ABC News reports:
A gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS ambushed a Philadelphia police officer Thursday night, unleashing a hail of bullets at him “in the name of Islam,” officials said.
The suspect, Edward Archer, 30, now in custody, “confessed to committing this cowardly act in the name of Islam,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said during a news conference. “According to him, he believed that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Quran.”
Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark said the suspect “stated that he pledges his allegiance to Islamic State, he follows Allah and that is the reason he was called upon to do this.”
But when White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked by ABC’s Jonathan Karl, “The attempted assassination of a police officer in Philadelphia, does the White House consider that a terrorist attack?” Earnest would not say it was.
A still image from surveillance video shows a gunman (L) running away from a Philadelphia Police vehicle in which Officer Jesse Hartnett was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this Philadelphia Police Department image released on January 8, 2016. REUTERS/Philadelphia Police Department.
“This is something still being investigated by the Philadelphia Police department and, um, they have not concluded that it actually is an act of terrorism, but given some of the circumstances of the event, obviously that is something we’re all wondering right now.”
Wondering?
Consider the facts: ISIS has repeatedly called for its followers in the West to attack and kill police officers. In September 2014, ISIS released a message urging its supporters to “rise up and kill … police officers,” adding: “Do not let the battle pass you by wherever you may be. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents.” If supporters did not have a gun or a bomb, ISIS said, they should, “smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car.”
Another ISIS video last year urged those who cannot come to join the fight in Syria to conduct attacks at home. “If you see a cop, kill him, kill each infidel you see in the street my brother,” the video declared.
Law enforcement took these threats so seriously that the NYPD issued an internal memo warning officers to “remain alert” and the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a similar bulletin to law enforcement nationwide.
Now, a man in Philadelphia did exactly what ISIS called for — firing 11 rounds through a police car window. Afterwards, he confessed to the shooting and said he did it for ISIS. Then we learned that he became radicalized after visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
But the White House says they “haven’t concluded it’s terrorism.” What more information do they need?
Contrast the White House response to this attack with President Obama’s outrage last October after the Oregon community college shooting. Obama stood at the White House podium and lectured us on our complacency in the face of such violence. “Somehow,” Obama said, “this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. We become numb to this.”
He said he would not stand for it, and was going to “politicize” the issue until we changed our attitude and our policies.
Well, when it comes to terror, where’s the president’s outrage? Where is his determination to shake us from our complacency? It is nonexistent.
So why does the president seem to care more about non-terrorist gun violence? The answer is simple: When it comes to guns, he wants to change our policy, but when it comes to terror he does not. When it comes to guns, he can blame Republicans for not passing his gun control agenda, but when it comes to terror he can blame no one but himself. There is no political advantage to focusing on terrorism. If anything, the president is better off if we become “numb” to it. Because the more it becomes routine, the less outrage he faces.
A family friend of the shooter, Jannah Abdulsalaam – whom Archer called “Aunty” – had said he became radicalized after returning from visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. “There’s so many people who have been swayed to go in that direction,” she told Reuters.
And she had a message for President Obama: “ISIS needs to be destroyed.”
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