The New York Times took a lot of grief for describing Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the man who killed more than 80 in a “truck crash” in Nice, France, as a “surly misfit with no terror links.” Not only that; he “never went to the local mosque” and had “no record of radicalization.”
Teenager Who Killed 9 in Munich Was Obsessed With Violence, Officials Say https://t.co/TBIAvI5YMS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 23, 2016
Obviously, many were curious how the New York Times would characterize the 18-year-old who killed 9 and wounded nearly 30 during an attack on a mall in Munich, Germany, on Friday. This kid was no surly misfit; he was a “quietly troubled young man” who “grew up in a secular household,” said the New York Times on Saturday. Salon too emphasized that the shooter was “not at all religious.”
To avoid any possible confusion, no "terrorists" involved here, just another deranged right-wing mass murderer … https://t.co/yGoWCKZAX3
— Consent Factory (@consent_factory) July 23, 2016
The shooter has been identified by the BBC as David Ali Sonboly, or “Ali David Sonboly, or David S,” while the New York Times reports “he was known to everyone as Ali.” Glad that’s cleared up.
German police say that Sonboly had no terrorist ties; however, considering that the New York Times said the same thing about the Nice terrorist, skepticism isn’t out of place. On Friday, of course, police themselves said there was an “obvious” link between the attack, a rise in right-wing nationalism, and the fifth anniversary of Anders Breivik’s murder of 77 people in Norway.
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While Breivik, though, was dedicated to stopping Muslim immigration to Europe, Sonboly was the son of two immigrants from Iran seeking asylum in Germany in the late 1990s.
The Munich shooter had deep ties to Germany & idolized a right-wing Norwegian. This is not about refugees. https://t.co/zSCCXxr1T5
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) July 23, 2016
Think Progress reports that mass violence in Western Europe is largely perpetrated by people with “deep ties” to Europe, citing the Nice and Brussels terror attacks as examples — though political and religious extremism can certainly take priority over citizenship.
Some terror experts are speculating about possible link between #Munich and the 5th anniversary today of the Norway right-wing attack.
— William Crawley (@williamcrawley) July 22, 2016
Informed speculation: #Munich is right wing terror not Islamist. Shooter complained about foreigners and unemployment, say media
— mark seibel (@markseibel) July 22, 2016
NBC’s @RichardEngel discusses the possibility that the Munich Shooter is "Right Wing" https://t.co/DaFS3COcc7 @msnbc Good Job. #journalism
— Mike (@mike4libertyCA) July 23, 2016
CNN is now in full speculative mode as to whether this Munich attack is "right wing related or….." #BlamePresbyterians
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) July 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/756673933189918720
https://twitter.com/Gavin_McInnes/status/757037059953553408
BREAKING: German police says there is an 'obvious link' between Munich gunman and Norway's right-wing terrorist Anders Breivik
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) July 23, 2016
Police and the media both insist the attack was not driven by Islamic extremism, and the New York Times puts much of its focus on anecdotes that Sonboly was bullied at school. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Sonboly had “researched” the Breivik attack, which somewhere along the media pipeline became, “was obsessed with/idolized Breivik.”
MUNICH MASSACRE: Bullied teen shooter Ali Sonboly was 'obsessed' with Anders Brevik https://t.co/hWqmtJo2oY pic.twitter.com/1ORY4nb06C
— Daily Star (@dailystar) July 23, 2016
https://twitter.com/PfeifferDC/status/756993085775618048
What we’ve learned from the media is not to trust the media, and that’s unfortunate.
Conflicting media reports. One channel says #Munich attacker shouted obscenities against foreigners; other says he shouted 'Allahu Akbar'.
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) July 22, 2016
The following isn’t a bad theory, considering the teen who attacked train passengers in Germany fled the scene, but instead of making a run for it stopped to attack a pair of women walking a dog, at which point he was shot.
Some unconfirmed reports #Munich attacker shot himself. If such reports true (I say if) then likely attacker not ISIS. This is why:
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) July 22, 2016
Jihadists normally dont shoot themselves. Their usual tactics: fight until killed (Inghemasi انغماسي) or blow yourself up (Intehari انتحاري)
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) July 22, 2016
One thing is certain; the media that is usually so quick to caution against jumping to conclusions ran pretty quickly with the assumption by German authorities that there were multiple shooters in Munich, most likely right-wing extremists angry over mass immigration.
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