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Bombings in Austin

Bloods EndBloods End Blade of TyshallePunch dimensionRegistered User regular
I didn't see a thread for this but last night there was a fourth bombing in Austin Texas
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/18/two-injured-in-explosion-in-austin-police-say/?utm_term=.459eeb0f32a7

All of which seem to be targeting black community leaders.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/austin-bombs-appear-to-be-targeting-prominent-black-families.html

So far there has been two deaths, and three people in the hospital.

In addition the Roots had to cancel a south by south west performance due to a bomb threat.

Despite the fact that this looks like domestic terrorism, there hasn't been a large media response for reasons that are probably way too obvious.

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  • KetBraKetBra Dressed Ridiculously Registered User regular
    Is there a timeline on this somewhere?

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  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    Last night's bomb was set off using a trip wire. The police just got done with a press conference where they warned residents to call police about any suspicious packages, and if a package comes to their door that they didn't order to not touch it. They also asked the bomber to contact them so they can find out why the bombs are being left.

    First question from the press was "why isn't this being called demostic terrorism?"

    Answer essentially was: Because we don't know why the bombs are being left.

  • Bloods EndBloods End Blade of Tyshalle Punch dimensionRegistered User regular
  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    edited March 2018
    KetBra wrote: »
    Is there a timeline on this somewhere?

    First bomb was March 2nd. Second and third was on March 12th. Fourth was last night.

    Otherwise a Google search will bring up a timeline on every news service you can think of. Would you like fox news, cnn, msnbc, international news agency, or some local variety?

    Veevee on
  • WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    edited March 2018
    Well, if it's not 'domestic terrorism', can we at least label it 'hate crime'? Or is it too soon for that as well?

    WotanAnubis on
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  • RedTideRedTide Registered User regular
    Well, if it's not 'domestic terrorism', can we at least label it 'hate crime'? Or is it too soon for that as well?

    The latest victims were white I believe which is probably the only thing holding that back at the moment.

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  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor Registered User regular
    Veevee wrote: »
    Last night's bomb was set off using a trip wire. The police just got done with a press conference where they warned residents to call police about any suspicious packages, and if a package comes to their door that they didn't order to not touch it. They also asked the bomber to contact them so they can find out why the bombs are being left.

    First question from the press was "why isn't this being called demostic terrorism?"

    Answer essentially was: Because we don't know why the bombs are being left.

    Is "for no apparent reason" not the most terror inducing motive?

  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    Veevee wrote: »
    Last night's bomb was set off using a trip wire. The police just got done with a press conference where they warned residents to call police about any suspicious packages, and if a package comes to their door that they didn't order to not touch it. They also asked the bomber to contact them so they can find out why the bombs are being left.

    First question from the press was "why isn't this being called demostic terrorism?"

    Answer essentially was: Because we don't know why the bombs are being left.

    Is "for no apparent reason" not the most terror inducing motive?

    pretty sure a terrorist by definition needs to be going for a specific political goal

  • YoshisummonsYoshisummons You have to let the dead vote, otherwise you'd just kill people you disagree with!Registered User regular
    Xaquin wrote: »
    Veevee wrote: »
    Last night's bomb was set off using a trip wire. The police just got done with a press conference where they warned residents to call police about any suspicious packages, and if a package comes to their door that they didn't order to not touch it. They also asked the bomber to contact them so they can find out why the bombs are being left.

    First question from the press was "why isn't this being called demostic terrorism?"

    Answer essentially was: Because we don't know why the bombs are being left.

    Is "for no apparent reason" not the most terror inducing motive?

    pretty sure a terrorist by definition needs to be going for a specific political goal
    need a bachelor's in terrorism

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    RedTide wrote: »
    Well, if it's not 'domestic terrorism', can we at least label it 'hate crime'? Or is it too soon for that as well?

    The latest victims were white I believe which is probably the only thing holding that back at the moment.

    Yeah the first two targeted some black people. The third one got a hispanic women I believe but the local NAACP said that bomb was also intended for a member of the same church/family as the first victims.

    But then the fourth one seems to have just been left in the street and randomly blew up some cyclists. So it's unclear if there is a pattern and the final package just missed it's intended target, if there was a pattern and now it's broken as the killer has escalated or if there was never a pattern beyond something strange and/or personal to the killer.

  • Duke 2.0Duke 2.0 Time Trash Cat Registered User regular
    If foreign and/or dark then obviously the goal is terror, just assumed from their heritage

    We just can’t know from white Americans, can’t assume a terror context before we get all the details and a half-dozen more attacks

    Fuck

    VRXwDW7.png
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
    edited March 2018
    I was in the DC area during the sniper attacks, and those, to my knowledge, were also never called terrorism. Not to stray the topic, but as a person in Austin I hope that the larger discussion about this in the national news doesn't just become about the word "terrorist" before we even figure out whats going on. I remember the panic of looking for white vans and people being afraid to pump gas, it was zero fun.

    I really dont expect this to break quickly. Its not surprising that once the word was out about packages on doorsteps that the tactics changed, and the locations are moving around the city map to make it harder to pinpoint a neighborhood. I'm starting to worry more and more, but trying to not to be unreasonable. I'll probably suspend some our neighborhood evening walks until they figure it out, though.

    Also, I assume the concert bomb threat was a copy-cat. We got a bomb threat at my school during the DC sniper events, and I think it was just some asshole kid at the school.

    Iruka on
  • OnTheLastCastleOnTheLastCastle let's keep it haimish for the peripatetic Registered User regular
    The concert bomb threat person has been arrested. Unlikely they are the actual bomber https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/03/18/81768/man-arrested-for-bomb-threat-at-sxsw-music-festiva/

  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor Registered User regular
    edited March 2018
    Xaquin wrote: »
    Veevee wrote: »
    Last night's bomb was set off using a trip wire. The police just got done with a press conference where they warned residents to call police about any suspicious packages, and if a package comes to their door that they didn't order to not touch it. They also asked the bomber to contact them so they can find out why the bombs are being left.

    First question from the press was "why isn't this being called demostic terrorism?"

    Answer essentially was: Because we don't know why the bombs are being left.

    Is "for no apparent reason" not the most terror inducing motive?

    pretty sure a terrorist by definition needs to be going for a specific political goal

    Still seems like the better place to start. If you eventually find out these were just matters of love or business; send home the task force and downgrade. A terrorist ought to be defined by their methods more than their goals. See also: an otherwise peacful separatist political party vs. someone with a grudge and a bomb.

    I'd rather we lump people like Dylan Roof in with ISIS as SOP, then try to explain why he's somehow different later.

    ArbitraryDescriptor on
  • OremLKOremLK Registered User regular
    It's been all over my Google News feed from just about every major media outlet, for whatever that's worth. This is as horrifying as it is surreal--sounds more like something which belongs in a thriller film than real life. Hope they catch the perpetrator fast.

    My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    The last bomb injured two young white men who are friends with the police chief's son, so hate crime is maybe out...

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    So is it possible there are 2 different bombers based off the different types of bombs?

    Possible??? No details yet.

  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    Xaquin wrote: »
    Veevee wrote: »
    Last night's bomb was set off using a trip wire. The police just got done with a press conference where they warned residents to call police about any suspicious packages, and if a package comes to their door that they didn't order to not touch it. They also asked the bomber to contact them so they can find out why the bombs are being left.

    First question from the press was "why isn't this being called demostic terrorism?"

    Answer essentially was: Because we don't know why the bombs are being left.

    Is "for no apparent reason" not the most terror inducing motive?

    pretty sure a terrorist by definition needs to be going for a specific political goal

    Still seems like the better place to start. If you eventually find out these were just matters of love or business; send home the task force and downgrade.

    I'd rather we lump people like Dylan Roof in with ISIS as SOP, then try to explain why he's somehow different later.

    this could be a terrorist but since we don't know that yet, I'd rather just stick with the facts. That said, if law enforcement treated it like they would a terrorist situation, that'd probably be a good thing.

  • ZibblsnrtZibblsnrt Registered User, Moderator mod
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

  • GONG-00GONG-00 Registered User regular
    Iruka wrote: »
    I was in the DC area during the sniper attacks, and those, to my knowledge, were also never called terrorism. Not to stray the topic, but as a person in Austin I hope that the larger discussion about this in the national news doesn't just become about the word "terrorist" before we even figure out whats going on. I remember the panic of looking for white vans and people being afraid to pump gas, it was zero fun.

    I really dont expect this to break quickly. Its not surprising that once the word was out about packages on doorsteps that the tactics changed, and the locations are moving around the city map to make it harder to pinpoint a neighborhood. I'm starting to worry more and more, but trying to not to be unreasonable. I'll probably suspend some our neighborhood evening walks until they figure it out, though.

    Also, I assume the concert bomb threat was a copy-cat. We got a bomb threat at my school during the DC sniper events, and I think it was just some asshole kid at the school.

    As a resident of Montgomery County Maryland during that whole thing, I certainly felt terrorized.

    “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
    Law and Order ≠ Justice
    xu257gunns6e.png
  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    It's also not really a national news story. Or at least, it shouldn't be. It doesn't have any affect on my life in Wisconsin, so what good would it be to have CNN spend several hours talking about it?

    I'm glad to hear it's getting a lot of local attention though.

  • ArbitraryDescriptorArbitraryDescriptor Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    To be clear, I would like this investigated like terrorism; not given the ironic, yet standard, press treatment aimed at trying to scare people.

  • BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    It finally managed to get on my radar this morning, but I was doing a pretty deep-dive into the news, admittedly

    Stay safe, my Austinites (I suspect this is not what you are called) :bro: and here's hoping whoever is doing this is apprehended before anyone else gets harmed :(

  • SatanIsMyMotorSatanIsMyMotor Fuck Warren Ellis Registered User regular
    If they're leveraging the mail system it's a federal offense and should therefore be considered national news. Even if they aren't physically mailing the packages I believe that still applies.

    Make no mistake that if white people were being targeted (a la the Unabomber) this would be a much bigger story.

  • Desktop HippieDesktop Hippie Registered User regular
    I'm enraged that I only found out this was happening yesterday, when BBC started to cover it. I don't think it's even hit RTE yet.

    I'm sorry but all of Boston shut down for two blasts and there was nearly 24/7 coverage for three days. You're telling me FOUR explosions in Texas barely make a ripple? Parcel bombs being sent to people's homes?!

  • VeeveeVeevee WisconsinRegistered User regular
    edited March 2018
    [If they're leveraging the mail system it's a federal offense and should therefore be considered national news. Even if they aren't physically mailing the packages I believe that still applies.

    Make no mistake that if white people were being targeted (a la the Unabomber) this would be a much bigger story.

    But they are not. As far as I'm aware, these have all been hand delivered packages and none of them have been sent through any postal service. This last one was left on the side of the street with a tripwire set to make it go off. Edit: Misread the post. It was leveraging the mail system in a way, but not the latest bomb.

    If the explosions were happening in more than one location I would say it should absolutely be national news at that point. Right now it's a good 30 second segment on the national news, but it is still a local story.

    Veevee on
  • BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    I'm enraged that I only found out this was happening yesterday, when BBC started to cover it. I don't think it's even hit RTE yet.

    I'm sorry but all of Boston shut down for two blasts and there was nearly 24/7 coverage for three days. You're telling me FOUR explosions in Texas barely make a ripple? Parcel bombs being sent to people's homes?!

    I mean, the Boston bombings vs these bombs is a matter of logarithmic scale, to be fair

    But yeah, some scary stuff going on in Austin the past couple weeks

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    It really has been all over the news! FBI is involved! Possible racial ties were being seriously considered before the last one too.

  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
    GONG-00 wrote: »
    Iruka wrote: »
    I was in the DC area during the sniper attacks, and those, to my knowledge, were also never called terrorism. Not to stray the topic, but as a person in Austin I hope that the larger discussion about this in the national news doesn't just become about the word "terrorist" before we even figure out whats going on. I remember the panic of looking for white vans and people being afraid to pump gas, it was zero fun.

    I really dont expect this to break quickly. Its not surprising that once the word was out about packages on doorsteps that the tactics changed, and the locations are moving around the city map to make it harder to pinpoint a neighborhood. I'm starting to worry more and more, but trying to not to be unreasonable. I'll probably suspend some our neighborhood evening walks until they figure it out, though.

    Also, I assume the concert bomb threat was a copy-cat. We got a bomb threat at my school during the DC sniper events, and I think it was just some asshole kid at the school.

    As a resident of Montgomery County Maryland during that whole thing, I certainly felt terrorized.

    I too was in Montgomery County and felt terrorized. My point is basically is I've been seeing outrage on twitter about how the events being defined, and it seems like a really asinine thing for people to care more about finger wagging about terminology as they watch from afar, we really have no idea what's going on. We're no closer than we were then when we were looking for white vans all over moco rather than the chevy they eventually found in frederick.

    I'm not convinced we really know whos being targeted, personally.

    They thought the first one was related to a drug raid down the street, which I think if Austin folk should be upset about anything, is that our PD was pretty casual about a bomb going off in retaliation for a drug raid. Personally, I got calls from people all over after the second bomb, so I'm not sure what level of news cycle people are thinking its not getting, but it's certainly not on the DL. It's also been mentioned casually in SXSW stories that i've been reading over the last few weeks.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Veevee wrote: »
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    It's also not really a national news story. Or at least, it shouldn't be. It doesn't have any affect on my life in Wisconsin, so what good would it be to have CNN spend several hours talking about it?

    I'm glad to hear it's getting a lot of local attention though.

    The idea that someone leaving bombs around a major american city is not national news is insane.

  • veritastalpaveritastalpa Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Veevee wrote: »
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    It's also not really a national news story. Or at least, it shouldn't be. It doesn't have any affect on my life in Wisconsin, so what good would it be to have CNN spend several hours talking about it?

    I'm glad to hear it's getting a lot of local attention though.

    The idea that someone leaving bombs around a major american city is not national news is insane.

    No, it isn't.

    The only thing making this national news would accomplish, is giving the guilty parties actions more fame, letting more people Thoughts&Prayers the victims, and needlessly spreading fear and likely draining law enforcement resources due to false reports in unaffected areas.

    Let the perpetrators rot in obscurity, don't celebritize them.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    NPR is reporting this nationally right now.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    edited March 2018
    NPR now reporting that Russian bots on Twitter are joining those claiming the lack of coverage was racist, trying to boost the signal and sow discord.

    spool32 on
  • JragghenJragghen Registered User regular
    spool32 wrote: »
    NPR now reporting that Russian boots on Twitter are joining those clauming the lack of coverage was racist, trying to boost the signal and sow discord.

    It's depressing how prevalent of a thing this is.

  • BeNarwhalBeNarwhal The Work Left Unfinished Registered User regular
    Yeah, this story probably didn't deserve national attention until now - prior to the revelation that the bombings were all connected, all there was to report was two murders and some injuries, and speculation that the victims were targeted.

    With the revelation of the tripwire bomb AND that all of the bombings are connected, it becomes possibly an indiscriminate serial bomber, and that is an infinitely more dangerous situation.

    Again, watching this story closely and keeping my Austin friends in my thoughts :bro:

  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Veevee wrote: »
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    It's also not really a national news story. Or at least, it shouldn't be. It doesn't have any affect on my life in Wisconsin, so what good would it be to have CNN spend several hours talking about it?

    I'm glad to hear it's getting a lot of local attention though.

    The idea that someone leaving bombs around a major american city is not national news is insane.

    No, it isn't.

    The only thing making this national news would accomplish, is giving the guilty parties actions more fame, letting more people Thoughts&Prayers the victims, and needlessly spreading fear and likely draining law enforcement resources due to false reports in unaffected areas.

    Let the perpetrators rot in obscurity, don't celebritize them.

    I'm sympathetic to this, but on the other hand not bringing this kind of violence to the fore obscures it's rising prevelance.

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Veevee wrote: »
    spool32 wrote: »
    Zibblsnrt wrote: »
    It's simultaneously infuriating and depressingly unsurprising how little coverage there's been of this.

    Disagree! It's actually good for the bomber not to get national attention.
    It's all over the local news here.

    It's also not really a national news story. Or at least, it shouldn't be. It doesn't have any affect on my life in Wisconsin, so what good would it be to have CNN spend several hours talking about it?

    I'm glad to hear it's getting a lot of local attention though.

    The idea that someone leaving bombs around a major american city is not national news is insane.

    No, it isn't.

    The only thing making this national news would accomplish, is giving the guilty parties actions more fame, letting more people Thoughts&Prayers the victims, and needlessly spreading fear and likely draining law enforcement resources due to false reports in unaffected areas.

    Let the perpetrators rot in obscurity, don't celebritize them.

    I'm sympathetic to this, but on the other hand not bringing this kind of violence to the fore obscures it's rising prevelance.

    There is no Rising prevalence.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User, Transition Team regular
    edited March 2018
    Just to add some facts to the bald statement, the ATF reports that in in 2017 there were, if I remember correctly from this report on NPR, 439 bombings in the United States. That number is down from over 1,200 bombings in 2012.

    spool32 on
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