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When 3 Gunmen Shoot 19 at a Mother's Day Parade, It's Not "Terrorism"
No terrorism please, we're gunmen. A bizarre story out of New Orleans, where two or three gunmen opened fire on a Mother's Day parade, injuring 19 people, including two children.
Sure sounds awfully familiar, almost like a redux of the Boston Marathon bombing. But you'd be wrong.
May 13, 2013
No terrorism please, we're gunmen. A bizarre story out of New Orleans, where two or three gunmen opened fire on a Mother's Day parade, injuring 19 people, including two children.
Sure sounds awfully familiar, almost like a redux of the Boston Marathon bombing. But you'd be wrong.
You see, when two guys use bombs to hurt people en masse at a marathon, it's instantly "terrorism." But when two to three people use guns to hurt people en masse at a parade, it's simply "the relentless drumbeat of street violence."
What's the difference?
A homemade bomb versus a gun, by the looks of it.
If both were intended to harm, and scare, a large number of random people, would they not be the same? Sure, they've invoked Islam with the Boston Marathon bombing, but so far, we haven't heard much detail about any real motive there. Yet we're sure that's terror, and this is just that silly old "street violence" so common in America.
The real problem is American culture and its fetish with, and tolerance for, violence.
The New Orleans Police Department has released video of the shooting, and at least one of the suspects. I've made the video into an animated gif - you can see the video, which is much slower, below:
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John Aravosis
John Aravosis is a Washington, DC-based writer and political consultant, specializing in using the Internet for politics. He is the editor-in-chief of AMERICAblog, AMERICAblog Gay, and AMERICAblog Elections.
No terrorism please, we're gunmen. A bizarre story out of New Orleans, where two or three gunmen opened fire on a Mother's Day parade, injuring 19 people, including two children.
Sure sounds awfully familiar, almost like a redux of the Boston Marathon bombing. But you'd be wrong.
You see, when two guys use bombs to hurt people en masse at a marathon, it's instantly "terrorism." But when two to three people use guns to hurt people en masse at a parade, it's simply "the relentless drumbeat of street violence."
What's the difference?
A homemade bomb versus a gun, by the looks of it.
If both were intended to harm, and scare, a large number of random people, would they not be the same? Sure, they've invoked Islam with the Boston Marathon bombing, but so far, we haven't heard much detail about any real motive there. Yet we're sure that's terror, and this is just that silly old "street violence" so common in America.
The real problem is American culture and its fetish with, and tolerance for, violence.
The New Orleans Police Department has released video of the shooting, and at least one of the suspects. I've made the video into an animated gif - you can see the video, which is much slower, below:
John Aravosis
John Aravosis is a Washington, DC-based writer and political consultant, specializing in using the Internet for politics. He is the editor-in-chief of AMERICAblog, AMERICAblog Gay, and AMERICAblog Elections.
No terrorism please, we're gunmen. A bizarre story out of New Orleans, where two or three gunmen opened fire on a Mother's Day parade, injuring 19 people, including two children.
Sure sounds awfully familiar, almost like a redux of the Boston Marathon bombing. But you'd be wrong.
You see, when two guys use bombs to hurt people en masse at a marathon, it's instantly "terrorism." But when two to three people use guns to hurt people en masse at a parade, it's simply "the relentless drumbeat of street violence."
What's the difference?
A homemade bomb versus a gun, by the looks of it.
If both were intended to harm, and scare, a large number of random people, would they not be the same? Sure, they've invoked Islam with the Boston Marathon bombing, but so far, we haven't heard much detail about any real motive there. Yet we're sure that's terror, and this is just that silly old "street violence" so common in America.
The real problem is American culture and its fetish with, and tolerance for, violence.
The New Orleans Police Department has released video of the shooting, and at least one of the suspects. I've made the video into an animated gif - you can see the video, which is much slower, below:
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