Comment by toomuchtodo
9 years ago
> We might agree on a few points but trying to clarify that the murder wasn't a terrorist attack, that it was just "unplanned murder with a vehicle", makes me want to re-examine my opinions on the points where we agree.
Are we going to call every road rage incident (1200/year in the US) a terrorist attack now? Please.
I'd encourage you to evaluate your agreement with each of my points on an individual basis; each idea either stands or falls on its own.
Would you please stop? This subthread has gone way over the uncivil/unsubstantive line and you've been fuelling this in other places as well.
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15032418 and marked it off-topic.
I apologize. I wasn't aware I was being uncivil, nor was I attempting to troll or fuel an argument unproductively. I've signed out of my HN account.
This wasn't roadrage, it was murder. Now get off your fake high horse, you don't get to claim the moral highground on account of a bunch of people that would like to do the same to a fairly large number of people. Think of that one murder as a free sample of what is to come if these people get their way.
> This wasn't roadrage, it was murder. Now get off your fake high horse
I'm attempting to prevent the cheapening of the term "terrorism", not adjusting my positioning on my high horse. Its a hate crime, not terrorism.
> Think of that one murder as a free sample of what is to come if these people get their way.
More of this will come regardless if these people get their way. Protests, tweet storms, and tearing down Confederate monuments will not dissuade hate. The only way to win is to drag the argument into the daylight where it can be fought.
> Its a hate crime, not terrorism.
I'm not sure that it's any more or less 'terrorism' than the vehicular attacks by Islamists in Europe. How would you describe those?
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Weird. I thought Jeff Sessions and the justice department suggested it could be both.
Did I miss something?
> I'm attempting to prevent the cheapening of the term "terrorism", not adjusting my positioning on my high horse. Its a hate crime, not terrorism.
I didn't use the word terrorism in my response to you so no need to bring it back into circulation, I've used your terms. The word terrorism (and terrorist) has already been cheapened beyond recognition, they're in a worse state than 'hacker', where were you the last 15 years or so?
He wasn't stuck in traffic or being chased by a tailgater or forced off the road.
He got into his car. He started it. He pointed it towards a group of pedestrians. He accelerated into them.
This is factually identical to attacks in Stockholm and elsewhere which have been called acts of terrorism.
> Are we going to call every road rage incident (1200/year in the US) a terrorist attack now?
No, just like the fact that we call some attacks with guns terrorism doesn't mean every incident in which a firearm is discharged is terrorism.
The weapon used isn't what makes it terrorism.