Last night in New York, there was yet another terrorist attack. Will it ever end? Can we go five minutes without a heinous Islamic State terrorist attack, please? It’s getting ridiculous. A man who has been named as Sayfullo Saipov drove a truck onto a cycle path in lower Manhattan, near the 9/11 memorial site, and ran through a crowd of people, killing eight people and injuring 11 others. The 11 injured includes two children.
Following the attack, the suspect emerged from the truck and was immediately shot in the abdomen by police officers and arrested.
According to officials investigating the New York terrorist attack, a pellet gun and a paintball gun were found in the attacker’s truck following the incident. He was likely planning to use these weapons to scare survivors, had the police not responded to the incident so rapidly.
There had also been reports that a handwritten note or a few notes had been found in the assailant’s rented Home Depot truck, but these reports went unconfirmed by New York officials involved in the investigation for many hours and had been dismissed as hearsay and rumours. However, authorities have since confirmed that a note was found in the truck that made reference to the Islamic State and specifically mentioned ISIS.
Most of the victims were not American
The Islamic State’s war against western culture and, in the case of the New York attack, specifically America is not seeing many fruits as a result. Of the eight people who were killed in the attack, most of them were from other countries. Five of them were a group of Argentinian friends who were reuniting in Manhattan after a long time apart.
These friends were a part of a larger friendship group who were reconvening in New York to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their graduation from high school.
The five Argentinian friends who were killed in New York last night were the first victims of the incident to be named by authorities. According to the foreign ministry of Argentina, their names are Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij, and Hernán Ferruchi, and there were all in their forties.
If anything, last night’s act of terror was an attack against Argentina, not America. Is that on ISIS’s agenda? It’s all very slapdash. They don’t orchestrate these attacks very well – they’re just sadistic agents of chaos, killing as many people as they can.
A sixth friend in the Argentinian group, Martin Ludovico Marro, was injured in the New York terrorist attack. Meanwhile, another non-American victim was killed in the incident – a Belgian woman who still has yet to be named. The foreign minister of Belgium, Didier Reynders, confirmed that the woman was visiting New York on vacation with her sister and mother.
Politicians respond
Many politicians have responded to the New York attack, as our side of the world must stand united against the Dark Side of the Force.
US President Donald Trump has pledged to up the ante on his “extreme vetting” of Muslim tourists and migrants in response to the incident, which had led to him getting some flak for “politicising” what happened. He did call the assailant “a very sick and deranged person,” at least he is right about something.
Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of New York City, has responded to the attack, branding it an “act of terror” that was “particularly cowardly” in comparison to the other terrorist attacks of late. He pointed out that while the terrorist was attempting to intimidate the city, the people of New York are strong and will not be intimidated by acts of violence or Terrorism. They stand united in the face of such adversity.
