Instead of buzzing with excitement for what was shaping up to be an electrifying AFL Grand Final, Melbourne’s CBD was once again on edge in the wake of a terrifying incident early Saturday morning.
The incident in question – when a teen drove erratically through Swanston Street, almost knocking down pedestrians in his RAV4 before finally exiting the vehicle and threatening nearby bystanders with a weapon in hand – has been touted as ‘simply a mental health issue‘ by authorities. Say what now?
Victoria Police confirmed following his arrest that the incident was not being treated as ‘terror-related’, which is just utter bullsh*t. Especially so, when some witnesses are claiming his actions were quite deliberate, and that he appeared to be more than ready to cause harm.
What’s even more insane? The latest massacre in the US, where American Stephen Paddock opened fire on a concert crowd resulting in 59 dead and 527 injured civilians, has not been labelled a terrorist attack by authorities and media.
People are outraged, and rightly so.
Since when have the terms ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ been earmarked exclusively for use in describing acts of terror committed by ISIS or similar? Is it not the very essence of terrorism, to deliberately cause or attempt to cause harm to others? To act in such a way that people are left fearing for their safety, their lives? Regardless of their age, race or religion, we should be able to call these sociopaths what they are – terrorists.
Any person can go off the rails and end up doing something irrational and dangerous, it happens a lot. We can label them mentally unstable, or suffering ‘mental health issues’, since they most likely are. But they are also most definitely mentally unstable terrorists if their act or attempted act of violence is in any way directed at civilians.
Story written by Dunja Spasic
Infographic content sourced from:
Bruce, G. (2013). Definition of Terrorism – Social and Political Effects. Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, 21(2). Retrieved from http://jmvh.org/article/definitionof-terrorism-social-and-political-effects/
The Edittoir 