By KYLE PRATT
Opinion Editor
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio was quick to rule out terrorism the evening of Sept. 17, after an explosion rocked the area of 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan.
“At this moment,” De Blasio said Saturday night, “we do not see a link to terrorism.”
The mayor immediately received backlash from many who wondered how a bomb going off in Manhattan could not be considered terrorism.
Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo somewhat contradicted De Blasio the next day, saying the blast was “obviously an act of terrorism.”
The governor then came to the mayor’s defense, suggesting De Blasio didn’t think the bombing was a coordinated act by a terrorist group.
“I think the mayor was saying there was no connection with international terrorism,” Cuomo said Sunday, “and I believe that is correct. No one is taking credit. No international groups have put out statements taking credit.”
But that is not what the mayor said, unless he believes terrorism can only be carried out by international and/or Islamic groups. He said there was no link to terrorism at all.
The mayor’s premature claims seem to suggest that he believes terrorism can only be carried out by international terrorist groups, such as ISIS, al Qaeda or other groups that claim to represent Islam. This is a trend we’ve seen recently in the United States.
When Dylan Roof, a delusional white supremacist, killed nine people inside Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, people refused to call it an act of terrorism.
If Roof was a Muslim, he would have immediately been labeled a terrorist, as were the two attackers in the San Bernardino killings that same year.
An act of terrorism can be carried out by someone of any race, any religion, and any socioeconomic status.
One can also be carried out for almost any political reason, not just Islamic extremism.
Mayor De Blasio may disagree, but a bomb going off in the middle of Manhattan and injuring 29 people is an act of terrorism regardless of who the perpetrators were and what their motivation was.
Americans seem to forget that terrorism can come in many shapes and forms from many different people. The United States has seen radical-right terrorism, radical-left terrorism and even anti-government terrorism, such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Unabomber.
Given the history of American domestic terrorism, it was a miscalculation on the part of Mayor De Blasio to assume that, since there was no evidence of international Islamic radicalism, there was no evidence of terrorism.
Not only was this a misjudgment, it could potentially be detrimental to De Blasio’s political career.
In a city so familiar with terrorism, the optics of a mayor lacking proper judgment, and frankly, understanding, cannot be beneficial.
As for the United States as a whole, it is time we come to a realization that terrorism is not synonymous with Islam. All Muslims are not terrorists, and all terrorists are not Muslims.Making such assumptions, especially on a topic so vital to our national security, puts us at risk.
De Blasio is lucky his police department didn’t make the same assumption he did. They treated the incident like a terrorist event, which led them to find a secondary device just four blocks away, saving an unknown number of lives.
Yes, in today’s world we face people who pervert the teachings of a peaceful religion to fuel their hateful ideology and desire for violence, but if a bomb intentionally goes off on a Saturday night on a New York City street and 29 people are injured, it’s terrorism. Regardless of the lunatic who decided to put it there.
