The media did everything they could to avoid mentioning it, but it’s confirmed today that the mass murderer who terrorized a mall in Salt Lake City was a Bosnian Muslim: 6 minutes of horror.
Police said Talovic had a juvenile record of only four minor offenses. None of his arrests were for violent crimes.
The man had lived at a house with his mother and three younger sisters near the Utah State Fairpark. Neither his mother nor his sisters would answer the door or respond to phone calls Tuesday, although a person inside would pick up the phone and then quickly hang up.
Ajka Omerovic, who said she was Talovic’s aunt, visited the home Tuesday afternoon. She told the Deseret Morning News that Talovic had been “a good boy.” She said the family are Muslims from Bosnia who had lived in the vicinity of Sarajevo.
UPDATE at 2/14/07 10:31:52 am:
At Wikipedia, the PC police are deliberately suppressing the display of the word “Muslim” in the article about Sulejman Talovic: Talk: Sulejman Talovic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (Hat tip: RedWhiteAndJew.)
While I support the change because of the need for proper documentation in this type of discourse, Sulejman is a name of Arabic origin, the name of a dozen or so Muslim notables. Local radio news in Salt Lake City (KNRS-AM) is reporting that Talovic was Muslim. I hope that once documentation is established on this fact, that the possibility that he is Muslim will be recognized as relevant.
—His religious background is completely irrelevant to the shooting. If he were a Christian, you would not hear anything about his religious affiliation. Having his possible affiliation as a Muslim stated in the article only makes it look as though Islam was a factor in his crime.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Posts
1 comment :
The fact that Sulejman Talovic was a Muslim and came to Utah as a Bosnian refugee in the 1990’s was NOT suppressed in the media locally (in Utah) nor, as far as I’ve read, Nationally. In fact, it was quickly reported that this was NOT a terrorist attack (in case anyone wanted to draw a parallel between his religion or his ethnic origin to the crime). In a candlelight vigil held tonight to honour the victims and the rescuers, the Mayor of Salt Lake City, The Mayor of Salt Lake County, the Governor of Utah, the Salt Lake City Police Chief, AND the Ambassador to the United States from Bosnia-Herzegovina all spoke about taking care to avoid bigotry and to come together as a community.
There are those who have been angry and wanted to target the Bosnian community, but most people recognize that the Talovic family is as bewildered and grieving as any of the families – perhaps more because they never conceived that such a horrible crime could be committed by their loved one. Madame Ambassador Bisera Turkovic also pointed out in her speech at the vigil that the fear and confusion brought up by this event was worse for Bosnians, as many came to Utah at a time of horrible violence and War and had to escape from their homes.
Crime in Utah has been at a fourteen-year low, and there has NEVER been a problem with the Bosnian community (estimated at 7,000 or so individuals in Salt Lake City), or, for that matter, the Muslim community. I take that back: The Muslim community was TARGETED with some hate crimes after 9/11, but they were innocent and undeserving victims rather than perpetrators.
As Madame Ambassador Bisera Turkovic said, this was the act of ONE individual – one individual who was sick. And unfortunately, as is sometimes the case with someone ill, he didn’t give any indication of how he was about to explode. He’d had some run-ins with the law years and years ago, but he went to work before he went on the shooting rampage and acted completely normal.
Please Beware of Prevalent Stereotypes and Conspiracy Theories,
Kate of Le Monde de Kate du Fromage
Post a Comment