Names of victims - Courtney Silverling, Charlotte Kaufman, Michelle Krug and Kelsey Kosten.
Name of attacker - Unknown.
Weapon - A spray bottle filled with Hydrochloric acid.
Time of attack - 9am local time, Central European Standard Time, which is +2 GMT, making it 2am here in Texas.
Scene of attack - Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles, Marseilles main train station.
Reason of attack - Unknown. The police say that the woman is "disturbed" and has a history of mental illness. After the attack, she remained at the scene until the police came and then talked to them about being attacked with acid once herself.
The victims are reported to be in good health.
Is it terrorism?
Well, a lot of the arguments I've seen revolve around the idea that any attack perpetrated with acid is a terror attack. Right wing twitter is especially abuzz with this new definition of terrorism. Disregarding for a moment that the actual definition of terrorism is "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims" and just accepting this new narrative for the sake of argument, I have to wonder why the right only cares about brown terrorism.
I mean, I already know the answer... But apparently it's important to debate racists these days. I hope
this helps.
Meet John Tomlin.
This lump of pure England allegedly threw acid on two Muslims at a traffic light in East London. Resham Khan, 21, and her cousin Jameel Muhktar, 37, were left severely injured in the attack. Without going into too much horrific detail, and the details are horrific, Tomlin allegedly pulled up on them and motioned that they open their window. When he first began throwing the acid Jameel Muktar apparently thought it was a practical joke. Then he realized that Resham was burning. A moment later, he too was burning. Jameel attempted to drive away but, blinded by acid and I'm sure great pain, he crashed the car into a fence. The two then stripped from their burning clothes and begged local residents for water and help before being taken to an area hospital. The two do not appear to know Tomlin.
“My plans are in pieces; my pain is unbearable, and I write this letter in hospital whilst I patiently wait for the return of my face,” she wrote.
It was Ms. Khan's birthday and they were out celebrating. Khan is an aspiring model and a Manchester Metropolitan University student. Her facial injuries are substantial. She is a beautiful woman and I wish her well on her long road to what I hope will be a full recovery.
*Trigger warning* The pictures are rough.
Help her here.
"If this was an Asian guy like myself, going up to an English couple in a car and acid attacking them, I know for a fact and the whole country knows that it would be classed as a terror attack".
Mr. Muktar fared no better. After the attack he was put into a medically induced coma because his injuries were so severe. Since the attack he has become terrified to leave his house. He's also deaf in one ear now. I hope he, too, makes a full recovery.
Help him here.
So, is this terrorism?
If so, why isn't John Tomlin a household name? Why aren't the right wing Christians of twitter, of the fucking world, rallying to the cause of Jameel Muktar and Resham Khan? Is it because acid attacks aren't automatically terrorism? Or is it because it's only terrorism when a brown person does it? John Tomlin looks like a skinhead to me. The cross facial tat is a very common thing among English skinheads and while I'm not sure about the teardrops I know what they mean here!
What about this poor guy?
This man was also attacked by acid. His name and identity are being concealed because apparently acid attacks are under-reported in England due to fear of reprisals. No outrage for him? I wonder why.
Or what about this man?
This is the only picture I could find of this man. No name. No arrests. No outrage.
Or what about this case?
The victim named, Jabed Duzzahuru, is just a delivery driver that was randomly attacked. Never heard of him. Weird. They even protested for protection from these attacks.
London has an acid attack problem. It's currently the acid attack capital of the world. Per this Guardian piece, In 2016 there were 455 crimes in London where a corrosive substance was used or threatened to be used. A quarter of these were street robberies. Are robberies terrorism if you use acid? If so, why aren't people screaming about these terrorist attacks?
Is it just because it's expected in London? Perhaps. It happens there a lot. So let's try another country. How about Germany? Earlier this year, a man on a bicycle was riding around Berlin spraying chemicals at random women. Why wasn't there outrage about this?
It is not yet known whether the six cases are connected, but the modus operandi appears to be the same: A man on a bicycle rides up to a woman walking at night and sprays her with a liquid.
This is what happened to a 41-year-old walking late on Monday around midnight in the eastern Prenzlauer Berg district, police report.
The woman told police that a man rode by her and sprayed an as of yet unknown substance in the direction of her head. Police said that luckily the woman acted quickly to use her scarf to block the liquid from hitting her, meaning she was left unharmed.
The man then rode away, but the woman was able to give police a description: He was between 35 and 45 years old with light skin, of medium height and a strong-looking build.
Oh.
Either it's all terrorism or none of it is.
If, when a brown person throws acid on someone it's automatically Islamic terrorism, then when a white man with a cross tattoo on his face throws acid on a Muslim it is also terrorism.
If, when a white man throws acid on someone it's not automatically Christian terrorism, then when a brown man throws acid on a white man it is also not terrorism.
Pick one.
But they won't. The main victims of these "terror attacks" are brown people and right wingers don't care about those victims because right wingers don't care about brown people.
Unless they're guilty of something, of course.
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