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Sanitizing terror, part II: Backlash mounting over refusal to call OKC beheading what it is
Hotair ^ | 09/29/2014 | Noah Rothman

Posted on 09/29/2014 11:30:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

It’s becoming a disturbing trend.

For months, Ali Muhammad Brown, a man described as a devout Muslim convert, engaged in what prosecutors allege was a “bloody crusade” aimed at avenging the deaths of Muslims killed by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. From Seattle, Washington to West Orange, New Jersey, Brown left four bodies in his wake. But the national press refused to report on his case until weeks after he was indicted. Almost none outside local media outlets in Seattle noted that Brown had intentionally targeted gay men is his campaign of vengeance.

A Seattle-based Fox affiliate called Brown a “radical jihadist,” but few other press outlets followed their lead. Perhaps because Brown was not receiving coded transmissions from Pakistani handlers, some apparently determined that his actions should not be considered terrorism. One has to wonder whether the members of Seattle’s gay community who use the social media app Brown utilized to target his victims felt terrorized. Whether we call it terrorism or not, the effect of Brown’s spree was to instill fear and to force those who survived his attacks to rethink their routines.

This familiar pattern is happening again, now in Oklahoma City. On Friday, what was reportedly a disgruntled former employee of a food processing facility decided to take his frustrations out on his coworkers. He killed one, according to initial reports, and wounded another before being incapacitated by the gun-carrying company’s owner.

But as more details emerged, the more an ominous pattern began to emerge. Some have begun to determine that they are again being lied to in service to the ignoble mission of defining terrorism down.

The suspect, Alton Nolen, had beheaded his first victim – the jihadist calling card which has become a common element of Islamist attacks in the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Algeria. He was reportedly a recent convert to Islam, and had been proselytizing in his place of work for some time. Nolen’s unsuccessful attempts to convert his coworkers were reportedly part of the reason for his dismissal.

During the attack, local outlets reported that Nolen was allegedly shouting Islamic phrases, similar to those which Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan shouted during his 2009 rampage. What’s more, Nolen’s Facebook page contained favorable images of Osama bin Laden and the prominent ISIS commander, Omar al-Shishani. His social media posts also included an image depicting an ISIS beheading.

“But the FBI, which is assisting in the investigation, has so far found no links to terrorism, the officials said,” The Washington Post reported. “There was also no indication that Nolen was copying the beheadings of journalists in Syria by the Islamic State, the officials said, adding that they are treating this as an incident of workplace violence.”

Nolen may not have been part of an ISIS cell lying in wait for the precise moment to strike, but he was clearly a sympathizer who was inspired by the actions of Islamic fundamentalist militants and duplicated them. While that may not be an act of war, it does have the effect of terrorizing the public. While it is debatable as to whether Nolen engaged in terrorism by definition, calling this an act of random workplace violence is simply misleading.

What’s more, the effort to reframe Nolen’s actions is prompting a deserved backlash:

“Workplace violence. Really?” an incredulous Joe Scarborough exclaimed on Monday. “Despite the fact the attacker’s Facebook page had pictures of Osama bin Laden, let’s see, the Taliban, gruesome beheadings by ISIS. Pictures celebrating the destruction of the Twin Towers, and his promise that America would go up in flames. And, also, his declaration that, quote, Islamic terrorists behead their victims because the precedent was bestowed by their prophet.”

“How stupid does the FBI really think we are?” he added. “And who exactly are they afraid of offending? ISIS?”

He noted that “political correctness,” the same kind which led the press to gloss over the actions of Ali Muhammad Brown, has led federal investigators to sanitize Alton Nolen’s acts of jihadist violence.

No one wants to spread undue panic, but the press and the federal government are sacrificing their credibility to the goal of maintaining calm. By refusing to call violence inspired by Islamic jihad what it is, these institutions are losing the public’s trust.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: beheading; islam; jihad; oklahoma
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To: SeekAndFind

Her name was Colleen Hufford.
She was 54.
She was a wife.
She was a mother.
She was a grandmother.
She was beheaded.
Have you even seen her picture?


21 posted on 09/29/2014 12:32:29 PM PDT by polymuser ( Enough is enough.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Sick of hearing/seeing the phrase "linked to terrorism".

The OKC attack was not LINKED to terrorism - it WAS terrorism.

22 posted on 09/29/2014 12:33:49 PM PDT by Let's Roll (Save the world's best healthcare - REPEAL, DEFUND Obamacare!)
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To: MrB

Both seem to hand out gruesome killing tactics...


23 posted on 09/29/2014 12:36:25 PM PDT by Crunchy
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To: SeekAndFind
Sanitizing terror, part II:

Sanitizing? How about not reporting, cover-up, white washing?

24 posted on 09/29/2014 12:51:34 PM PDT by Envisioning (My desire to be well informed is at odds with my desire to remain sane....)
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To: Fred Hayek

Apparently he cut the head off a white women, it’s not terrorism when that happens and it’s not racial, God forbid.
It’s violence in the work place.

Anyone have a guess on when we will see photos of the lady?


25 posted on 09/29/2014 12:53:15 PM PDT by reefdiver (The fool says there is no God. And the bigger fools sees direct evidence and rages against it.)
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To: polymuser

Could be they are afraid of the backlash that will come if pictures come out of celebration in the community over this.
The next riot in ferguson could be much more than blacks against the police, if you know what I mean.


26 posted on 09/29/2014 1:16:20 PM PDT by reefdiver (The fool says there is no God. And the bigger fools sees direct evidence and rages against it.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Houston, we have a problem...

Our government is refusing to call this what it is and is instead hiding it from everybody. In effect, our "public servants" (led by the Muzzie-In-Chief) are aiding and abetting the enemy.

Why?

At what point does criminal negligence become treason?

27 posted on 09/29/2014 1:16:45 PM PDT by Gritty (Obama wants to wage war by measuring it out in teaspoons - Ralph Peters)
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To: polymuser

There is a Facebook memorial page with many photos. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colleen-Hufford-Memorial-Page/786153654779890?sk=timeline


28 posted on 09/29/2014 1:28:53 PM PDT by JennysCool (My hypocrisy goes only so far)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s really scary that the FBI is in cahoots with Obama.


29 posted on 09/29/2014 1:33:38 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (Liberals were raised by women or wimps. And they're all stupid.)
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To: Sequoyah101

McCain wants us to support those “rebels” in Syria. There is no doubt in my mind the man is a true Manchurian plant.


30 posted on 09/29/2014 1:34:56 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (Liberals were raised by women or wimps. And they're all stupid.)
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To: SeekAndFind
“There was also no indication that Nolen was copying the beheadings of journalists in Syria by the Islamic State, the officials said, adding that they are treating this as an incident of workplace violence.”

Any religious Muslim answers to Allah and he doesn't need to be following the examples set by ISIS or anyone else.
He follows the examples set by Allah's messenger Mohammed. -Tom

31 posted on 09/29/2014 1:38:44 PM PDT by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse U.S. citizens and Americans. They are not necessarily the same. -tom)
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To: SeekAndFind

It was ordinary workplace violence.

Why is it that every time someone screams “Allah Fubar” and beheads a few co-workers or shoots a few dozen of our soldiers, conservatives jump to a conclusion that the murder is related to the Religion of Peace? It’s bigoted to generalize from 99% of terrorist attacks and assume they are all related to a particular religion.


32 posted on 09/29/2014 1:52:40 PM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: VerySadAmerican

AND that senility has set in AND, sadly, that too many beatings as a POW may have accelerated it.

Juan is an irrational dingbat.


33 posted on 09/29/2014 2:40:07 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (I)
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To: polymuser

Of course not so she must have been white.


34 posted on 09/29/2014 2:40:45 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (I)
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To: SeekAndFind
No one wants to spread undue panic, but the press and the federal government are sacrificing their credibility to the goal of maintaining calm. By refusing to call violence inspired by Islamic jihad what it is, these institutions are losing the public’s trust.

LOL...they lost that a looooong time ago. Now the trust of the LIV is starting to waver.

35 posted on 09/29/2014 2:49:54 PM PDT by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.org.)
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