Tag: TERRORISM
All The Targets In This Week’s Mail Attacks Have Been Trump’s Worst Enemies
Suspicious packages and pipe bombs have been mailed to several of the president’s favorite punching bags.
Explosive devices and suspicious packages are showing up at the homes and offices of top Democrats, the people who fund them and the press that covers them. Most, if not all, of them have made their way to people and organizations that President Donald Trump despises.
Trump has repeatedly called his followers to violence against the people and organizations that were victimized this week. There were no confirmed motives or suspects by Wednesday afternoon. But his violent rhetoric over the past two years has led one of his biggest enemies, CNN, to ascribe some blame for the attacks to the president.
In a statement Wednesday, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker said that Trump and members of the administration “should understand that their words matter.”
“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” Zucker said. “The President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”
House and Senate Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer issued even stronger statements, connecting Trump’s rhetoric to the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, as well as to violence against protesters at his rallies and more.
The revelation on Thursday that two more of Trump’s nemeses ― former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro ― were targeted only added fuel to the fire.
On Wednesday, CNN evacuated its New York offices after an apparent pipe bomb and an envelope with white powder were discovered in the mailroom. Several top Democratic individuals received similar threats ― Bill and Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, George Soros, Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) and others received explosive devices or suspicious packages in the mail.
All of them have been Trump’s very public enemies. CNN has been the acute focus of Trump’s ongoing war against the media, or what he calls “the enemy of the people.”
He’s called CNN fake news. His family has laughed as Trump supporters angrily call out and threaten its reporters at the president’s rallies. The president has lauded a video depicting him beating up a person with the CNN logo superimposed on his head. Press freedom experts have long pegged Trump’s rhetoric as the begging of violent ends for American reporters. CNN’s inclusion in Wednesday’s terrorist activity was inevitable.
Read more via HuffingtonPost
Fake-bomb TV crew held at New Jersey airport
Seven TV crew members have been arrested at a US airport after allegedly trying to film the smuggling of a fake bomb through security
The incident happened on Thursday at Newark Liberty in New Jersey.
Transport officials said a bag carrying an item with “all the makings of an improvised explosive device” was found before it had cleared security.
US media say the crew were part of a reality show being made by a production company for CNBC.
The production company, Endemol Shine North America, issued a statement saying it was investigating the incident and co-operating with the authorities.
“We sincerely apologise for any disruption caused,” the statement said.
Endemol Shine produces the show, Staten Island Hustle, which CNBC has taken up. CNBC has not yet commented.
The crew reportedly wanted to covertly film themselves going through a security checkpoint with the fake device.
Sources reported by the New York Daily News said the crew then wanted to film the reaction of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials and the possible public panic that would ensue.
Images of the device showed it apparently made of vacuum cleaner parts and wires.
A source told the New York Daily News: “The TSA bomb tech just happened to be [at the checkpoint]. He quickly looked it over, said it was nothing and they were taken in.”
The crew face charges of conspiracy to create a public alarm, among others, authorities say.
Lisa Farbstein, public affairs spokesperson at the TSA, said the crew members also faced civil penalties of up to $13,000 (£9,300) for each security violation.
Endemol Shine North America is behind such shows as Big Brother, MasterChef and Fear Factor.
Article via: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42743829
Man shouting “Allahu Akbar” kills two at French train station
Man Shouting What Could Have Been “Allahu Akbar”, And Kills Two At French Train Station Before Being Shot Dead
Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by soldiers in the southern French port city of Marseille on Sunday in what police sources described as a “likely terrorist act”.
Three police sources said the suspect had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as he carried out his attack at Marseille’s main railway station.
The two victims – one aged 17 and the other 20 – suffered gory injuries, two police sources said, saying one had her throat slit while the other was stabbed in the stomach.
“If the military had not been there, we would have had a lot more deaths,” Samia Ghali, lawmaker for the Marseille region, told France Bleu Province radio.
Some 200 police officers had cordoned off the area and all roads were closed to traffic, with security forces saying the operation was still ongoing.
The Paris prosecutor opened a counter-terrorism probe.
France has been in a state of emergency following a spate of attacks by Islamist militants over the last two years, including attacks in Paris in November 2015 which killed 130 people. Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks using knives, guns, explosives and vehicles.
A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve and then stab a young girl and then a second woman, shouting what could have been “Allahu Akbar”.
She added that she saw soldiers from France’s Sentinelle force who were patrolling in the area arrive on the public square at the Gare Saint-Charles station.
Teachers under fire for naming student ‘most likely to become a terrorist’
Disciplinary action was taken against several Texas middle school teachers after they named a student “most likely to become a terrorist.”
The superlative was given to seventh grader Lizeth Villanueva in a mock ceremony this week at Anthony Aguirre Junior High in Channelview, Texas, according to news station KHOU.
“She said that some people might get offended, but she doesn’t really care about our feelings,” she said. “She was laughing about it.”
Her mom Ena Hernandez said she was horrified to find the certificate.
“I read it twice. I’m like, ‘What is this?!’” Hernandez told KHOU.
She said that the award set a bad example for the students.
“It doesn’t look good at all, especially coming from a teacher, a grown-up woman,” Hernandez said. “It doesn’t look good because everything that’s going on right now.”
The principal personally apologized to the family and the school announced Thursday that the teachers involved had been disciplined.
“The Channelview Independent School District Administration would like to apologize for the insensitive and offensive fake mock awards that were given to students in a classroom,” the district said in a statement. “Channelview ISD would like to assure all students, parents and community members that these award statements and ideals are not representative of the district’s vision, mission and educational goals for our students.