By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--February 16, 2015
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In a killing spree that bore a striking resemblance to the Paris attacks, the gunman first fired off a volley of bullets on Saturday at a cultural centre where a panel discussion about Islam and free speech was taking place. A 55-year-old man identified by the media was documentary film maker Finn Norgaard was killed at the event, which was also attended by Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist behind a controversial caricature of the Prophet Mohammed, and the French ambassador. In the second attack, the gunman opened fire outside the city's main synagogue while a bar mitzvah was being celebrated, killing a 37-year-old Jewish man named as Dan Uzan who was guarding the building.Police have indicated that the shooter - who was shot and killed later - was already being watched due to his ongoing involvement in gang violence. They believe that he may have been attempting to recreate the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and they're investigating the possibility that he may have been radicalized in prison. There's also concern that he may have been motivated by ISIS literature.
"Denmark has been hit by terror," Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said. "We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrator's actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech." Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism. "PET is working on a theory that the perpetrator could have been inspired by the events in Paris. He could also have been inspired by material sent out by (the Islamic State group) and others," Madsen said.We're sure that the cadre of victims at a free speech panel involving a cartoonist who drew Mohammed and at a bar mitzvah were, as the president likes to say, just a bunch of "random folks." Meanwhile, half a world away, ISIS affiliated terrorists took their ongoing horror show to new heights. The 'not-Islamic' organization released a new video, in which they seemingly exacted revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden. According to the tape - which we won't present here - ISIS marched 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians down to a beach in Libya. There, they issued the following message/threat:
"All crusaders: safety for you will be only wishes, especially if you are fighting us all together. Therefore we will fight you all together. The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood."Then, the 21 prisoners were forced to the ground and were beheaded. To be fair, The White House has issued an uncommonly strong condemnation of the attack, and even managed to bring itself to use the word "terrorists" in its statement. It did not, however, mention that the victims were Christians, nor did it muster the gumption to label the perpetrators Islamic radicals. So we're still not sure.... ....What could possibly be the motivating ideology in these attacks? Since it's obviously 'not Islam,' what is it?
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