July 4th Shootings not being considered Terrorist Attacks

On July the 4^th, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, seven people were killed and 38 others were injured when a gunman opened fire from a rooftop onto parade festivities below. A 22 year old white man, who has said to be struggling with mental heath, has been arrested and charged with seven counts of first degree murder.

Highland Park’s mayor, Nancy Rotering, said: “Our community was terrorized by an act of violence that has shaken us to our core. Our hearts go out to the victims at this devastating time. On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we are instead mourning the tragic loss of life and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us.”

The day before, a shooter killed three people and injured another four at a shopping mall in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen. The victims are two Danish 17-year-olds and a 47-year old Russian. Two Danes and two Swedes were wounded – one remains critical. Police said the suspected shooter, 22, had mental health issues and there is no indication of a terror motive.

Also on that weekend one person was killed and four others were injured in Kenosha, Wisconsin when gunfire erupted according to the Kenosha Police Department. On the East Coast, two Philadelphia-area law enforcement officers were injured in a shooting that erupted as tens of thousands of people celebrated July Fourth, gathering for fireworks and live music near the city’s famed Museum of Art. Meanwhile, in Sacramento, California, one man was killed and four were wounded in a outside a nightclub.

A week before, a 42-year-old Norwegian national of Iranian decent has been arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a shooting in Oslo, Norway. Two people died and 21 were wounded in what police called an “act of Islamist terrorism” on the eve of the Oslo’s annual gay Pride parade.

There have been a number of homophobic attacks around Pride events recently. However, this act is being called an act of Islamic Terrorism and not homophobic terrorism because the attacker is of Muslim decent.

Payton Gendron accused of killing 10 Black people in a racist attack on a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket was indicted by a grand jury on a state domestic terrorism and hate crime charge that would carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Frank R James who has shot 20 people last month at the Brooklyn Subway has been charged with terrorism charges.

Until recently, if an attacker is considered Muslim, they are assumed to be terrorists. More recently, the attacker would have to have ideological purpose are considered terrorists. Nathaniel Veltman who killed a Muslim family in London Ontario was charged with terrorism, however, Alexandre Bissonnette who shot six praying in Mosque in Quebec City was not charged with any hate crime or terrorism.