German Police Curb Radical Terror Plot 

In Berlin, a twenty-eight-year old male has been arrested on terrorist charges. The man, who was assisted by his brother, planned on using explosive belts to commit a terror attack against civilians. The suspect was apprehended by a police sting in Hamburg, where he was caught buying bomb making components. The two Syrian nationals are believed to be radical jihadists. 
Whilst this attack seems to be a lone wolf incident, with neither being linked to a terror group, it's important to note that the threat from Syrian terror groups has diminished immensley in the past few weeks. A succesful drone strike on Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri, a pivotal leader in the planning of European attacks, has weakend the groups international capabilities immensely. 

The Nashville Shooter: The Unimportant Message of a Killer 

[27/03/2023]

Yesterday another school shooting occurred in Nashville, Tennessee. Another senseless attack occurred, killing six people, three of whom were children. The shooter, now identified as twenty-eight-year-old Aiden Hale was transgender and a former student. Hale was killed by police on the scene. The media have reported that Hale had planned this attack methodically, even indicating that there was a secondary attack location, which was not attacked due to the high security. The shooting was so pre-meditated that Hale had written a manifesto and suicide note, which he posted to Instagram. There has also been a lot of speculation about the justification for the shooting. The school was a Presbyterian elementary school, which Hale attended, many believing this could be a possible motive. (Archive and feed, 2023) As I am writing this the details of the manifesto have not been released. 

Children Being Escorted out of the Nashville School [Source: ABC News]

The Dangers of the Media

Many across social media platforms want to know the details of the manifesto, which allegedly included detailed maps of the school. Apart from horrific, vile curiosity by the media, the contents of this manifesto are meaningless. With a lone wolf, non-affiliated terrorist, there is no meaning to their attack. Any political, cultural or religious motivations this single person had are just meaningless ramblings. Even in a preventative sense, the message is unimportant as the killer was a lone gunman. Due to the fact the shooter was transgender, many online have gotten into vicious comment wars about the rights of the LGBTQ community. This misses the point entirely. Any deeper message this shooter wanted to portray is void. Nobody is going to take it seriously and rightfully so. 

Discussions around this manifesto have seemingly trumped the fatalities and the wider gun issues in America. Any crazy person who kills multiple children should not have their deluded manifesto put on such a pedestal. There should be no divide across the internet, this was not about the LGBTQ+ community, it was simply an unhinged person committing an atrocity. Instead, the wider media should focus on the six innocent fatalities. Six people were killed for no reason. 

After such a tragic event, the US needs to ask itself; how important are firearms to us? The shooter had used multiple guns which they had legally acquired. At what point will lawmakers see that enough is enough? Gun control needs to be dialled up. Schools introducing bizarre pull-out panic rooms and bulletproof blankets for students are glaringly wrong solutions, to a problem with a clear answer. It's time for lawmakers to put an end to the massive amount of firearm deaths within their country. Owning an automatic firearm should not be something possible. 

With domestic attacks, no matter how intriguing it may be to understand the motives, it's important to not lose sight of the tragedy and loss of life. What is written in that manifesto is not as important as those who have lost their lives or the broader issues that allow these attacks to take place. With attacks like these being almost a weekly occurrence, US Lawmakers need to take action. When will enough be enough? Lone wolf attackers should not be put on a pedestal in any way, no matter what community they are a part of. Doing so will simply encourage unhinged, fame-hungry, potential terrorists to act. The traditional and social media need to stop putting so much attention on the shooters, instead focussing on those who so tragically, lost their lives. 

We will keep updating this story in the coming days as more information is released. 

My thoughts and condolences go to those that lost their lives in the attack and their loved ones. Those that lost their lives were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Mike Hill, Cynthia Peak and Katherine Koonce.

References

Archive, V.A. and feed, G. author R. (2023). Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale identified as transgender and had detailed manifesto to attack Christian academy. [online] Available at: https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/nashville-school-shooter-audrey-hale-identified-as-transgender-and-had-detailed-manifesto-to-attack-christian-academy/.

‌