A man plowed a van into a crowd in Toronto, Canada, killing ten people, and injuring even more.
I know about as much about Alek Minassian as the rest of y’all, which is practically nothing. The name Minassian sounds Armenian, and the vast majority of Armenians are Christian. Chances are, Mr. Minassian is not Muslim, and that this was not an act of jihad, but of personal rage.
Why, then, do I blame Islam? Because it was contemporary Islam that made mass, random, murder-by-vehicle a “thing.” I’ll quote CNN here:
Vehicles as weapons: Muenster part of a deadly trend
(CNN)Once again, a driver has plowed into a crowd, turning a vehicle into a lethal weapon.
This time, it was in Muenster, Germany, where police said several people were killed and at least a dozen seriously injured Saturday after a delivery truck slammed into people.Authorities are treating the incident as a deliberate attack, according to a police spokeswoman.Muenster joins a list of other cities that have fallen victim to a growing trend.Here’s a look at some similar incidents in the past few years and the possible motives behind them:Manhattan, New York
Date of attack: October 31, 2017Number of casualties: At least eight people were killed and about a dozen were injured, authorities said.What happened: The driver of a rental truck hopped a curb and drove down the bicycle path on the west side of West Side Highway in Lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center. After crashing the truck into a school bus, the suspect exited the vehicle while displaying imitation firearms and was shot in the abdomen by a police officer, according to the New York Police Department.Why it happened: Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, a 29-year-old originally from the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, was arrested and charged with 22 federal counts, including eight counts of murder.He told investigators he was inspired by ISIS videos to use a truck in the attack “to inflict maximum damage against civilians,”…Barcelona, Spain
Date of attack: August 17, 2017Number of casualties: At least 14 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, authorities said.What happened: A van plowed into crowds on the Barcelona thoroughfare of Las Ramblas, a popular stretch filled with cafes, bars and street performers.Why it happened: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy labeled the Barcelona attack “jihadi terrorism.” The ISIS media wing, Amaq, has said the Barcelona attackers were “soldiers of the Islamic State” but stopped short of explicitly claiming responsibility for the attacks or providing evidence for their claims.Charlottesville, Virginia
Date of attack: August 12, 2017Number of casualties: A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 people were injured.What happened: A gray Dodge Challenger rammed into the back of a silver convertible on a narrow side street crowded with anti-racism counterprotesters in downtown Charlottesville. The Dodge driver slammed the car in reverse, going back up the street at a high rate of speed, dragging its front bumper.The attack took place as rallies drew white nationalists and right-wing activists from across the country to the progressive college town.Why it happened: Authorities have not announced a motive, but the suspect, James Alex Fields Jr., faces charges including second-degree murder. Investigators have not said whether they believe it was an act of terrorism…London (London Bridge)
Date of attack: June 3, 2017Number of casualties: Eight people were killed and more than 40 were wounded.What happened: Three men drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before going on a stabbing rampage at bars at nearby Borough Market. They were shot dead by police.Inside the van, police found two blowtorches as well as what appeared to be 13 Molotov cocktails. The van also had office chairs and a suitcase. Police believe the attackers told relatives they were using it to move.Why it happened: Police named the attackers as Khuram Shazad Butt, 27; Rachid Redouane, 30; and Youssef Zaghba, 22.Butt is believed to have associated with the outlawed radical Islamist group al-Muhajiroun, co-founded by notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary.Stockholm, Sweden
Date of attack: April 7, 2017Number of casualties: Five people were killed and about a dozen injured, the Stockholm County Council said.What happened: A stolen beer truck barreled into pedestrians on a busy shopping street in the center of the Swedish capital before it plowed into a department store. Sweden stepped up its security. National counterterrorism, bomb and air assets also provided support.Why it happened: The attacker, Rakhmat Akilov, had shown sympathies to extremist groups, including ISIS, Swedish police said. Akilov, 39, was from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. He admitted to carrying out a “terrorist crime,” his lawyer said.London (Westminster Bridge)
Date of attack: March 22, 2017Number of casualties: Five people died in the attack, including an American man and an unarmed police officer, and scores of others were injured.What happened: Police say an assailant rammed his rental car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, not far from the UK Parliament. The suspect then entered Parliament grounds and fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot dead by other officers.Why it happened: The attacker, identified as 52-year-old British man Khalid Masood, acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism, officials said.He had been convicted on a string of violent crimes and weapons charges, but officials said they weren’t sure how he became radicalized.Nice, France
Date of attack: July 14, 2016Number of casualties: Eighty-four people were killed and more than 200 wounded.What happened: Authorities said Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel used a 20-ton truck to strike hundreds of people in Nice, where large crowds gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks.After the truck barreled through the crowd for almost a mile, police shot and killed Bouhlel.Why it happened: ISIS said the attack was retaliation for France’s role in the fight against ISIS.Berlin
Date of attack: December 19, 2016Number of casualties: Twelve people killed, at least 48 woundedWhat happened: A tractor-trailer rammed into a crowd at a bustling Christmas market, which was filled with holiday shoppers. The suspect, Anis Amri, was killed later in a shootout with police in Italy.Why it happened: A video showed Amri pledging allegiance to ISIS, and the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by “a soldier of the Islamic State” to target citizens of countries fighting ISIS.Columbus, Ohio
Date of attack: November 28, 2016Number of casualties: Eleven people woundedWhat happened: Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an Ohio State University student, rammed his car into a group of pedestrians on the campus. He got out and lunged at passers-by with a knife.Moments later, an Ohio State University police officer fatally shot Artan after he refused to stop.Why vehicle attacks?
While not all vehicle attacks are linked to terrorism, groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda have called on followers to use trucks as weapons.In fact, an al Qaeda magazine published an article in 2010 titled “The Ultimate Mowing Machine.”
All but one of the above instances were committed by Muslims, and the single exception is unlike the others in important details; the scene was already violent and chaotic, and the victims were among the perpetrators of this violence. It was not a random attack.
Muslims have contributed a few things to modern civilization, such as advances in algebra and astronomy. To this short list, we can add mass-murder-by-means-of-vehicles. If Alek Minassian isn’t actually Muslim himself, he was certainly inspired by Islam.
During the Cold War, Saudi Wahhabism was the darling of the Right (who together with the Saudis seeded madrassas all across Pakistan) and was also courted by China in its bid to win favour with the oil barons. The Iranians were courted as well though less publicly. This is the legacy.
I believe it would be more correct to say that peoples forced under the rule of Islam, such as Persians, Mesopotamians, Levantines, Jews, and Greeks, who were very intellectually productive prior to Islam, continued for a while until the flame of learning was extinguished by the anti-intellectual tenets of Islam.
Decapitating also was totally unknown before being publicized by Muslim terrorists.
Until a few years ago I had no idea that it was possible to cut off people’s heads with ease.
So giving rise to imitators is an important issue.