperate for love, respect and a purpose for his life in s culture of greed, competition and consumption. He is only one out of millions being wounded daily. He turned to violence, terrorism and suicide designed to get attention. Others turn to drugs and alcohol, sex, pornography and other pain-killing, self-hurting agents. When will we make the changes in our culture, our economy, our government necessary to value and respect all human beings in our midst, not for how much money or power they have, how many things they own, how smart, talented, strong or beautiful, how hard they work but simply because they are human beings?
4
Police have said bombs with tripwires were not targeted at anyone in particular. Bombs going off at FedEx don't seem targeted. Seeing this as racially motivated is speculative. Individuals of several racial backgrounds were affected.
So, then, why is the perpetrators race important?
And, no, NYT does not uniformly report race of criminals and suspects.
Also, attributing this to men is ridiculous. There are plenty of women who have done a lot, intentionally, to motivate their husband or boyfriend to do terrible things. Plenty of mothers and wives have known what their husbands do, and have done nothing to oppose it.
You might as well blame babies on women as blame violence on men. We live together as people, humans, *man,* if you will.
In my view, there is nothing wrong with describing a person, but clearly NYT has an insidious motive when it reports characteristics of individuals. This newspaper--none of them are really paper any more--promotes division, hatred, and identity politics by the descriptions it chooses to print and not print. It is not an admirable policy.
3
A bomb going off at FedEx might have been intended for a particular address, to explode upon opening, except it didn’t work right.
3
Condolences to the families of the dead, to the injured my greatest sympathies. To the fearful and traumatized, you also have my sympathies and were I there I'd give you a hug and maybe offer to buy you a coffee or beer. It's a terrible thing to have a psychopath in the community. I remember the fear when Ted Kaczynski was leaving bombs around to kill and maim, with some strange agenda only he understood. I expect in the coming days we'll find whatever it was the drove young Mr. Conditt to such despicable terror acts. I wish understanding could bring and end such things.
9
Increasingly sophisticated devices suggests an organized, group effort to me. A person who blows himself up to keep from getting arrested is a dedicated, true believer: a foreign agent, soldier or spy, or a domestic terrorist protecting his cell.
5
Consider:
The Las Vegas shooter was also setting off explosions, over a shorter period of time.
His "bombs" came pre-packaged as large bullets with attached blasting cartridge—that hurls the piece of shrapnel down a grooved barrel after the explosion is set off.
And these explosions (bombs)—with their precisely directed shrapnel—killed far more people than in Austin.
3
It's hard not to connect the dots . . . the United States government bombing anonymous non-white people all around the world with drones for a variety of hegemonic, destructive reasons and an individual bombing non-white people at home in service to some equally nutty pathological thinking.
The thinking is the same in both cases -- some other guy is responsible for my own internal political, social or psychological problems so I have to hurt him. I have no choice. I'm not responsible for my actions. "You made me do it."
5
It might be a political decision on the part of governmental officials, to not label Mr. Conditt as a "terrorist," but it's an editorial decision on the part of the media to not label him as a terrorist in their coverage of this series of crimes. There's no law that requires the media to follow law enforcement's dictums.
Media, including the NY Times, are free to follow their own editorial policies and practices. Start calling white, anglo-saxon males who terrorize, terrorists!
19
How can he be a terrorist - he's white? Evidently he is also a conservative, and religious, and he is opposed to gay rights - everything that suggests he is not a terrorist.
Terrorism........the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
Let's wait until the investigation is done before you start talking about "terrorism".
3
Agreed.
He might have had some sort of vendetta against front porches. Or tripwire.
Honestly, some of you are just as bad as those Reddit goons who immediately blame Muslims at the drop of a hat. Some people were even blaming Muslims for this days ago, when there was ZERO evidence! Ridiculous. Can't people at least WAIT before picking on the race/ethnicity/religion they dislike?
For all of you smirking about "violent" white people, really? So white people are that awful huh? Then why do you all still live in a country with 230,000,000 of them? If white people were as violent as many of you are implying, you would've fled this country a looooong time ago.
I despise this attitude people now have towards mass murder. Everyone's got their fingers crossed, praying the attacker's gonna be white/brown/Christian/Muslim so they can score a point against the other team. Please just stop.
349
The point is, when someone with brown skin and a non-Christian identify blows up innocent civilians, the government and the media are quick to invoke the "terrorist" label. It is striking that when a white person who was home schooled in a Christian family does the same thing, politicians and the press uniformly avoid calling him a terrorist.
I agree with you that it is not appropriate to use that label (or the "mentally ill" judgment) until their is evidence to support it. But because that norm is routinely violated when a person of color or a Muslim is the perpetrator of a bombing (or, in the case of being accused of "mental illness," when a gun is used), many people are bothered by the apparent racial and religious discrimination behind the labeling, or lack thereof.
12
I understand your sentiment, but I'm going to put a slight twist on what you alleged.
In this country at this time with this administration, it seems that only people of color or of non-Christian religion are vilified and bullied by our President. When I hope that the attacker is not a person of color or of a different religion, it's just to avoid the massive and inappropriate tweets that castigate an entire group of people based on one person.
I'm not trying to score points against the other team. I just don't want any of our minority populations to be unfairly singled out. The truth is that bad people come in all colors, shapes, and creeds. And a single bad person is neither indicative nor representative of others like him/her. Unfortunately, our President has not understood this distinction.
10
In your post, you wrote: "I despise this attitude people now have towards mass murder."
Wouldn't it be great if we didn't have mass murders to have an attitude about?
Obviously, this country is knee-deep in violence not seen in other developed countries. I despise the frequent senseless deaths in every corner of our country--movie theaters, malls, schools, churches, etc.......
8
For the umpteenth time I will prescribe Compulsory National Service of two years for every American at age 18. Doesn't have to be military. Men and women. Get these directionless young adults out of their home towns, teach them discipline and useful skills, and force them to cooperate and collaborate with people different than themselves. They will experience the deep meaning in being productive and part of something larger than themselves. Model it on the CCC. We need this! But the U.S. is stuck, moribund, and terribly fragmented. Too bad.
22
Bet “Just Curious” is a veteran. As a vet, I agree. Wholeheartedly.
1
Given that the term "going postal" was derived from an observed pattern of people working in a government controlled corporation, often with a military background, going on a mass shooting spree, I am not convinced that your suggestion will be of any help in preventing domestic terrorism or other types of mass murder.
1
I agree with this thoroughly… And include the WPA as part of that mandatory national service model. For men and women in this country. Israel has it! Other nations have it. It will make them better humans when you don’t have to think about themselves all the time.
1
Not to be taken lightly, even if this one has been removed from the board, keep in mind they are still not sure if he had accomplices. I don't see anywhere in this reporting where this guy has any kind of history to teach bomb making, especially without tripping warning signals with the ATF or FBI.
Plus, you can never rule out the twisted humanity of people using something like this to copycat and make a bad situation worse.
1
How about the ONLY label we assign to people who kill a number of people in a short time period, is simply what they truly are.
Really angry, highly disturbed, unbalanced people, without the moral compass to prohibit them from lashing out in such highly destructive ways.
Forget about other labels. Be they political or racial for example. Because they are just people being political!
1
Right now we don't know about the motivation of this bomber, but people are quick to jump to conclusions. I was living in Britain when the Pam Am flight was brought down in Lockerbie, Scotland. The BBC was speculating about the IRA being involved, while people on the political left were quick to blame the South Africans. They were both wrong.
7
"Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican..." Wondering why it was necessary to include his party affiliation at this point. Does it affect the case? Things are politicized and polarized enough.
1
The bomber was a young, white male, home-schooled Christian “conservative.” Although we must await the results of law enforcement’s investigation as to motive, it bears noting that the FBI has long warned of the rising danger of right wing, white terrorism that to date has largely been swept under the rug.
23
Thoughts and sympathies are with the families of the victims and the people of Austin.
A neighbor said the bomber came from a "godly" family. What does that mean exactly. Over and over again in this country, angry white, Christian-identifying males are the perpetrators of terrorism. But our "leaders" perpetuate a narrative of danger emanating from Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants, "the other." Just as we suffer the consequences of the faulty logic of "guns make us safer" so we will continue to suffer at the hands of angry white men until we face up to the fact that our narrative of danger in this country doesn't match the actual threats we face daily.
20
Comments are now just debating whether this was terrorism.
Terrorism is usually defined as violence perpetrated for some ideological end. That's why school shooters, serial killers, the DC sniper etc. are typically not deemed terrorists.
That said, I bet this guy had some political motives, but we just don't know yet.
3
We don't know yet if this was terrorism, but it sure smells like it.
The first three bombs targeted African-American and Hispanic families involved in civil rights activism. The fourth bomb was placed with a trip-wire on a sidewalk in a quiet suburban neighborhood, likely to be used by only a few local residents. Even if the victims were white, journalists should be asking if someone else on that street was a target, and who were his next targets.
Other sources today report that the deceased suspect was home-schooled and had expressed strident anti-gay, anti-abortion, and pro-death-penalty views on social media. These reports, if confirmed, point toward an anti-liberal ideology similar to that of other recent mass killers.
The suspect reportedly used Google in recent days to search for addresses of particular individuals, presumably as his next victims. Journalists should be asking police about the ethnicity and political positions of those people, to identify the pattern.
15
Haven't read or heard anywhere that Abbott, Cruz, or trump have offered "thoughts and prayers" to the victims. They must be waiting for further evidence that a shooting event actually occurred.
1
Clearly Trump's tweet's are not the haphazard, impulsive outbursts many would like to believe. He (and his Twitter editing team) judiciously calls this terrorist a "bombing suspect." What a champion of due process he is, when it's convenient for him!
2
Of course the police might have been able to determine the motive if the tactical officers hadn't gotten angry/frightened and shot the suspect after the bomb went off -- as they always do. I'm sure we'll never know what killed him, but when will officers be adequately trained in the value of taking suspects alive?
2
Can someone do a tally of how many people have been murdered this past year - seemingly emboldened by the teachings coming from right wing churches mixed with the divisiveness modelled by this US presidency? What a dangerous cocktail. Also, when are undercover reporters going to go into evangelical churches and really get to know the behind the scenes of what is being taught there? Hate is being taught here under the guise of Christianity. This boy is another victim creating more victims.
7
Obviously this young man was unhinged , now whether he had a racial , political , or mental issue is yet to be determined but he did definitely had an agenda. Two innocent people dead , several injured and his suicide by bomb . Very sad state of affairs for our country , mass shootings , and now bombings , not by foreign born but by our own , speaks volumes .
1
Don't people realize that bombs don't kill people, people do. We need to loosen unconstitutional restrictions around bomb making materials so that law abiding citizens can build their own bombs to protect themselves. None of this would have happened if Fedex employees had been armed with hand grenades.
11
What impresses me about this story and so many recent stories is how violent our nation has become under President Donald Trump. Is this a coincidence, or a direct response to his leadership?
11
It’s very troubling that boys especially at that cusp of leaving their teenage to entering adulthood seem to be inclined towards violence. They are engaged easily by terrorist groups, easily angered and psychotic enough to kill folks who have been a part of their lives. Could it be that we need neuroscientists and endocrinologists exploring changes in brain chemistry at this phase in their lives? It’s like hydra’s head, each time you cut one kid another arises. Surely the time has come to call on scientists to mull the root cause to figure out a solution. The police and the FBI can only protect after the event, let’s be prescient and address the problem scientifically.
3
I have been so impressed with the speed at which investigators are able to locate terrorists, specifically in New York but now in Texas as well. To me it seems like magic; I don't know how they can connect the dots so fast in a city of millions.
1
Sad he was so young, but good work and a shout-out to federal agents and Austin law enforcement.
1
So glad this is over, but I'm confused. I thought bombs were illegal to own. How could this happen? Do they not have strict bomb control measures in Austin?
Obviously, passing a background check and a 3 day waiting period should be required before acquiring a bomb.
1
If this had happened in 1918, it would still be notorious. As it is, it'll be pretty much lost in the crush of like incidents and pushed out of the collective memory by Memorial Day.
2
just when trump was about to go down there and solve the case himself - to run toward the packages.
4
In my opinion, the NY Times has played this just right in being reticent to label the bomber as a terrorist. I believe the definition of terrorism requires a person to be perpetrating violence for some political belief. The article is clear that we don't yet know what motivated this person's horrific and inhumane acts of violence. Once we know more, it may well be that he can be labeled a terrorist, but we should wait until there is clearer information.
I suspect that some commenters will say that the lack of immediate judgment is because the person is white. I'm sure that kind of bias drives the reactions of some people. Which is unquestionably wrong. However, I don't think we correct bad behavior and bias with more bad behavior.
Besides, is the terrorist label the most important thing here? I don't think so. What's most worrisome is that, in America, white men are over-achievers when it comes to mass killings. We need to grapple with that reality.
1
I see many comments as to the NYT not identifying the suspect as a "terrorist". To the contrary, I must commend them for their forbearance in doing so since there is clearly not enough known regarding the motivation or objective of the accused to make that call. Not every multiple of mass killer meets the appropriate definition of being a terrorist. The later requires that the action be planned with the objective of engendering a continuing fear among a define group that the perpetrator has targeted and wishes to terrorize. As such the high school shooter was NOT a terrorist; he was a mass killer. Although it has of course resulted in schools now operating in more fear, that was neither the intent or pre-determined objective of the shooter. It is entirely different than the pre-planned targeted acts of a terrorist whose specifically planned objective is as much to leave a segment of society fearful of future like action as to take the lives of those caught up in the incident.
It may be IF it's found the bombings were targeted at the black community, it was indeed an act of terrorism. But, though initially suspected after the first two incident, that hasn't yet been established as the suspect's intent.
So rather than railing about not immediately IDing the suspect a terrorist, I commend the Time's forbearance in awaiting sufficient information that the person intended to terrorize a specific segment before they do so.
2
MJ from MA asks (below):
"Why are so many making this all about race? It is about murder."
Why?
- Because some people murder other people because of their hatred toward that race.
- Because our country has a very long history of mistreating (including murdering) people because of their race.
- Because in our country we still have many people (including the President) who advocate mistreating people because of their race.
- Because in criminology, understand what motivates someone to commit a crime is an important part of learning ways to prevent future crimes from occuring.
11
Addendum to previous comment--- with correct, pertinent quote;
" 'We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did...' "
I cringe when I hear these words from a law enforcement official, a TV news anchor, or read these sentiments from a correspondent.
Who cares what is someone's motivation to bomb and kill at random unknown multiple victims or to murder at random 17 school students and teachers?
Can there be any rational reason for such heinous deeds?
What is important is to determine what happened and how it happened, to minimize the chances that such awful events will happen to others in the future.
3
Understanding someone's motivations, rational or not, is part of preventing such events.
1
So, Rob, if his "motive" was to gain noteriety or to seek revenge for a perceived wrong, how would that information be used to prevent another serial bombing or mass shooting??
1
Well, here is what we can be sure of. The media and the comments herein will be focused on the motives of the killer, and not the weapons he used. Why? Because he did not use a gun. If he had used a gun, no liberal would care what his motives were, we would just be inundated with a chorus of how the guns, rather than the individual, were responsible for the killing. But now, in typical inconsistent liberal fashion, the focus will not be on the weapon, because it does not fit their agenda.
1
Charles. Of course whenever violence kills people we, liberal or conservative, want to know motive. Nobody here is talking about guns because no guns were involved. I think it is you who have an agenda.
Some commentator have asserted that the Austin bomber hasn’t been labeled a terrorists because he was white. However, authorities have not label the Austin bomber as a terrorist because his motives have not been determined. The FBI defines terrorist acts as acts “perpetrated by individuals and/or groups inspired by or associated with primarily U.S.-based movements that espouse extremist ideologies of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.” If the Austin bomber fit this definition, he will be classified as a terrorist. It has nothing to do with his race. The Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombers were whites classified as terrorists.
2
AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned!
Indeed, a great job by law enforcement, but I think he could and should have specifically given praise to the hundreds of FBI agents in the area. Given his rants and accusations about our FBI I think praise is appropriate for the hard working professionals at the FBI
3
As an Austin resident who happens to live near the March 18th bomb, I felt a great deal of relief when I saw the NPR alert on my phone saying that the suspected bomber had blown himself up. The mood around my office is a lot lighter today than it was yesterday, to say the least. Still, I find something very disturbing about the President of the United States expressing in caps locked glee that a police suspect was dead. I will grant that the suspect being caught with explosives is about as red-handed as someone can be found, but as the chief executive of all law enforcement agencies, I feel the PotUS should at least pretend to care about due process.
4
"A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Mark Anthony Conditt, a 23-year-old white man."
I cringe when I hear these words from a law enforcement official, a TV news anchor, or read these sentiments from a correspondent.
Who cares what is someone's motivation to bomb and kill at random unknown multiple victims or to murder at random 17 school students and teachers?
Can there be any rational reason for such heinous deeds?
What is important is to determine what happened and how it happened, to minimize the chances that such awful events will happen to others in the future.
Home schooled and from a "godly family", but expressing views on a blog that more than hint of intolerance. How many times have we seen this: intolerance that leads to acts of hatred? It is remarkable how many acts of violence seem to be based on religion
9
I may be skewered for saying this but: not every killer is a terrorist. The definition of a terrorist, according to Merriam-Webster is "an advocate or practitioner of terrorism as a means of coercion." That last part is crucial and is the only real reason "terrorist" means something different than "killer of innocents." Terrorists cause terror and violence in the aim or coercion to achieve political or idealogical goals. In the case of Mark Conditt, we don't know his motivations yet, so we shouldn't rush to use that label. Once we find out he's affiliated with a terrorist group or ideology, we shouldn't hesitate.
I agree the media rushes to label people of color as terrorists with incomplete facts, and they don't do that for white people. That's a huge problem. Dylan Roof was clearly a terrorist, inspired by white nationalists that want a white entho-state, but he certainly wasn't portrayed as a terrorist initially (and even now by some).
I don't think the answer is to use the word "terrorist" indiscriminately but to reserve the word for those, regardless of race, that actually fit the definition of the word.
3
Today, we thirst for more information about who this man was, why he decided to kill, whether there were warning signs, who could have prevented it. None of that matters really. There will always be angry, unstable people, yes, mostly men, who act out violently. Searching for them one-by one is not going to catch them all and will probably ensnare many who will never carry out their fantasies anyway. Extreme violence is the tip of he iceberg, when we demonize people who are different ethically, politically, or religiously and this is becoming more common in our society. Individual violence, to resolve personal failure, is legitimized by the use of violence to solve social and political conflicts. Internal anger and personal revenge are legitimized by entertainment of all kinds that celebrates mayhem and destruction. Neither our political nor our religious leaders are doing enough to model tolerance, understanding and non-violence in the conduct of our personal and political affairs. Conditt is the tip of the iceberg, the base includes all of us.
1
While there is still information that is unknown to us about the suspect's motives, it should be noted that the bombing of Black communities by white supremacists in the United States is nothing new. There is an important historical context here that makes the race of the perpetrator something to discuss, especially in the political climate we currently find ourselves in. It may indeed have "been an attack on all Austinites," but...it's also very possible that this was an attack on *particular* communities of Austinites. If so, ignoring these details is grossly irresponsible and will get us no closer to any sort of appropriate resolution.
To many here questioning why this person is not labeled a "terrorist" is because the definition of terrorist is one who terrorizes with political motivation. Perhaps we should call this person a "terrorizer," or better yet, simply change the definition of terrorist to be one simply motivated by the desire to terrorize.
2
Glad to hear that he has been stopped if even by his own actions. And as the authorities said there could still be active devices out there so everyone in Austin take care.
These past days my friends and I have spoken of how sheltered we have been in the US. In many places in the world this type of madness is the norm now not the exception – Particularly in Israel and Turkey, and in places like Peru, Chile, and Mexico in the past.
I have been to these places and the people are incredible, they just keep on keeping on and they don't let their fear overwhelm them. I hope we do the same and come to realize that every single person is part of the fabric of our society and we find more hope and compassion to battle the ugliness which has swept our nation.
Just wondering how informing us that the governor is a Republican furthered the narrative. It seemed irrelevant in this case, and somehow divisive.
2
Statically Insignificant,
I just read the article and it only said he was speaking on Fox News, although most folks know his party, and Fox seems to be the mouthpiece for the GOP.
Just sayin.
News flash. You live in America where EVERYTHING has to be classed this way. Even the dog catcher.
Perhaps an issue that should be explored as information is coming out is the fact the guy was home schooled. This effectively means he was not part of the larger society. Home-schooling enforces a segregation. The background on the guy also suggests that his parents had a lot to do with how he turned out as they had rejected society as well.
8
The article is confusing as to where the suspect lived. First mentions his parent's house. I assumed he lived there. How is it that reporters where at his parents house before law enforcement? Then article says he had 2 roommates. Should we assume that they are not his parents? Did he live in another location from them? Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Bromwich should have been clearer in their reporting. Were they the reporters who arrived at the parents home before officers?
Once again, surveillance video plays a critical role in saving lives. Instead of being paranoid about government cameras, it’s time that we all embraced them. We live in a world where access to sophisticated technology is widely and inexpensively available to all. The knowledge about how to use it to inflict harm no longer takes special training, only a google search. Instead of fighting against municipal video security, we should focus instead on legislating safeguards against abuse. If you really want violent crime brought under control, you need to give law enforcement all of the modern tools it needs. How many lives have been saved in places like London, where video helps to locate bombing suspect before they can strike again? It’s right to worry about government abuse and put numerous safeguards in place. It is also time to realize that the individual has more power to wreak havoc on society then ever before in human history. How we best balance the power we give either, must be continually re-evaluated in the context of unprecedented technological change.
3
Andy says " Instead of being paranoid about government cameras, it’s time that we all embraced them." Ask the citizens of China how that's working for them with the new penalties associated with having a low social credit score.
Anyone who trusts government deserves what he gets, but please don't force it upon others.
We live in a constitutional democracy, nobody is forcing anything upon anyone. Reality is the tech exists and is being deployed by some cities. In addition, many of your neighbors are loading up on cameras. I’m advocating for embracing it and sternly regulating its use. China only happens when citizens don’t have a string constitution with powerful state governments and a powerful, independent judiciary. You can be paranoid if those go away, but there is no sign of that. If it were possible, Trump would have declared himself dictator by now. Instead, his rise to power is only painful as opposed to terminal.
1
There is no one definition of terrorism that everyone agrees on. What's up with all these people talking about "political aim?" It's widely recognized that terrorists also use violence in "pursuit of political, religious, ideological or social objectives." Thanks wikipedia.
This man was methodical in his approach. He obviously planned very carefully, and was a skilled bomb maker. He researched, bought supplies, took time to make a bomb, took time to plan how to get it to its target. He didn't do it on a whim. Whims fade. He had intentions, and if we don't know what they are specifically, it's reasonable to assume it was to terrorize people for political, religious, idealogical, or social reasons.
3
Trump will keep his mouth shut since he is white. Just like the Las Vegas mass murderer who gunned down 58 innocent people and injured 851.
7
Whew! Only a 23 year old white male! Thank god this wasn't terrorism!
12
From this we should learn the lesson that protecting our schools, albeit a sound idea, isn't the single answer. These 'hit-men' will just turn to other targets, be they shopping malls, grocery stores, libraries, music gatherings, public parks, etc. etc. etc. There is NO way to weed out all of these culprits. This story, like so many many before, reveal that there were no fore-warnings to anyone in the perpetrators circle of friends and family. It's a war that there really isn't a way to win. Much like the war on terrorism all around the world. It's like another Viet Nam. I know this sounds somewhat defeatist. But it's a result of the crazy world we've created for ourselves. I'm 71 years old... and I feel sorry for the future generations of our once 'great nation'. And, although guns didn't play a part in this perpetrators arsenal, I still believe much stronger gun control is the best way to start containing this issue.
3
The term 'terrorism' should make it obvious what it means: Any act of instilling fear (terror) of becoming the victim of a targeted (to a specific group or person) or random repeated (!) violence without any means of averting it, qualifies.
In other words, schoolyard bullies who terrorize their victims who cannot escape them because they have to attend school and thus live in fear of being beaten up again the next day also qualify as terrorists. A political motivation is not necessarily required.
In this sense, this bombing series qualifies as terrorism, since the citizens of Austin were helpless in averting the threat and everyone could have been the next victim. By contrast, a direct threat, that can be averted and has no connection to the past or future (repeated danger that cannot be averted or fear of become a victim of the same attack in the future), would not qualify as terrorism, even if it is spectacular or even if it poses a mortal danger.
Thus, acts of violence with an established pattern and the intent or effect of instilling persistent great fear, with or without a political goal, are acts of terrorism. Not surprisingly these days 'terrorism' has become synonymous with political or religious acts of violence and thus the use of the word has also become a tool of attacking, directly or indirectly, those who have a different opinion.
2
The FBI defines terrorist acts as acts “perpetrated by individuals and/or groups inspired by or associated with primarily U.S.-based movements that espouse extremist ideologies of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.” If the Austin bombing turn out to fit this definition, it will be classified as a terrorist. Most murder victims could not escape their killers, but this doesn't make their murders acts of terrorism.
We recently toured the US in an RV, traveling coast to coast and border to border for five years. It was a joy. What was alarming was the number of families we met who caravan the US with children they home school for no other reason than child indoctrination. Science and any religion other than their own are enemies. This story is not surprising. Fundamentalist have lobbied against over see regulations in home school laws for decades. They’ve nurtured a whole generation of malleable minds ready to master .
7
The thing, of course, that should be on everyone's mind is what possible intention this young man's actions could have had. At this point, provided there are no accomplices, it's really all that matters. Aside from a clear lack of empathy for others around him, why do this? If he was radicalized, by what? If it was unfocused terrorism, by what possible motivation?
1
If judged by the heated nature of this comments section one would be forgiven for mistaking the article to which it is attached for an op-ed piece.
While the comments here are a microscopic portion of the discussions being had about the bomber we can still assume that his actions have reignited arguments about race and politics. That so many weighed in on this event, especially politicians, has made these bombings political and thus an act of terrorism whether the bomber meant it to be or not. I was already convinced he had a political motive. Hopefully we will find out exactly what his motives were.
1
This is such a terrible tragedy in so many ways. So much fear, and lives lost. I am grateful that the combined efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies drew this to a swift conclusion.
My thoughts tonight go to the victims and also, to the parents of the young man identified as the perpetrator. He was surely beloved and young and it is so very sad that his life took this wrong turn.
Peace for all affected, and for Austin.
2
I don't think anyone was surprised upon hearing these were acts by a young white male. We will be even less surprised when the usual MAGA, right wing conservative, white supremist, anti liberal feed will be found on his social media and life history. I believe its time to equate America's politics with its terror acts, and admit you have a low, uncultured, white, class problem.
When violence and crime come from the projects or middle east, its a real and urgent problem. When it comes from the good ol' racist down home class, its really not much of anything, officially. People's attitudes and votes, as shown in Nazi era Germany, spur evil onwards politically and socially, and this is exactly what's happening in the USA.
"The first explosions hit African-American residents whose families are well-known in the city’s black community, though two white men were injured by an explosive triggered by a tripwire on Sunday."
Why does the reporter use the word "though" as a conjunction in this sentence? Why are New York Times reporters, editors and other assorted leftists so obsessed with race? Yes, they are the ones who perpetuate racism, especially by being so eager to point out racism that doesn't exist.
White. Male. And yes, a TERRORIST!!
Call it what is actually is, you hypocrites in the media, law enforcement and lawmakers!!!
2
No need for caps, it doesn't make your point. If he had political objectives or a message, then he'd be a terrorist. So far, he isn't.
But white people can sure be terrorists, like Timothy McVeigh and Ted Kaczynski. Famous terrorists, right? Both with political goals, so really there's no problem with labeling white men as terrorists.
That's it! Enough is enough! Deport all muslims! Oops, sorry. I mean Deport all white males under 30!
4
".....a 23-year-old white man"
How come the NYT indicates the criminal's race if they are white ???
1
All media sources indicate the criminal's race, for nearly any crime, whatever their race was. It's how we describe people, like with their age, which is also always stated if it's known.
Edward,
I read "...a 23-year-old unemployed man..." in the article. What article did you read?
The NYT indicates the criminal's race no matter what race they are, same as every other news outlet does.
Time to look at what pathologies within the white family are causing kids from white families to commit these kinds of crimes. I'm waiting for Donald Trump to call for racial profiling of people like Mark Anthony Conditt.
3
The bomber wasn`t muslim. Trump will never condemn it.
2
If this had been an ISIS guy, the whole country would be on lockdown right now. Odd that a white guy with an agenda just can't get the same love. Come on America, bombs in the street, this can't become the new normal. Our President should not be allowed to carry a torch for white hate.
4
He is a Terrorist. The news media need to do its job. Las Vegas,Parkland and now Austin have been attacked by white American Terrorists.
1
In Texas, they are not sending their best (white males to society...)
1
Wow liberals sure do jump on the terrorist label super fast now that they know he's a white guy. I agree that he is a terrorist, but man people sure are jerks in this comment section after they learned that he's a white man.
We will find out this dudes motives soon enough. Everyone seems to have jumped on the racial bandwagon, although my first impression is that this guy is a Unabomber style crazy who just wanted to terrorize people. We will see.
In the meantime, is any liberal going to say good job to the 1500 or so cops that ended this dudes mad killing spree? I mean, these people found, confronted, and caused the end of this bomber. Yet for the first 25 comments I see no one thanking law enforcement, but rather various threads on how evil white men are.
I get the argument. In liberal-land white men are bad and they are the reason that America is bad and the sooner white men go away then the world will be a better place, but at least one comment thanking law enforcement in the first 25 would be nice. I even agree that white men and even men in general have major issues in today's society. As a transgender woman I can say that I'm afraid of heterosexual men, they are so violent and emotionally castrated. In fact, the only man I've ever been with was a muslim black man, and he was so vulnerable and understanding. Yet the focus on this dudes whiteness as like evidence of original sin is pretty creepy. Racializing everything has become pretty creepy, and I hate Trump.
How come Trump isn't ranting about yet another case of "White Male Terrorism!!! ?
1
A suicide bomber. In other words, a terrorist. A home grown, white male terrorist.
1
We need to hurry up and build the wall to keep these terrorists from entering our country.
Oh, sorry. Just learned this guy was white.
1
Another white, Christian terrorist, I'm betting.
Make Rome great again.
1
Are politicians and the media going to describe him as a "Christian terrorist"? Or is the terrorist label just reserved for Muslims?
1
Trump's tweet was... no, not interesting... appalling... yes...
The leader of the free world tweeting in all caps that the suspect is dead.
Who is Trump? How did we end up with such a moron? Does America deserve such an empty minded person to lead her?
Regarding the suspect, thank God he is not a Muslim or an illegal immigrant. Can you imagine what Trump's tweet would have been if the suspect had an Arabic name or was of Spanish background?
A white conservative male!!! Did they find his NRA life membership card?
White male conservatives are getting everything they ideologically desire with the moron in chief in the office. What is their grievances for which they see themselves entitled to kill others? Perhaps why Trump still allows non-white people live in this country?
2
Terrorist
2
White males must think they are black. They are certainly fitting all the stereotypes and projections: impulsive, violent, a wanton disregard for human life. Senseless killings. Perhaps it's an American problem that doesn't belong to any one group--but points to something that underlines its presence and demands new thinking. The old blame has only produced more of the same--and given white males a pass.
Meanwhile, the biggest threat to public safety en mass or in serial, white males, go on pulling triggers--ever again.
16
Also, dear Mr. Rhett,
I know this is angering, but try not to generalize too much. If one considers the greatest threat to be mass shootings, then white males, at 54% of shooters, are less represented than in the overall population. Also the greatest threat to Americans, more than any other factor, is heart disease, for which we can thank fast food, smoking, and lack of exercise, none of which are directly the fault of white men.
You are making light of the problems in Chicago. It makes those problems no better by pretending the problems of other people are just as bad.
"White males must think they are black" Painting with broad strokes gets messy and is predictably inaccurate. I know you're trying to make a larger point but arguing against one stereotype by citing another stereotype is problematic. Especially when describing a deranged, microscopic percentage of the population.
1
I am probably going to get blasted for saying this, but I have read that he was home schooled. I have met countless people who home school and the decision as I understood it was always Fatih based/religious issues and parents trying 'protect and tailor' their children's education to their belief culture systems.
People have free choices, and I am not condemning home school families.
However, without question there is a greater risk for home schooled kids to not get proper and diverse social and cultural exposure and interactions, and perhaps a risk that behavior issues might not be seen as obviously because they are in a tighter group of people much of the time and there is such daily familiarity.
Sometimes it takes the outsiders' more distant and detached perspective to pick up on something, the old line of 'can't see the forest for the trees' concept.
490
From the landmark cross-sectional empirical study: Evidence for Homeschooling: Constitutional Analysis in Light of Social Science Research:
“Several studies found no significant difference in the social skills of homeschooled and non-homeschooled students. Other studies found that homeschooled children score significantly higher on social development rating scales/questionnaires. For instance, one study using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, a well-tested diagnostic tool for measuring communication and daily living skills, found that homeschooled students substantially outperformed traditionally schooled students. The average overall score for the homeschooled children on communication, daily living skills, socialization, and social maturity subscales was at the 84th percentile compared to the 23rd percentile for the traditionally schooled students."
28
Mr. Steve:
Maybe your research should narrow a bit. Out of the larger population of home schoolers, researchers should focus on the subset of parents who homeschool their children for religious reasons. In doing so, we can ascertain how religion affects students' education, not just in the academic subjects, but also on the cultural and social topics and experiences the students would be exposed to, both in and out of the classroom, should they have gone to a public or a private school. Then you would have a better argument for or against Equilibrium's contention.
22
The Unabomber went to Harvard and then taught at MIT.
4
Another example of a criminal who isn't deterred by the death penalty, in fact inflicting it on himself.
69
Good ... saved us the expense.
How can you deter someone by the death penalty if he/she actually wants the death penalty, as is evidently the case here.
This is not the example you think it is.
1
"Another example"? What are the previous examples in the US?
1
danger to self and others ... duty to warn ... need for involuntary mental health evaluation ...
What is it about white guys that is causing all these kinds of problems, like the prevalence of white-on-white crime, high levels of heroin overdoses, and white fathers that aren't a part of their child's life? Why aren't the leaders of the white community issuing condemnations of this kind of behavior? Also, a lot of these guys are Christian, and we haven't heard Christian leaders standing up and condemning terrorists, so I think we should be investigating all churches for their support of terrorists in their midst. Or maybe it's the country music that they all seem to like that often celebrates defiance of authority, and we should be keeping a close eye on fans of Luke Bryan. Or maybe it's video games, movies, and television that are created by white people for entertaining other white people that glorify criminal activity and violence, like Breaking Bad or Deadpool.
What? Everything I just said would be totally acceptable if the bad guy had been any other color.
904
Ah I see.... so the crisis in black families is a big made up racist lie? Black on Black crime is really just a racist fabrication. You know, idiotic posts like this make me want to wretch
1
I think you should study some crime stats my dude
3
Perhaps it's due to a perceived sense of privilege, and the fear of losing that privilege.
4
Who are the victims? And what have their identities been kept under wraps? Are they black?
19
you haven't been paying attention, have you.
The Times reported as recently as two days ago that the two murder victims were black and the injured woman was Hispanic.
Victims and their names are widely found; identities are available.
This white man was targeting black people. One does not have to torture the meaning of terrorist to identify this man as a terrorist, regardless of how the New York Times or New American Foundation might define terrorism. The city of Austin was, in fact, in a state of terror. Why quibble when the truth is so apparent? If an Arab American were to target whites or Jews or no one specific group the Times would have speculated about terrorism and Fox would have already declared that he must have been a terrorist. It places us in danger to deny that there are angry white people committing mass killings and terrorist acts here in the US because of the same irrational fear that every demented killer harbors in his mind, regardless of politics, color or nationality. Call it what it is, or just stop labeling people as terrorists altogether and call them all mass murderers.
145
Three of the five victim were white and two were black. One of the three white victims was Hispanic.
1
Two of the five victims were Caucasian and one was Hispanic
1
You may want to remember that those going over the trip wire were white. So your racist theories are once again incorrect.
1
Mr. President, we are ready when you are to call out Mark Anthony Conditt as a domestic terrorist.
234
This guy is clearly a domestic terrorist, though at this point he seems to have had no ideology, as for example Islamic terrorists do.
So since this is clear, why do you need Mr. Trump to say so?
1
The FBI will make a determination on whether the bombings qualify as terror attacks.
1
No, I believe the president called him one of the "very fine people" he mentioned during the Charlottesville riots
1
Until the Austin bomber’s motives are determine, we won’t know if the incidents qualify as terrorist attacks or hate crimes. However, many commentators are promoting the false racial stereotype that whites are responsible for most hate crimes. Whites (including Hispanics) make up 76.9 percent of the population, but they make up only 46.3 percent of hate crime offenders.
According to the 2016 FBI Hate Crime Report: “In 2016, race was reported for 5,770 known hate crime offenders. Of these offenders:
◾46.3 percent were White.
◾26.1 percent were Black or African American.
◾7.7 percent were groups made up of individuals of various races (group of multiple races).
◾0.8 percent (46 offenders) were Asian.
◾0.8 percent (45 offenders) were American Indian or Alaska Native.
◾0.1 percent (7 offenders) were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
◾18.1 percent were unknown.”
Hispanics are an ethnic group, not a racial group. They can be of any race or combination of race. The FBI classifies most Hispanic Americans as white. 2016 is the most recent year for which statics are available.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016/topic-pages/offenders
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/BZA010215
16
Are you including African Americans ahoy by police?
3
What if this was a brown Muslim man with a beard perpetrating these crimes, would you be so eager to throw statistics at us then?
2
It is not required that jurisdictions report any crime to the National Database. They don't classify all crimes and certainly not hate crimes. Why do you think so many people are not on the ATF Registry and can get weapons even though they've committed crimes. Your statistics are cherry-picked by the (non)-reporting towns, cities & states.
4
If this isn't terrorism, I don't know what is.
90
Then, no offense, you don't know what terrorism is.
Here's the definition: "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims".
No political aims, as far as we know, so thus far it is just murder and suicide.
1
I guess you don't know what terrorism is then.
You really cannot see the difference between this and Al Queda or ISIS? Really? I think this desire to impugn the concept of terrorism is idiotic.
Good job by the Austin PD.
40
Ah ha. So its a white guy. Nothing to worry folks. Some misguided youth. Alls well & we are safe & no need to go ahead & bomb some country to pulp
128
You have taken all the fun out of being an American.
1
So, mass shootings are not enough; we have a angry white male setting off bombs in a short run of domestic terrorism. Let's not connect the dots between discontented white Americans who have been educated to blame minorities, immigrants and others for the lost of the American dream. Our country's wealth has been stolen and this is the results.
143
We don't yet know if the Austin bomber was angry or what he was angry about? He might have thought planting bombs was fun.
10
If he thought they were fun, he would have put them in his own neighborhood. But he didn't. He mailed them to black families that were prominent in the local church community.
1
You're the fellow who is denying that most hate crimes are committed by whites. ALL hate crimes are being committed by working class whites without an education or wherewithal to understand and/or ameliorate the changes in society affecting them.
1
Congratulations should be sent out to all the law enforcement agencies that were responsible for catching this evil young man. They are responsible for preventing more deaths and carnage in this great state. Texas strong is stronger than ever.
24
People in Austin and elsewhere should still be very careful about opening unidentified packages for the next few weeks -- who knows if this terrorist mailed any more before blowing himself up today. What a terrible crime.
15
We do not know this killer's motives so it is too soon to call him a terrorist. He is definitely a very deranged, disturbed and angry young man. Let's let the facts come out during this investigation before coming to conclusions. Yes, the people in Texas need to be extra careful when dealing with any suspicious packages.
Texas cultivated this evil young man. No permit or license needed to purchase a gun. Open racism is common. Home of the $30,000 millionaire. 12th highest poverty rate in the country. 37th-ranked education system. Texas strong? Not so much.
While this President condemns sanctuary cities, rails against immigrants calling them rapists, murderers, and "bad hombres" and while he excoriates the FBI the most recent acts of terrorism and mass murder were committed by home-grown, young white males. We have come to expect nothing less from Trump and his supporters in the House and Senate who overwhelmingly sit silently, their lack of courage and morality nothing less than their complicity and assent in eroding the values on which this country was founded.
145
What do you suggest that the Federal Government do in response to this serial bombing episode?
It seems that most NYT commenters do not know the definition of "terrorism" and are more interested in labeling white men as terrorists even when they are not acting in a politically motivated manner (still to be determined in the Austin bombings).
[T]he term 'terrorism' means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents
27
its too soon - its too soon
7
Perhaps. But let's be honest: if he were brown and Muslim, there would be little hesitation to use the term terrorism. Think about that.
113
so, if it is proven that he was targeting african americans, what then?
10
Strange. None of the media or government officials are referring his bombings as acts of terrorism or him as a terrorist. Is that because he is white and non-Muslim?
99
yes
16
No, it is because they have not determined his political motivations.
Don't jump to conclusions.
20
Of course
7
Thank you to the FBI and police. You got to the guy pretty quickly in my book.
And let me take this opportunity to note that while our Prez is busy twittering about the ineptitude of the FBI, and the scariness of illegal immigrants, and how wonderful Putin is..the real good work is being done by hardworking people in the FBI and police force, and the harm is being done by angry white guys. What's scary is how out of touch our Prez is and now we're finding out that he was elected by stirring up people's emotions so that they would vote for him. Disgusting.
338
"now we're finding out that he was elected by stirring up people's emotions so that they would vote for him" - Um, many of us are not just now finding that out.
2
Outstanding! Thank you
Trump's tweet is disgusting.
84
We should never celebrate the death of another human, no matter what crimes that person committed. We should mourn that he felt compelled to do what he did and determine to create a world where such actions are found in the history books.
Consider the source...the man himself is disgusting.
1
At least he finally said ANYTHING about it...
yep, that little crumb needs encouraged Sad!
The definition of terrorism, as my students see it, is anything that instills fear, and possibly injury to others. Did the person in question instill fear and kill people? Then he's a terrorist, who happens to be a white male. White is a color too. A white male is the terrorist in this case.
120
No, terrorism incudes political or ideological motivations. Just instilling fear didn't make Ted Bundy a terrorist. Your students need to be educated.
19
There is a specific, defined, and well constructed definition in federal statutes, making terrorism a term that officials should use with care, lest they impact criminal prosecutions. In general conversation, one might use the word but journalists should stick to the words used by the officials they report on.
@Anonimo: If the specifically targeted victims (as they were in the first few bombings) are all members of a minority group, why wouldn't we rightfully deduce a political or ideological motivation?
How about some NRA "reasoning" applied to the situation:
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a bomb is a good guy with a bomb.
Bombs don't kill people, people kill people.
137
Well Said!
6
Everyone stop making sweeping generalizations about bomb-makers. Dont let the bad ones tarnish the many good ones.
1
Unfortunately, this seems to be confirmation that the so-called "Coulter's Law" has some truth to it. When the attacker is white, his picture is posted immediately, and if there's no picture, then his race is bluntly stated in the headline. If the attacker isn't white, if he's black, Hispanic, Arab or whatever, then it usually takes a day or two for a description to appear.
I'm not trying to stir the pot, and if anyone has any evidence to prove I'm wrong, then please post it. It just seems...odd.
16
its a deep deep - deep state -
2
You’re the one making the claim. How about YOU provide some proof?
13
I have noticed just the opposite.
26
I notice a lot of "recommend" love going out to people who mention "right wing white males" as a dominating aspect of terror murders. In fact, as of right now we don't know if this is terrorism. According to New America Foundation, the non-partisan think tank that gave you the headline by the New York Times on June 24, 2015: “Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Jihadists in U.S. Since 9/11,” there were 9 Jihadist terror killings last year, and 6 right-wing terror killings. In fact, if the New York Times did headline today using the same New American Foundation stats, they would have to flip that headline and write, “Jihadist Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Homegrown Right-Wing Extremists in U.S. Since 9/11.” That is because Islamic extremism is in fact ahead on the kill board 103 to 70 as I write this. But we don't have those headlines. And we we don't have a common and rational understanding in this country of threats to our general safety, whereas terrorism-related deaths are really quite rare, at .1% of our annual homicides.
At times like these, a commitment to facts and context is the responsible position that newspapers like the New York Times should hold. The same goes to any reader who wants to be intellectually honest.
SOURCE: https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/terrorism-in-america/what-threat-uni...
13
Los Vegas doesn’t apply to body count? Hoe is that?
4
Your source does not say any of that.
7
Thank you for this source. According to mediabias/factcheck.com, New America is least biased and highly factual. Hurray...another good source!!!
3
How is a serial bomber that terrorized a major city not called a terrorist?!
69
Why is it important ?
1
Because we do not know at this time if he was a terrorist.
2
Because White Men who terrorize Americans are not called Terrorist!
10
Obviously not a terrorist but a "mentally disturbed individual". SAD!
15
Mass murderers are terrorists. They are both mentally disturbed individuals. If they weren't, they would not be indiscriminately killing people.
A terrorist is someone who disrupts and endangers civilian life. This guy was a terrorist, whether or not our President, his minions and followers call him that or even accept it. Everyone in Austin was terrified of becoming the next victim.
Thank goodness for the FBI which continues to carry out its mission in spite of chronic attacks by their Commander in Chief.
Obvious based on what?
Why is the NYT releasing his name?? Get that off of here. We need to stop giving these people what the want: notoriety.
9
He's dead. What notoriety is he going to get?
8
what? and censure the press?
8
The notoriety is what will inspire the next white male terrorist to attempt to best this fear of murder. It’s actually a well known phenomenon. Copy cat killers often idolize those that went before them . Some even write fan boy letters to
Those mass shooters and bombers who survive to go to prison. Especially true of people who
Kill celebrities
4
Funny how no major news sources are showing his picture.
How much do you want to bet if he was not white, we would be looking at the most angry, damning looking photos possible of the person.
16
Washington Post has his photo.
8
I just googled him: white kid without expression. Photo was from his Facebook page.
2
Fox News has shown his picture a couple of times. The "supposedly" right-wing station was not hesitant to display his photo. Fair and balanced news at its best.
With all respect friends, at this point we P’Villians couldn’t care less about the political motives of this tragedy. We’re just breathing a sigh of relief. Time will sort out the rest. Thanks to all of the law enforcement folks. Helluva job, y’all.
372
What is a P'Villian?
1
Smartly stated Mr. Reha. Could not agree more. Finally being able to breath a sigh of relief must be huge for you folks! And, all of the law enforcement folks did one "helluva job!"
4
Someone from/in Pflugerville.
4
Folks, look up the definition of 'terrorist'. A serial killer is not a terrorist.
A terrorist is:
a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
21
Sounds to me the definition needs to be amended then, because this man was clearly a terrorist.
4
A serial killer can be a terrorist. Terrorism refers to the motive--as you point out--and serial to the method--one person at a time, sequentially. So someone with a political motive--who has been radicalized--who kills one person at a time could be a reiall killing terrorist.
10
Which is what he did!
4
Don't see the fact that every single piece of mail entering the USPS is photographed. Maybe that is why FEDEX?
6
Imagine if this man was a registered DACA person. I suspect the President would’ve been condemning the entire program and wanting to build an even taller wall.
81
Yes ...
Perhaps we should deport every P'villian ("That's a joke, boy.")
Fantastic work by law enforcement including the FBI, ATF, Texas Rangers, Austin Police and others.
65
Reading the reader's picks comment today leads me to believe there must be a whole bunch of Facebook newsfeed propaganda wondering why the media is not calling this guy a terrorist. It's almost as if an invisible signal went out: BE MAD about the word TERRORIST this morning. What in the world is going on with that?
16
Partisans just want white males labled as terrorists whether it fits or not. If this person were other than a white male the reporting would be slow in identification. We haven’t been provided the details as to this persons motives yet. You can bet that if he can be tied to a right wing group, it will be reported quickly. If not, we won’t hear much about him.
5
They don't realize the word "terrorist" applies to political motivation. They just apply it to anything that happens.
Take note, Mr. Trump.
The FBI, that you malign and condemn, helped this terrorist be caught.
Shame on you for not pointing that out.
174
+1
3
Now we have to acknowledge them for doing their job we pay them to do? For the record, Trump didn’t criticize the entire organization, just the corrupt political players at the top.
The president has been very careful NOT to malign the rank and file of the FBI, only the top leadership who made politically motivated decisions.
The media might be pussyfooting around the definition of this heinous act...the law enforcement might be hesitant to define it...they can twist themselves into pretzels to avoid saying it...but we know for certain what is...domestic terrorism. period. Austin residents were terrorized by a white male terrorist.
116
Wrong, since there were no apparent political motivations. Terrorism has this definition: "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims". Try to use words in the manner that other people speaking this language use them.
Thank you to the FBI and local law enforcement.
40
Yes, great job!
Now back to Trump!
6
Now will follow coverage of the killer's motivation, which encourages more fame-seeking slaughter. I don't believe it matters to these unbalanced people whether they live or die in the act, as long as their name is splashed across public consciousness.
8
Absolutely! “Splashed across public consciousness” is key to the fear or confidence we hold for the future of our communities. Given that our collective goal is safe communities where all flourish, we would not sensationalize atrocities.
Glad to know he was identified and the folks in austin are safe. Nice town with the big rock hill that people climb nearby.
2
I just have to say that "the big rock hill" part of your comment made me laugh out loud. Lots of hills--with rocks, around here. I'm guessing you're thinking Enchanted Rock?
No snark, insult, anything like that. You just hit my funnybone.
Wasn't there just a made for tv movie about the unibomber? So inspiring for the unhinged members of the populace whose hatred and violence is encouraged by our bankrupt political leaders. It will be interesting to see which of the bugaboos this guy was worked up about.
8
I was just reading his blog (apparently part of a communications assignment at the community college he dropped out of) and he appears to be a pro-life conservative, but not immediately apparent as an extremist from his posts. These posts are several years old however. A lot can happen to derange a young man's thoughts/emotions in a very short period...as we've seen...
No reaction from the president when the bombs killed innocent people. The glee over the death of the suspect is disturbing. Is this 2018?
39
Yep, that pretty much describes 2018 to a t.
3
It was no fault of the police that they could not capture the suspect alive, but it may have helped the investigation, eg, to know his motivation and especially to know if there are accomplices or others who may have been involved still at large. The president obviously does not think strategically.
Would it be asking too much of the Times to stop posting the President's tweets? Reproducing them cuts off the story in which they are tossed. Why do we have to read his comments in the body of the story and then also see the Twitter box? It's pointless duplcation.
Frankly, why does he feel the need to comment on every single thing that happens in the world? In this one, he panders to law enforcement because he thinks erroneously that he's going to prevent the GOP election debacle that's coming in November.
The Times should only print official White House statements about policy or Presidential opinion. The President's meanderings on Twitter are not official WH policy.
76
I absolutely agree about not cutting and pasting tweets. If an article quotes a tweet, there is no reason to show the tweet. When reporters quote a source, we have always expected that they do so accurately. We do not ask for a link to an audio tape of the interview. Many news outlets now paste in the tweet. It's superfluous and cheesy. We all know what a tweet looks like.
1
No, but Trump's tweets are statements from the President of the United States. I agree with your point about duplication within articles, but ignoring them is perilous.
Your first point is about pointless duplication. It is not pointless. It pointedly abuses readers’ patience and is designed to convince the sleepy that the article must be important because elongated, appearing like a children’s story but lacking intelligence of great and substantial children’s literature. Duplication identifies Times’ hip writers who do not think to serious purpose, though count words. Your second point queries the unfocus of the president, a different issue in one way, showing that the president does not think to serious purpose. The absence of serious purpose is apparent at once. Your third point is whether printing even one reading wastes space. That raises issues benefiting Democrats. One appreciates that.
Wants to cause terror = would-be terrorist
Causes terror = terrorist
Part of organization espousing terrorism = (name of organization) terrorist
Likes terrorist organization = (name of organization) inspired terrorist
Part of similar organization = (name of org) affiliated terrorist
Religiously inspired = (religion adjective) terrorist
Disgruntled loner = lone wolf terrorist
Pile on adjectives as necessary: lone wolf Christian terrorist, Islamic state terrorist, etc. count. Diagnose. Assess. Treat. Prevent. Repeat.
10
The article says, "“We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did,” said the Austin police chief, Brian Manley."
I have a suggestion. Austin is the ONLY city in Texas that protects dreamers. That infuriates The Con Don, his AG Jeffrey Sessions and their brethren lawmakers - chiefly esteemed governor Greg Abbott, who has threatened to pull funding from Travis County where Austin is located if Austin doesn't cave.
This is domestic terrorism and I'd bet my last dollar the bomber, and any accomplices, are influenced and/or paid for by the same Robber Barons who got The Con Don elected.
They will stop at nothing to achieve their demented goal of destroying The United States as we have known it since Teddy Roosevelt busted the trusts and FDR/Elanor Roosevelt put the bones of a strong social safety net in place after the Robber Barons of that time caused the stock market crash and during the "great" depression they created.
The only good to come of the horrid-depression was a strong social safety net with worker's protection. The Con Don and his Robber Baron brethren want to destroy it with hate-anger-fear mongering.
The bomb maker was military. OUR hard-earned taxpayer dollars paid him to learn to make bombs and now he used his "knowledge" against us? What's wrong with this picture?
WE THE PEOPLE are the only ones who will/can stop The Con Don and his Robber Baron brethren. NOW is the time.
94
Dear Njglea,
You are incorrect. Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are all sanctuary cities. If you want your posts to be taken seriously you should get your facts straight. As to the motive of this individual, it may have been racially motivated, but we don't know that yet. The victims included African Americans, Hispanic and whites so it is not clear that race was the sole motive here.
17
Thank you, gpickard. I'm glad to hear of the others. When I checked locations of sanctuary cities yesterday there was one tiny green dot on the map and it was Austin.
4
The white victims were the result of a trip wire detonation....the bomber was 'probably' looking for a different target. HOWEVER, the bombs that he PLACED were directly AT non-white homes etc. Seems pretty clear to me who his targets were....
12
Terrorism is push back from losers in a winner take all society.
Get comfy, it ain't going away.
74
Given that half of everybody is below average in something - money, education, brains, looks, ambition, sanity - and some of those metrics don’t completely overlap, 80% of us could be right dangerous.
Well said.
1
What on God's green earth is wrong with men? Young men who shoot up schools and can't take rejection, older men that assault and kill those unlike themselves, as well as their wives and girlfriends? What is wrong? Society, testosterone, social media? Racism, misogyny? Anger is not abnormal, wanting to destroy others is. I am not generalizing that ALL men commit violence, but they do commit the majority. There's a huge difference between everyday frustrations of life and blowing people away. It's a sickness. It's a moral rot, and it deserves much more attention. Guns are the vehicle for the rage and as such need to be strictly regulated, whether your 2nd Amendment entitlements are offended or not. It's a start anyway. I'm glad this guy was stopped-good job law enforcement.
297
It's biology, to a large extent. And our society. But without testosterone we wouldn't reproduce.
We are set up as a winner take all society terrorists are the losers, just pushing back.
I believe it's largely though not fill die to our entitlement abs victimization mentality. Things are tough? It's not your fault and someone owes you for it. Low income job or unemployed? It's not your fault and someone owes you for it. Opioid addiction? It's not your fault and someone owes you help.
5
You said it, sister!
5
Trump praised the FBI for this, but shows inappropriate highly personal put downs in many other domains. He also dodges the likely racist intent of this domestic terrorist. No trillion dollar wall protects Americans from this edge of his base, newly emboldened by Trump’s parsing of civil clarity.
While wise to await a completed investigation, concern can be expressed for school shootings and domestic terrorists with bombs.
18
Law enforcement has not yet determined the motivations of this killer, so describing him as a "terrorist" as a foregone conclusion is jumping to conclusions. Let the information, the facts, play out.
"Likely racist intent" is an assumption that no respectful detective would ascribe to a criminal action. Professionals have done a great job here. You don't know better, so let them do their work. Thanks.
4
Apparently everyone gets a personal put down, with the exception of Vladimir Putin of course.
Great job by law enforcement.
23
Trump will most likely regard the reporting of the race/color of this bomber as a white man as fake news. He will be deeply disappointed to learn that it was not a black, hispanic or Muslim immigrant. Watch for a tweet soon.
35
To the Editors:
Overall a very informative article. Thank you.
However, why did you feel it was necessary to include Trump's tweet? It added no information of importance. I see this in a lot of articles. Why does he get all this extra free publicity? I suggest you consider only quoting Trump when it's an article in which he is actually concerned, as one of the participants.
thank you.
349
Ummm… maybe because the President has encouraged those who feel marginalized in our pluralistic society to react with violence?
8
Those tweets are included as credibility backup for the Times itself, to potentially defend itself against "fake news" arguments from whevever. And also to allow The Reader -- us -- to make up our own minds when we read such nonsense. Otherwise, who would believe this?
4
I think it shows very effectively his hypocritical and opportunistic nature. He blasts the FBI when he thinks it's politically expedient and then praises it when he thinks it's politically expedient. Extremely dangerous mechanisms undertaken by an incredibly insecure and frightened man.
7
A lot of people are jumping to the conclusion that this murderer was a terrorist, including a NYT pick comment or two, but this is incorrect.
I'm not saying that because he's white. Plenty of white terrorists out there, like Kaczynski, McVeigh, Roof, and so on. But terrorism has to be violence done with a political goal, and this guy apparently had no political goal.
Now, if the investigation reveals he left a manifesto stating he did all this for the cause of white supremacism, or to further the Basque separatist resistance, or anything like that, then he'll be accurately tagged a terrorist. But not every crazed murderer is a terrorist, don't glorify what this guy did by giving him more importance than he should have.
21
If you terrorize people, as happened to residents of Austin, you are a terrorist.
Acts of random killing terrorize people.
30
Why give anyone the 'promotion' to terrorist? They're all just murderers, whether the motive is religious, rage, misogyny, political, etc.
8
"This guy apparently had no political goal"
We'll see about that! The fact that he was targeting blacks and Hispanics would suggest otherwise.
11
When will the Trump administration acknowledge this act of domestic terrorism by a white perpetrator?
22
Why is this domestic terrorism???
7
Because the placement of bombs to sow confusion and fear is pretty much the definition of terrorism. Since the perpetrator was a US citizen and the crime was committed in the US, it is a case of domestic terrorism.
The motive is unclear at this time, but the act itself can clearly be labeled.
"Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to cover ""domestic,"" as opposed to international, terrorism. A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act "dangerous to human life" that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. Additionally, the acts have to occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and if they do not, may be regarded as international terrorism." I would say that when authorities discourage people from leaving their homes, that qualifies as "intimidation."
Why are so many making this all about race? It is about murder.
20
The targeted murder of black folks by a white man. Definitely race-related.
15
Two white men lost their lives from this evil young man. He did not discriminate against whites any more than he did against blacks. He targeted the human race regardless of color.
3
And the random attacks on two white people walking down a public street are not included in your professional analysis?
5
The more we, as Americans, continue to use race as a dividing point when discussing criminals and mental health issues, the more destructive our society will become. The color of your skin doesn't change the quality of your character. We have a lot of issues to work on and continuing to allow the press, political parties, a Black President or a White President, or anyone else shape your views on societal issues based on skin color is shameful and only exacerbates the problem. Don't give these criminals power by allowing them to blame their criminal behavior and mental sickness on race relations. These criminals like to believe they have a cause, so take that away from them by calling them "mentally sick" because that's what they are. If you have never befriended a fellow American that has a different color skin then your ... what does that say about you. What are you afraid of. Why have you let the someone else shape your perceptions of people who look different than you. Get to know your neighbor, then judge them on their merits as a person (not as a skin color) and let them do the same. We Americans always have a choice. We can be part of the problem or part of the solution...and most people in this threat who are bringing up race, unfortunately are part of the problem, because they are giving this mentally sick individual more power than he would ever have earned in his shameful life.
18
We live in a society that institutionalized racism and segregation. Is this completely erased? No, I don't think so. Until it is, ignoring it is just another way to perpetrate it.
Folks, "terrorism" has a specific legal definition. I suggest some of you learn it. Random or serial acts of violence may or may not be acts of terrorism. It depends on the motivation.
Hacking a computer network can be an act or terrorism ... or espionage ... or vandalism ... or burglary ... all depending on intent.
The same applies to many crimes.
Remember the Beltway sniper attacks in 2002? The shootings were done by a black man and a black teenager. The crimes were not considered terrorism, but simply murder.
The Oklahoma City bombing by a white man, on the other hand, was considered terrorism. It had to do with McVeigh's motivation.
22
If the intent is to cause terror, that should be considered terrorism with no further explanation required.
2
Ah, this whole questions reminds me of the debate over what is obscenity. So the Invasion of Iraq by the Bush Administration can finally be called an act of terrorism, right? Thanks for clarifying.
2
The Beltway Sniper attacks may have been prosecuted as murders, but the intent was terrorism, and, if memory serves, the Capital area was indeed terrorized.
The suspect wasn't Muslim and wasn't an immigrant from Latin America or South America.
What will Trump blame?
49
CNN.
8
All the bomb-free zones in this country. The only thing that can stop a good guy with a bomb is a bad guy with a bomb.
7
Please explain your point.
2
Why are so many disaffected white males turning to violence to express their sentiments? While we don't, as yet, know all the details in this particular situation, the fact that this young man stooped to wearing a disguise to send these bombs through a delivery service is very, very telling.
He apparently wanted to inflict the maximum amount of carnage and was willing to take risks and die to accomplish this goal. I want to know why it is easier to kill or maim others than it is to take responsibility for your own shortcomings, lack of proper education, mental illness or death wish?
21
Waiting for the feckless governor to say something about how all of this could have been avoided had everyone in Texas been armed with an assault weapon.
34
Actually in this case, it could all have been avoided if everyone in Texas carried around their own bomb.
49
Good job! Bad guy couldn't cover his tracks.
4
Is this white man bomber not a terrorist? Or do we just reserve that incendiary term for Muslims and Arabs, and other people of color?
Why are the GOP, Trump and media not calling this white man a terrorist?
20
Because we don't know the motive yet. Period. Give it a few nanoseconds before indulging pet political gripes.
22
Agree.
3
We don't know the man's political motivations. That is why.
5
Why is the apparent "race" of the deceased former suspect included in the New York Times article?
13
The majority of the people hurt appear to be African-Americans. Gee, I wonder why. Perhaps it was just a coincidence.
12
There was potential racial motivation behind the bombings, hence the race of the deceased suspect is relevant.
16
Because he targeted and killed a bunch of Black and Hispanic people!
6
Great to know it was a 'white man' , NYT. Be sure to include the race of the perp across all races and ethnicities.
19
They do. In every single case
6
As soon as it's known, they actually do. Race is of paramount importance to Americans, so we always get informed when some shooter or bank robber has been established as being some particular race.
4
If the Times only did it consistently, and particularly with respect to street crime, this white man would have no objection. As it is, though, it appears that race and gender only matter out of the gate when the alleged perp is a male person of pallor.
Congratulations to the Austin police and to the FBI who, despite being constantly attacked by our criminal president, continue to do the job we hired them to do.
But this might not be over yet. We don't know Mr. Conditt's motives or whether he was part of a group. Until that is ruled out, vigilance must continue.
116
I would be surprised to find he was part of a group. The article mentioned that he was home schooled which would make it likely he suffered social isolation. Social isolation seems common among these young white males who shoot up public places.
I am no great expert on crime, but I did cover crime news for a major U.S. newspaper, and my own private judgment is that this guy had help from somewhere. I hope greatly that I am wrong and this was a one-off deal, because if not there will be more of this. And let's not be naive, either. There may very well have been a political motive to this. The haters in our midst who want to destroy the real world we live in--the real world that God loves, according to the scriptures--such people are never satisfied to be done. They are active, malicious and determined. They will done only when they get the reward of death which they seek so eagerly to impose on others. Then, finally, how can we be satisfied to listen to a President praise law enforcement when he himself is doing every thing he can to discredit the chief law enforcement officers of his own country?
68
He’s discrediting the corrupt. Not the incorrupt.
2
Nonsense.
Trump is discrediting those not deemed loyal to him.
He is interfering with, and obstructing the due process of justice.
It is Trump who is bigly corrupt, and always has been.
14
It's just not enough to describe this behavior as evil, as much as I'd like to. We need to understand how it goes deeper than that, because it does. I'm not sure these people feel that there's a choice. I doubt they woke up one morning thinking "I'm going to go kill some people." Chances are, they grew up with anger, sadness, and abuse and that's all they know and that's how they respond to the bumps in their roads. I'm not trying to give them a pass. I'm just trying to get the conversation to a more helpful place. The threat of jail/punishment is not a deterrent because they're already in a kind of punishing jail. The only relief is death. It's really sad. So how can we move the discussion forward to figure out this problem because it's getting worse!
We are so relieved that this hatred is coming to a close. I am so proud of the FBI and all the other law enforcement agencies that worked together to solve this. I hope Trump takes notice and gives credit where is credit is do. However, I will not hold my breathe waiting for him to take notice. Now we can start to pick up the pieces and move forward.
17
Trump is quick to propose violence as the response to pretty much anything he doesn't like. I think it's because he is fundamentally a fearful person. He imagines himself as strong and victorious, while most see him as a classic bully.
3
that "fear" word covers cowards. Ellen Gilchrist, the author, was quoted sometime ago as saying she had never seen fear so "respectable." The Republican Party is always ''afraid" of something. They carry guns and complain. The prisons are full of criminals who were "afraid' of someone, Donald Trump is a coward... and by definition, cowards never overcome fear...they either run or have delusions of grandeur.
o
While there is general relief that this sad and horrible episode has come to an end, in this sad world of ours we each seek to reconcile ourselves that this young man does not look like us. But it is deeply troubling that such evil lurks among us - and why does it happen? Why would a young man in a developed country need to seek this pathway? Why is that he feels he does not have any opportunity or guidance? What drove him to this end? We have to seek answers to these questions - because we need to solve these problems.
21
We are in a so-called "developed' country, but some are not "developed." And maybe few of us are "developed" if the definition is how to live with our fellow human beings.
All of them.
So a pertinent question is, what is "development?" We really have to question this.
2
Sridhar, your comment is well taken but, unfortunately, in the U.S. only the attack and the politics-of-the-day are newsworthy. The media is only interested in riveting headlines, and readers just wait for the next shock. We live from headline to headline it seems.
Federal and state law enforcement, as usual, quietly doing their jobs to the best of their abilities in saving lives and keeping us all safe, while Trumpo does the opposite on a daily basis.
106
Very relieved this horror seems to be over. Now, if we can marshal our efforts to combat the every day terror elicited by gun violence - over 3,000 people killed by guns in this country in 2017 alone.
33
Sure, but a correction: must have been over 30,000 people killed by guns here in 2017. 2/3rds of them, as usual, would have been suicides, but that's still over 10,000 gun homicides here.
Actually, there were over 15,000 people killed by guns un the US in 2017, and that does not include suicides.
People don't seem to understand. We generally use the word 'terrorism' and 'terrorist' to describe attacks on innocent people motivated by religious extremism. That's why we called the Boston Bombers, who were white, terrorists. But we didn't call the Houston police shooter, who was black, a terrorist. So hopefully this should clear things up. Summary: The label of terrorism has nothing to do with race, rather it's determined by the motive.
14
Terrorism involves both motive & method. Slaughtering innocent civilians is how terror becomes globalized
4
Yes, some people don't seem to understand, and I think you should count yourself among them. Here are a couple of dictionary definitions of terrorism: "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims"; "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion". Terrorism is not in the least limited to religious motivations. As of yet, we apparently don't know the motivation of the bomber(s); maybe it will emerge upon further investigation. Maybe there was no motivation beyond insanity. However, certainly the apparent randomness of these bombings, without any known motive of revenge or aid of some other crime (e.g., bank robbery) entitles us to think of them as acts of terror, because due to their randomness that is certainly what they inspired.
1
I think the definition you suggest is insufficient to cover 'terrorism'. You say it is only religiously-motivated extremism, but Webster's Dictionary defines it as the 'use of force or threats to demoralize, intimidate, and subjugate, esp. such use as a political weapon or policy'.
Using religion as a definitive component is problematic because (in the USA) 'religiously-motivated extremism' is statistically most likely to mean Islamist violence, to the exclusion of other forms of terrorism - neo-Nazi, Klan, leftist, you name it - which are not religiously motivated but are still political violence. Constraining the definition thus equates to a de facto and exclusive synonymising of Islamist violence with the term 'terrorism', which is at odds with the fact that although most religiously-motivated terrorism in the US is Islamist, most terrorism in America overall is not.
This has toxic effects: the public is much more willing to countenance the state abusing the civil and human rights of individuals (IE, torture) and communities (mass surveillance) linked to 'terrorism' than to either hate crimes or 'lone wolf' attacks despite their identical outcomes. Further, it limits our ability to see acts such as LGBTQ-phobic or racial violence through the (I would argue) justifiable lens of terrorism because they aren't 'religious'. The result is a skewed and racialised public perception of terrorism, which 'others' American Muslims and generates unbalanced and unfair policy.
1
Another Unibomber whose terrorism went unnoticed and unmentioned by the president. He didn't mention the man's race or religion. The president should address these killings as dangerous to Americans and school children as are guns and bombs. How many copycats out there did this person inspire?
7
Would it have killed Trump to add “especially the FBI” to his tweet? He had 61 more characters!
49
I agree and was thinking the same thing. I'm shocked he took the time or even thought to acknowledge the great job law enforcement officers did.
4
Let's put this in perspective of other recent mass attacks:
If this guy had access to high explosives (High power Bullets) and sophisticated detonators (Semi-Automatic rifles), Imagine the damage he could have caused!
Point is, there are clear parallels to regulating other dangerous materials in society that benefit everyone.
High Praise to all Texas law enforcement for running this guy to ground! Great job!
11
"High Praise to all Texas law enforcement" Was the non mentioning of the FBI your oversight or a bow to Trump's disgraceful attacks on the FBI, who didn't mention them either?!
5
The second amendment does include the right to bear bombs, does it not?
12
I do wish it included the right to arm bears, hunting is far from a fair fight.
5
It will when the gun manufacturers realize there is a market for bombs, and the NRA starts lobbying Congress to make the case.
1
Thank you for the smile. :)
1
Why are people so insistent on politicizing these murderous acts? That only encourages evil people to make their own statements in increasingly violent ways. They are common criminals killing innocent people and should not be romanticized to any degree.
10
Good job Austin PD.
There is no such thing as a "person of interest". You are either a suspect or not a suspect. Once they "started getting information on this one person..." and they chose to follow it he was a suspect. There is no third category you are either a suspect or not a suspect. Stop promoting this false idea there is nothing but wiggle room for dishonest cops and trouble for our system in it.
3
Nonsense. You may not know if a missing person is a witness or a perpetrator. You want to talk to them . that person is a person of interest, not a suspect.
9
Um, no. Accomplices and intimates of suspects are persons of interest.
7
You both invented that explanation. The term never existed before attorney general Ashcroft used it to run cover for rogue FBI agents persecuting an innocent man.
He came up with it to rename the victim as something other than suspect when the press caught wind of the fact that the FBI agents in question had no evidence after many months in which they actively interfered in the life of the suspect preventing employment and otherwise doing all they could (illegally) to destroy his life. Mr Ashcroft gave those agents another few months to run rogue because the press did not have the sense to question its use.
in the end it turns out those FBI agents had decided that the fact that they could find no evidence was the evidence that their victim was guilty. Somehow they missed the part where they had to have decided he was guilty long before getting to that point.
The perpetrator blowing up himself is not a good sign at all. I hope the groups in US are not going the way of Islamic terrorists and this is a one off incident.
9
Good he was caught, but the race baiting is not necessary. You fail to mention he sent bombs out anonymously. Two Hispanics were injured in the trip bomb, and no one was injured in the two Fed Ex bombs.
SIX bombs, two Blacks, two Hispanic and two nothing.
No pattern here, except crazy.
7
As the President continues to lead-in to violence (expressing glee over the death of the suspect, and calls for expanded use of the death penalty even against non-violent offenders), let's be better and bend towards to the Mayor of Austin, who "expressed hope that residents who had been brought closer together during the attacks would continue to watch out for each other as the threat receded."
We cannot, will not, survive as a nation if we don't move towards each other instead of being further separated. Much love Austin.
2049
If the president was speaking about imposing the death penalty on the big pharma CEO's and CFO's and the doctors and others who helped them spread this addiction plague across the nation then I'd be in agreement otherwise he's just promoting the same old abusive policies that lock up the minority population and poor whites.
12
Trump tweets like an 8 year old bully.
8
Well Damn! If that just doesn't say all that needs to be said I don't know what does! Yes, much love Austin AND San Francisco!
5
Just curious if the man was carrying a cell phone and if so, would it leave a trail of where he traveled for tracking other possible bombs? Also what FedEx depositories might have been visited.
9
I heard on a CBS radio news report that the authorities had photos of this individual at the FedEx location, they had been tracking his whereabouts from his cell phone activity and within the past 24-36 hours, they had received a lot of tips about this person. Sounds like solid police work with the help of the public. I don't live in Austin but I am so relieved and grateful this murderous and hateful coward is dead.
16
This is almost certainly how they identified and located him.
1
Just heard that they tracked him down via his cell phone.
Thanks to the FBI for stopping this crime. I am mightily impressed with their work as I was with their work stopping the Boston Marathon bombers.
52
The FBI agents were outstanding, but please don't forget about the local police authorizes and the AFT agents as well. It was an incredible team effort all the way around.
12
You ARE joking... Right??
How did they stop the Boston Marathon bombers? The bombs went off and people were killed. It is widely understood in Boston that the police work in the immediate aftermath and in the months that followed was quite shoddy and disorganized. Remember that it was an unprepared transit police officer who disobeyed orders to stand down that shot up the boat where Tsarnaev was hiding. Not a proud moment.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler “. . . expressed hope that residents who had been brought closer together during the attacks would continue to watch out for each other as the threat receded.”
Hopefully a positive result from this tragedy will be that neighbors throughout every city and town in America will watch out for each other.
23
Evil knows no color. All the populations of Austin were affected by these violent acts. In Oklahoma, we know the results of senseless acts of violence, Its time to go beyond labels and move towards a dialogue which addresses the immediate needs of this nation, that everyone has value and direct our efforts towards inclusion and participation rather than disenfranchisement.
551
Of course evil knows color. that is what racism is all about.
5
I would counter racism comes in all colors, KKK & Nation of Islam, are two exmaples.
5
You are missing the ominous point. America has discovered bombs. They are easy to make in a kitchen from easily available ingredients, they can easily kill far more people than guns and they leave no evidence of the perpetrator. The problem was never guns per se...it is American culture. That culture, more than all others, expresses its frustration in mass murders. And of course, in some degree, it is found in EVERY American. No law is going to instantly change culture. That takes a minimum of a few generations and an immense joint effort.
It’s interesting to see how some people are, already, denying that these acts cannot be considered as terrorism. They were.
Unfortunately, in the simplistic minds of many terrorists are only those with an accent and dark skin, acting -preferably- in some “foreign” country.
31
Wrong. Timothy McVeigh was white and his actions were clearly explained as terrorism.
You don't know this man's motivations, so stop jumping to conclusions just to support your personal agenda.
11
Timothy McVeigh's terrorist attack happened in a time previous to 2015 when the country wasn't yet poisoned by the alt-right's hate rhetoric and a spade was called a spade irrelevant of race/creed/place of origin. Swastika bearing thugs used to be unacceptable members of our society. Those days seem to be gone for now, maybe for good.
1
Please don't pretend the KKK and
their ilk didn't exist prior to 2015. Swastika bearing thugs have always been unacceptable by most of society(the exception being their own members).
2
Will the media, law enforcement, and Texas elected officials dare call these bombings perpetrated by a white man what they are: the act of a terrorist. Nah, they will probably whimp out and merely call it the act of a deranged man. White guys get off easy in these events. Oh, and I'm a white man but even I can see the bias.
70
ASD32 - Bias? No. Terrorism - "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims."
Political aims?
Where is trump's outrage over the actions of a white male terrorist? Perhaps he is holding off on any comments so that he can thoroughly study the facts to avoid rushing to judgement, just like he did in Charlottesville.
35
While the many commenters wanting this to be labeled terrorism have a point, I would ask what his political motives were. If clearly established upon investigation, then his actions should be properly labeled as terrorism. He certainly established terror in Austin.
12
My definition of terrorism is an act that terrifies us. As to the underlying motive, I don't see how one can distinguish between the political and apolitical. He could be mad at the local courts for making him pay child support, or mad at the Federal Government for our foreign policy, or mad about the weather. The perpetrator doesn't have to be rational. Disgruntlement and rage expressed as an attack on fellow citizens is inherently a political act. If it is sensational, it is terrorism.
Reporting thus far states that the Austin, TX bomber was a young, [~24 yr.], white male. Why isn't anyone also identifying him as a domestic terrorist? Why do those reporting on or talking about this avoid labeling the actions of a white, US citizen as a terrorist act, when their acts most surely are that of a domestic terrorist? (5)the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that—
(A)involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;
(B)appear to be intended—
(i)to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(ii)to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii)to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
(C)occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
10
I thought terrorism was defined as having a political motivation. The UniBomber wrote a manifesto of his complaints about the world, but he also was considered to be schizophrenic. Is that terrorism or a crazy person acting out violently? I don't know.
Because terrorism is a brand. It is a key word used to justify policies associated with the brand, and thus typically applied only when it serves the purpose of promoting support for those policies.
Terrorism: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
If we ever find out why he did this it might make him a terrorist. Until then he’s just another murderer, like others of different races who’ve been called terrorists.
13
"Just" another murderer? Is that less prestigious or something?
So what if he was enraged about the fact that the US Bureau of Printing and Engraving no longer prints $2 bills? Would he then be a terrorist?
Since definitions are important...
1
Snark: I hadn’t thought “murderer” conveyed prestige. Don’t know anything about $2 bills. There seemed to be a lot of outcry about what he was called here, so went to the dictionary. Sorry to upset you.
1
To me this is a story that should have been reported with the fact that the targets tended to be African American mentioned in the headlines. Instead we get "We do not understand what motivated him".
Face it, as a society, we're racist.
17
Niles,
Go back and read the reports. Those who were killed and injured also included Hispanic and white people.
4
I said "tended to be African American", which is different than "were all African American".
1
Niles,
They also tended to be Hispanic and white. So should the headline have also included this important fact?
3
Young man is unemployed yet he has a car, can buy bomb materials, send packages through FedEx, stay in a motel (in addition to living with roommates, though unknown if he had paid up in rent). Feels like the Oklahoma City bombings. And just where did he learn to make bombs if he was not in the military?
14
ONLINE, of course!!!!!
4
Chemistry class?
1
I guess it's time now to offer "thoughts and prayers". And not the right time to talk about the easy access to explosives.
He probably has a bunch of firearms at home too.
"Thoughts and prayers" will cover it.
32
And easy access to keyboards.
What kind of explosives did he use?
Enough, everyone, with acerbic comments about him being "white" and so somehow privileged against accusation of terrorism, or that this is a hate crime. We don't know anything. Let the investigation play out.
22
I find it quite creepy that Trump tweeted not out of sorrow for the victims but with a bloodthirsty howl that the perpetrator is dead.
These are the wordsw of an aspiring strongman.
528
Wait, so everyone is mad that Trump won't label the guy as a terrorist, yet he's going too far by acting glad that the perp is dead?!
6
Yes, but...what is going on with the young men in our country? Why are so many taking suicidal/homicidal paths?
14
I would like to know too. Are we freaks?
1
Brilliant work, Austin Police and FBI! Thank you.
41
Being relieved that murderous individual is off the streets is one thing. The gleeful tweet about someone's death is another. It's still a life, not a fake wrestling event or a video game.
26
The guy was freaking bombing murderer. What do you propose, life inprisonment with some tough-love and mental health counseling at the tune of over 80,000 dollars a year for the people who pay taxes?
3
It would be great if we could counsel these mentally ill people before they bomb or shoot people...
3
If you think "counseling" would have helped this thug, or anyone else bent on mayhem, I have a bridge to sell you...