President implies Fort Hood mass shooting an act of terrorism, not workplace violence

Brett T. | 8:42 PM on December 07, 2015

That tweet from David Limbaugh comes from late last week, before President Obama addressed the nation from the Oval Office Sunday night. It wasn’t as clear as a flat-out declaration that the shooting at Fort Hood was an act of terrorism, but the president did name-check Fort Hood in his address about terrorism. Close enough?

Over the last few years, however, the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. As we’ve become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society. It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009; in Chattanooga earlier this year; and now in San Bernardino.

So mass shootings like the one at Fort Hood are the “less complicated” acts of terrorists who can no longer pull off more complex attacks like 9/11.

But I thought Fort Hood was mere workplace violence Mr. President. #ObamaAddress

— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) December 7, 2015

https://twitter.com/peddoc63/status/673680205723123713

Obama wants us to remember Muslims in the US military. He forgets the lessons Nidal Hasan taught at Fort Hood.

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) December 7, 2015

https://twitter.com/JammieWF/status/674024317760483328

President Obama talks about recent terrorist attacks in US – and then includes Fort Hood

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) December 7, 2015

https://twitter.com/stevemwasserman/status/673670791289044992

@jamiedupree But, but, but, didn't he say that was workplace violence? Does he think we have short memories?

— Bill Mynatt (@bill_mynatt) December 7, 2015

Last December, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act, which included a measure by Sen. John Cornyn to award the Purple Heart to those wounded or killed when gunman Nidal Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood. Those medals were presented in a ceremony in April but unfortunately didn’t include combat benefits.