YESTERDAY A FRENCH NATIONAL OPENED FIRE WITH A MACHINE GUN
ON A POLICE VAN ON THE CHAMPS- …LYS…ES, KILLING ONE OFFICER --
WE WANT TO TELL YOU A LITTLE
BIT ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND,
BECAUSE IMMEDIATELY IN THE AFTERMATH ISIS CLAIMED
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACK, AND I'VE SEEN REPORTS THAT THERE
WAS SOME SORT OF LITERATURE FOUND ON THE SCENE DEFENDING
ISIS.
IT APPEARS IT WAS AFFILIATED IN SOME FASHION WITH
THEM.
BUT THIS SAME GENTLEMAN --
AS THEY WATCH SO MANY.
OF COURSE IT'S ALWAYS UNFORTUNATE
WHEN AN ACT LIKE THIS HAPPENS AND YOU FIND OUT THEY WERE
WORRIED ABOUT THIS INDIVIDUAL, UNFORTUNATELY NOTHING WAS DONE
IN THIS CASE.
AS I SAID ISIS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR
COUPLE OF HOURS AFTER.
WHAT'S INTERESTING IS THIS PERSON SEEMS
LIKE THEY WERE AFFILIATED WITH ISIS, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT
GOING BACK A DECADE BEFORE THE BIRTH OF ISIS THEY WERE
ATTEMPTING SIMILAR ACTS.
SO WELL IT APPEARS THAT THIS WAS AN ACT
OF TERROR IN WHICH A POLICE OFFICER UNFORTUNATELY LOST THEIR
LIFE AND OTHERS WERE WOUNDED, IT SEEMS LIKE IN MANY OTHER CASES
THIS WAS A PERSON WHO HAD SIGNIFICANT MENTAL ISSUES,
CRIMINAL PAST, AND EVENTUALLY BEGAN TO BE AFFILIATED WITH
ISIS.
THEY HAVEN'T FOUND ANY OTHER OUTWARD STATEMENTS IN
SUPPORT OF ISIS OR ANYTHING YET, THAT COULD BE FORTHCOMING, BUT
IT IS INTERESTING AND WE WILL GET INTO THE POLITICAL
RAMIFICATIONS DOMESTICALLY FOR FRANCE IN A LITTLE BIT.
FROM AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE IT'S INTERESTING,
FIRST I DON'T THINK IT'S THAT INTERESTING A QUESTION AS TO
WHETHER IT'S TERRORISM, ALMOST CERTAINLY IT IS.
CHECK, WE DID
IT.
IT APPEARS TO BE ISLAMIC RADICAL TERRORISM, THAT WAS
SAID, HOPEFULLY THAT WILL SOLVE IT SOON.
IT DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE
WORKED YET, THE PRESIDENT SAID IT AND IT HASN'T WORKED, I KNOW
UNDER OBAMA THESE WOULD BE BLAMED ON HOW DEMOCRATS ARE TOO
SOFT AND EVERYBODY ELSE WAS TOO SOFT, DOESN'T SEEM TO BE
STICKING TO TRUMP, IF ANYTHING TRUMP SEEMS CELEBRATORY, SAYING
THIS WILL PROBABLY AFFECT THE FRENCH ELECTIONS, I MEAN I'M
SORRY TO SEE IT HAPPEN.
WE KNOW FOR A FACT THAT TERRORISM, NOT
JUST HOMICIDES AND CRIME, BUT TERRORISM IS MUCH LOWER TODAY
THAN IT WAS FOR EXAMPLE IN THE 1970S.
IN THE 1970S WE HAD THE
BASQUE SEPARATISTS, THE IRA, MUCH HIGHER INCIDENTS OF
TERRORISM.
THE U.K.
AND IRELAND HAD A LOT OF CONFLICT.
THE
QUESTION IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU LABEL IT AS TERRORISM.
ISIS HAS
WON THE BRANDING CONTEST BETWEEN ISIS AND AL QAEDA, THEY USED TO
SAY I'M WITH AL QAEDA, NOW THEY SAY I'M WITH ISIS, THEY SEEM TO
BE MORE CONNECTED TO THIS THAN OTHERS.
SOME OF THE OTHER
ATTACKS, THE EVEN TIMED IT OUT, USUALLY IT TAKES THEM 10 HOURS
TO CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY, AND THIS TIME THEY DID IT IN RECORD
TIME, TWO HOURS, THIS ONE SEEMS LIKE THEY EVEN COMMUNICATED, BUT
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THAT?
WE ALREADY BOMBING ISIS INTO
OBLIVION AND GETTING READY TO TAKE ON RAQQA WITH THE HELP
OF ALLIES ON THE GROUND, WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?
I DON'T THINK THERE IS A GREAT ANSWER.
YOU MAKE SURE SOMEONE WHO WAS CONVICTED OF TWO COUNTS OF
ATTEMPTED MURDER WAS NOT ABLE TO BUY A GUN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
TO
ME THAT'S THE EGREGIOUS STORY HERE, THIS GUY WAS CONVICTED OF
ATTEMPTED MURDER ON POLICE OFFICERS AND HE'S GOT A GUN AND
HE'S IN THE STREETS.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD PLACE TO START,
FORGETTING THE TERRORISM.
AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE,
CAN A MUSLIM PERSON JUST COMMIT A CRIME ANYMORE?
OR IS IT ALWAYS
TERRORISM?
THAT WAS AN INTERESTING QUESTION RECENTLY IN FRESNO.
WAS
IT RACISM OR TERRORISM?
I WOULD ARGUE THAT IT'S BOTH, BECAUSE I
HAVE A MORE NARROW AND A MORE BROAD DEFINITION OF TERRORISM.
WHAT I MEAN IS I THINK WE OVERUSED TERRORISM, EVERYONE WHO
IS AN ENEMY IS A TERRORIST, EVERYONE HAS ADOPTED IT SO IN
TURKEY FOR EXAMPLE ERDOGAN CALLS JOURNALISTS WHO WRITE AGAINST
HIM AS TERRORISTS --
PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR THE REFERENDUM WERE TERRORISTS.
YES, OUTRAGEOUS USE OF THE WORD, STARTED BY AMERICANS.
BUT
WHAT I MEAN BY BROADER IS THE RIGHT WING TERRORISTS IN AMERICA
WHO MURDER COPS AND BLACK PEOPLE IN CHURCHES AND SHOOT UP JEWISH
HOLOCAUST MUSEUMS OBVIOUSLY ARE TERRORISTS THE SAME WAY THAT
MUSLIMS ARE, BUT THE MEDIA IS AMAZING.
WHEN IT'S A MUSLIM THE
IMMEDIATE CONVERSATION IS TERRORISM, USUALLY IT'S NOT EVEN
A CONVERSATION, IT JUST IS.
BUT THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE THE
CONVERSATION WHEN SOMEONE ON THE RIGHT DOES IT, OR THE GUY WHO
WAS ARRESTED WITH 1000 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION --
WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO SHOOT AND MURDER INNOCENT CIVILIANS
FOR A POLITICAL PURPOSE, IF THAT IS NOT TERRORISM WE SHOULD
STOP USING THE WORD.
AS THEY FIGURE OUT WHAT THOSE LINKS ARE HERE, THE PROBLEM IS
THESE DAYS IF ISIS CAN CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY, AS THEY FIGURE
OUT WHETHER THERE WAS ANY SUPPORT OR PREPARATION, OTHER
THAN I WENT ONLINE AND SAW SOME VIDEOS, BUT THE OTHER PROBLEM IS
OUR VOCABULARY HASN'T SHIFTED FROM THE FOREIGN NARRATIVE SO WE
ARE CONSTANTLY TALKING ABOUT RAQQA AND THE BATTLES AND
OTHER COUNTRIES, WHEREAS MOST OF THESE BATTLES HAPPEN WITH
PEOPLE WHO WERE BORN AND RAISED IN THOSE COUNTRIES.
THESE WERE FRENCHMEN.
BELGIUM WAS A BELGIAN NATIONAL, I BELIEVE THE
GERMAN WAS A GERMAN NATIONAL.
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS.
I KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT WING WILL SCREAM INTO THEIR SETS
RIGHT NOW, OR STARTED SCREAMING THE MINUTE WE STARTED THIS VIDEO
NO MATTER WHAT WE SAID -- YOU GUYS ARE LEAVING OUT THE FACT
THAT THEY ARE MUSLIMS AND THAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM.
BUT BY THAT
DEFINITION RIGHT-WING TERRORISM IN AMERICA IS A SIGNIFICANTLY
LARGER PROBLEM THAN MUSLIM TERRORIST ATTACKS.
THAT'S A
FACT, BY OUR OWN GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY,
THEY'VE KILLED FAR MORE PEOPLE, FAR MORE ATTACKS, SO IS IT
HELPFUL TO SAY OKAY, IT'S THE RIGHT WING, THEY ARE AMERICANS
KIND OF, BUT THEY ARE RIGHT-WING AMERICANS AND WE SHOULD LABEL
THEM AS SUCH AND MAKE SURE WE ACT ACCORDINGLY.
NO, IT SMEARS
ALL OF THE RIGHT WING AND THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY FAIR, AND THE
SAME APPLIES TO ISLAM.
WHEN YOU TAKE SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO DID IT
AND APPLY IT TO 1.6 BILLION PEOPLE.
WE SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED BY THIS, NOBODY THINKS ABOUT
MURDERING PEOPLE AND GETS WEAPONS OVER THE COURSE OF A
YEAR OR TWO, THIS GUY APPARENTLY HAD A MAP WITH DIFFERENT POLICE
DEPARTMENT MARKED OFF, THIS GUY HAS WANTED TO KILL COPS FOR MORE
THAN A DECADE.
NOBODY DOES ALL OF THAT AND ALL DURING THAT TIME
READS NOTEBOOKS, GOES TO KNOW WEBSITES, HAS NO PHILOSOPHICAL
INTERESTS, TALKS TO KNOW GROUP -- IF THEY ARE IN AMERICA THEY
ARE LIKELY TO BE INTERESTED IN THE SOVEREIGN CITIZENS MOVEMENT
OR GO TO WHITE SUPREMACIST WEBSITES, IF THEY ARE MUSLIM
THERE MIGHT BE IN AFFILIATION THERE, THAT'S WHAT CRIMINALS DO.
THEY DON'T JUST GO HOME AND SIT IN A CHAIR AND STARE AT THE
WALL BEFORE THEIR ACT OF VIOLENCE.
THEY HAVE
AFFILIATIONS.
BUT WE FIND SOME AFFILIATIONS MORE DAMNING SO WE
STRESS THEM IN SOME CASES AND IN OTHER CASES WE DON'T.
IT DOESN'T
HAVE TO BE RELIGION.
IF SOMEBODY SHOT UP A SCHOOL AND WAS REALLY
INTO VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES IN THE 90S, THAT'S WHAT THE COVERAGE
WAS ABOUT.
IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THEY ALSO HAD COLORING BOOKS, WE
FOCUS ON CERTAIN THINGS.
SOME HAVE MORE IMMEDIATE POLITICAL
CACHET THESE DAYS.
CAN I JUST PAUSE, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT
OF THIS STORY.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?
WHAT ARE THE
DECISIONS WE WILL MAKE OUT OF THIS?
FOR EXAMPLE IN THE U.S.
WHEN THERE WAS THIS HUGE IRA TERRORISM IN THE U.K.
AND
NORTHERN IRELAND, THERE WAS PLENTY OF PROPAGANDA AGAINST THE
IRISH IN THE U.K.
IN AMERICA THERE WASN'T.
IT IS INTRINSIC TO
THE IRISH PERSONALITY TO BE THIS VIOLENT, OBVIOUSLY, LOOK AT
THEM, THEY ARE THE MOST VIOLENT PEOPLE ON EARTH.
AT THAT POINT
MAYBE THEY WERE.
IT'S NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE IRISH, IT WAS
BECAUSE OF THAT SOCIOPOLITICAL SITUATION.
BUT WE CHOSE NOT TO
DO THAT PROPAGANDA.
WE ARE CHOOSING NOW TO DO PROPAGANDA
ABOUT A CERTAIN GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE DOING THIS.
NOT THE
MASS SHOOTERS OR THE RIGHT WING TERRORISTS, NOT THE REGULAR
MURDER GOING ON AT ALL OF THESE OTHER PROBLEMS, A LOT OF WHICH
ARE LARGER PROBLEMS -- WE ARE CHOOSING TO DO PROPAGANDA ABOUT
THIS SO WE CAN GO TO RAQQA AND LAUNCH THESE WARS, ETC.
BUT SOME
PEOPLE AT HOME SEE IT AND THEY GO, ISLAM IS AN INTRINSIC
PROBLEM, ETC.
IF YOU ARE TRYING TO TALK ABOUT 3.5 BILLION PEOPLE AS IF
EVERYONE PRACTICES THEIR RELIGION THE SAME WAY, YOU WON'T
GET ANYWHERE.
BUT IT'S EASIER TO TALK ABOUT A GROUP THAT IS
SMALLER, YOU CAN'T LOOK AT DYLANN ROOF AND SAY THERE
IS SOMETHING IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION THAT MADE HIM DO
THAT AND NOT EXPECT CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA TO SAY THAT'S
NOT WHAT OUR RELIGION IS ABOUT, WHICH IS THE SAME THING
MUSLIMS HAVE BEEN SAYING BUT WITH SMALLER NUMBERS.
THERE ARE DIFFERENCES, THE IRA WAS MUCH MORE LOCALIZED TO
BOMBINGS IN LONDON AND BRIGHTON IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD,
WHEREAS THIS HAS BECOME AN OVERBLOWN EPIDEMIC.