By: Abdillahi Alawy
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
A gunman of Asian origin shot dead 32 people and injured 15 more in two separate shooting incidents on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia on Monday morning. Authorities called this shooting the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. Even in a country where citizens can buy and keep guns, this incident still is believed to be the worst mass shooting in the U.S. history.
On a pristine and normally quiet campus of 26,000 students, two people were shot around 7:15 Monday morning in the first shooting at a first-year students dormitory, West Ambler Johnston Hall, and two hours later thirty more students and faculty were killed in a second round of gunfire at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
Although we now know the identity of the gunman, a student Cho Seung-Hui, 23; it took over 24 hours to officially announce the identity of the perpetrator. The 24 hour waiting period was mainly due to the fact that the shooter had disfigured his face in his final act of killing himself. But it needed exactly that amount of time to speculate on the identity and motive of the shooter. Many internet chat-sites and blog spots had people insinuating that this Asian person was a “Muslim suicidal jihadist up to no good!”
Still, many here wondered who the perpetrator was, and what the motive of all the killings. Several eyewitnesses confirmed it was an Asian male. But, to be described as an Asian male in the USA could mean anything. Even before the 9/11 bombings, Asian looking in a senseless killing spree like this mainly says one thing. That, the person could be a Pakistani or Arab Muslim and the killing easily associated with the Jihad. For this Virginia carnage, the assumption was made easy due to earlier bomb threats on the same campus and the killing of an Israel professor among the 32.
In the heat of the moment, some US media consumers automatically assumed that this was a terrorist act at an international university. In this country we are constantly bombarded with suicide killings, bomb threats, and consistent Islamphobia that has continued before 9/11. So, when an Asian looking man shoots 32 people then commits suicide many jump to the conclusion that a Muslim is the perpetrator.
In 1994 in Oklahoma City, the bombing of the federal building was immediately thought to be work of an Arab radical Islamist. Several suspects who fit the bill, mainly Arab Muslims men around age 30 were held in many airports around the world. As it turned out though, Timothy McVeigh, A white American with no Islamic affiliations was the bomber.
It could be considered insensitive to bring up topics such as these especially in the midst of 33 families directly mourning this tragic incident. Moreover, we are all touched by this massacre whether we live in Virginia or Mombasa. We are all saddened by this act and our prayers are for all the victims and their families. However, the sigh of relief coming from the massacre survivors resembles very much the relief experienced from the Muslim communities in the US who are mostly considered guilty until the perpetrator is found.
Rural Virginia small towns tend to be very beautiful and very safe. A campus town like Blacksburg would be even more diversified due to the student populations from all over the world. But in any diversity an outgrowth of suspicion may also take root and not many educated people know the diversity aspects within the world Muslim communities. There
So it was quite disappointing in some blogsphere quarters when it turned out that the shooter was not John Allen Mohammed but a quiet Korean immigrant who has lived amongst us for the last two decades or so. Virginia Tech massacre was horrible and disgusting.
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
A gunman of Asian origin shot dead 32 people and injured 15 more in two separate shooting incidents on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia on Monday morning. Authorities called this shooting the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. Even in a country where citizens can buy and keep guns, this incident still is believed to be the worst mass shooting in the U.S. history.
On a pristine and normally quiet campus of 26,000 students, two people were shot around 7:15 Monday morning in the first shooting at a first-year students dormitory, West Ambler Johnston Hall, and two hours later thirty more students and faculty were killed in a second round of gunfire at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
Although we now know the identity of the gunman, a student Cho Seung-Hui, 23; it took over 24 hours to officially announce the identity of the perpetrator. The 24 hour waiting period was mainly due to the fact that the shooter had disfigured his face in his final act of killing himself. But it needed exactly that amount of time to speculate on the identity and motive of the shooter. Many internet chat-sites and blog spots had people insinuating that this Asian person was a “Muslim suicidal jihadist up to no good!”
Still, many here wondered who the perpetrator was, and what the motive of all the killings. Several eyewitnesses confirmed it was an Asian male. But, to be described as an Asian male in the USA could mean anything. Even before the 9/11 bombings, Asian looking in a senseless killing spree like this mainly says one thing. That, the person could be a Pakistani or Arab Muslim and the killing easily associated with the Jihad. For this Virginia carnage, the assumption was made easy due to earlier bomb threats on the same campus and the killing of an Israel professor among the 32.
In the heat of the moment, some US media consumers automatically assumed that this was a terrorist act at an international university. In this country we are constantly bombarded with suicide killings, bomb threats, and consistent Islamphobia that has continued before 9/11. So, when an Asian looking man shoots 32 people then commits suicide many jump to the conclusion that a Muslim is the perpetrator.
In 1994 in Oklahoma City, the bombing of the federal building was immediately thought to be work of an Arab radical Islamist. Several suspects who fit the bill, mainly Arab Muslims men around age 30 were held in many airports around the world. As it turned out though, Timothy McVeigh, A white American with no Islamic affiliations was the bomber.
It could be considered insensitive to bring up topics such as these especially in the midst of 33 families directly mourning this tragic incident. Moreover, we are all touched by this massacre whether we live in Virginia or Mombasa. We are all saddened by this act and our prayers are for all the victims and their families. However, the sigh of relief coming from the massacre survivors resembles very much the relief experienced from the Muslim communities in the US who are mostly considered guilty until the perpetrator is found.
Rural Virginia small towns tend to be very beautiful and very safe. A campus town like Blacksburg would be even more diversified due to the student populations from all over the world. But in any diversity an outgrowth of suspicion may also take root and not many educated people know the diversity aspects within the world Muslim communities. There
So it was quite disappointing in some blogsphere quarters when it turned out that the shooter was not John Allen Mohammed but a quiet Korean immigrant who has lived amongst us for the last two decades or so. Virginia Tech massacre was horrible and disgusting.
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