CANADA - 3 dead including gunman, 12 injured in Greektown shooting, Toronto, July 2018

[tarabull]

'Taste of the Danforth' won't be defined by mass shooting, organizer says

Taste of the Danforth to honour victims of mass shooting at opening ceremonies Friday night

PM to open Toronto's Danforth festival, 3 weeks after deadly shooting | CBC News

 

[tarabull]

Fredericton woman was also nearby as Danforth gun attack unfolded

 

[tarabull]

Nursing student shot in Danforth attack 'still finds the city as beautiful as ever,' family says | CBC News

 

[andreww]

I am simply dumfounded by the lack of information about Faisal Hussain. News about this tragedy basically stopped within 48 hours and Hussain was given a mental illness pass by the media. How did this spin doctor get involved in this? The only member of the Hussain family still walking is the mother, and I doubt she was out looking for a PR representative within hours of her son's death. The only people that knew the shooter's identity when the statement were the mother and LE. So did LE contact the spin doctor? Why? Why were FH's facebook and social media accounts removed or sanitized before his name was released? Why has media been so willing to buy in to mental illness so quickly when it has been stated that he posted radical islamic posts, and according to friends, liked to talk about his radical islamic thoughts with friends. Of all the people that knew him that were interviewed, not one spoke about any mental illness that he had. The fact that he held a job and finished school tells me that this wasn't a huge issue.

We know nothing about this guy. When did he come to Canada? We know he visited Pakistan and Afghanistan, but for what reason? I also wonder about who he was targeting. The media has not released the identities of all the wounded, but of the two dead and four or five wounded people I have heard about, they have all been women. Was he targeting women? In one of the early witness interviews a gentleman on the scene said "he was shooting at the women".

IMO this was a terrorist attack, and whether FH was an official member or not , he was acting on their behalf. I also believe that when LE identified him and entered his name in the system, it set off an alarm and national security was called. I believe it is their mandate not to panic the public and not to acknowledge acts of terror, so it was them who arranged for the spin doctor to concoct that bogus statement. And just like the Yonge Street van attack, written off as a random act of a mentally ill person, we all forget quickly and move on with our lives.

 

[dotr]

Many now feel that downplaying the terrorist angle is the prudent tactic to take when dealing with these kind of events, imo, speculation.
Stop giving terrorists the spotlight they're looking for | CBC Radio
May 2017 rbbm.
"Change the way you use language
Lakshmanan says we should avoid giving credit to terrorists for attacks.

Instead of saying ISIS claims responsibility for an attack, we should say they admit guilt. This is an important distinction according to Lakshmanan.

It's significant in the way that ISIS and its potential recruits consume [the] news...ISIS' own propagandists have made it clear that they use and exploit the Western media in an effort to appeal to vulnerable people and bring in more recruits. The more glamorous and more of a risk to so-called Western democracy they appear to be, the more exciting it is for young people suffering from anomie and dislocation to join a group like this.- Indira Lakshmanan"
Why Terrorist Attacks Are Losing Their Ability to Terrify
''ISIS seems to be following a “kitchen sink approach” in staking claim to attacks. The group will just as readily claim responsibility for the devastating attack at the Bataclan in Paris in November 2015 as it will a simple knife attack that injures only a police officer. The ISIS strategy is one of attrition—continue to maintain a high operational tempo of attacks throughout the globe, but especially in the West, to make the threat of terrorism seem ubiquitous. According to the Institute for the Study of War, 54 attempted terrorist attacks have been linked to the Islamic State in Europe this year.

The common assumption is that more terrorism inevitably means people are more terrified, but some research suggests the opposite. In essence, individuals find ways to integrate and normalize some violence as part of their life, and make strategic choices to navigate threats. This is true regardless of whether we are talking about bar fights, gang-affected neighborhoods, or terrorism. We avoid some gathering places and steer clear of certain neighborhoods after dark, and these insights become points of resilience for everyday people who factor in whom and what to avoid throughout their day.

The Islamic State’s strategy is not geared toward negotiating some lasting political solution, but to exacting ongoing revenge, polarizing societies to exacerbate divisions, and goading governments into overreacting, ultimately helping terrorists recruit more effectively while also confirming existing narratives that the West is at war with Islam.''

 

[glamourkitty1922]

Trouble is that the terrorists will just double down on their atrocities. Also I don't trust the gov't to determine what we should know about events. There is a reason we have a free press and free speech. The gov't isn't overly trustworthy. When they hide information like the Ft Hood terrorist attack, it's not for our benefit. No, terrorists need to be under the spotlight not hidden in the dark where they can multiply like cockroaches. People deserve to know what's going on in their own countries.

 

[MistyWaters]

Trouble is that the terrorists will just double down on their atrocities. Also I don't trust the gov't to determine what we should know about events. There is a reason we have a free press and free speech. The gov't isn't overly trustworthy. When they hide information like the Ft Hood terrorist attack, it's not for our benefit. No, terrorists need to be under the spotlight not hidden in the dark where they can multiply like cockroaches. People deserve to know what's going on in their own countries.

The problem is governments can never prove a negative. So as it’s impossible to prove ISIS wasn’t involved because the perp can’t be interviewed, then some people believe it must’ve been. That’s not a lot different than me being unable to prove the world is round by having walked or flown in a circle around it, so then it might be flat.

So are you suggesting it’s realistic that people might expect a minute-by-minute detailed account involving the life of a perpetrator committing a mass shooting in order to prove no connection to ISIS? Much like pedophiles who become motivated through lurid public details involving child abuse, the act of unbalanced people committing copycat crimes is also well established.

Because we’re not given the entire investigative file to pour through, some assume there must be a conspiracy or a coverup. But did you ever consider the reason is to to protect you and me from some other lunatic out there who gets off on fantasizing over making headline news, imagining they can do better? So much negative in the worldwide news today simply because it sells, so many bloody movies and video games involving death, how does society in general benefit from dwelling on it even more? The survivors are left with coping with the tragedy, the impacted family and friends of the perp, the first responders on the scene - can you imagine how preposterous it is that they be expected to prove to the general public their accounts as well?

Sorry if this is coming across as a rant but I really do feel sorry for people who live their lives in deep mistrust and paranoia and believe that the entire govt or police always are corrupt, can’t be trusted, and nothing is like it seems. However it also deeply concerns me — because did you ever consider that mindset is not a lot different than the very same type of brainwashing that ISIS likely practises?

 

[glamourkitty1922]

The problem is governments can never prove a negative. So as it’s impossible to prove ISIS wasn’t involved because the perp can’t be interviewed, then some people believe it must’ve been. That’s not a lot different than me being unable to prove the world is round by having walked or flown in a circle around it, so then it might be flat.

So are you suggesting it’s realistic that people might expect a minute-by-minute detailed account involving the life of a perpetrator committing a mass shooting in order to prove no connection to ISIS? Much like pedophiles who become motivated through lurid public details involving child abuse, the act of unbalanced people committing copycat crimes is also well established.

Because we’re not given the entire investigative file to pour through, some assume there must be a conspiracy or a coverup. But did you ever consider the reason is to to protect you and me from some other lunatic out there who gets off on fantasizing over making headline news, imagining they can do better? So much negative in the worldwide news today simply because it sells, so many bloody movies and video games involving death, how does society in general benefit from dwelling on it even more? The survivors are left with coping with the tragedy, the impacted family and friends of the perp, the first responders on the scene - can you imagine how preposterous it is that they be expected to prove to the general public their accounts as well?

Sorry if this is coming across as a rant but I really do feel sorry for people who live their lives in deep mistrust and paranoia and believe that the entire govt or police always are corrupt, can’t be trusted, and nothing is like it seems. However it also deeply concerns me — because did you ever consider that mindset is not a lot different than the very same type of brainwashing that ISIS likely practises?

All this because I don't like the gov't to withold information? It's "brainwashing" to demand a crime to be handled and reported honestly by the gov't? It's paranoia to demand the truth from the gov't? I don't find lies to be comforting, I prefer the truth. The gov't is not my master and I don't find politicians to be omniscient. As for minute by minute, the gov't shouldn't be lying because that information will come out. Just like it did in Ft Hood. It merely erodes public confidence in the gov't.

 

[Jennifer17]

All this because I don't like the gov't to withold information? It's "brainwashing" to demand a crime to be handled and reported honestly by the gov't? It's paranoia to demand the truth from the gov't? I don't find lies to be comforting, I prefer the truth. The gov't is not my master and I don't find politicians to be omniscient. As for minute by minute, the gov't shouldn't be lying because that information will come out. Just like it did in Ft Hood. It merely erodes public confidence in the gov't.

You do not know that they are lying. Just because the US government may (or may not) have does not mean that the Canadian Government is.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

You do not know that they are lying. Just because the US government may (or may not) have does not mean that the Canadian Government is.

So, you're saying gov'ts always tell the truth?

 

[Jennifer17]

So, you're saying gov'ts always tell the truth?

The government are the people that you have elected, not some big bad entity that gangs up on its citizens.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

The government are the people that you have elected, not some big bad entity that gangs up on its citizens.

So, you believe the gov't always tells the truth and is never corrupt.

 

[bluesneakers]

So, you believe the gov't always tells the truth and is never corrupt.

That is not what she said.

 

[bluesneakers]

You do not know that they are lying. Just because the US government may (or may not) have does not mean that the Canadian Government is.

Exactly. Someone can give a million examples of the US Gov't lying to citizens and it has nothing to do with this case.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

Exactly. Someone can give a million examples of the US Gov't lying to citizens and it has nothing to do with this case.

This is really getting off topic. All I will say is that a gov't should tell the truth about crime and not lie to the public. It causes distrust in the gov't.

 

[flourish]

So, you're saying gov'ts always tell the truth?

That's not what she said. That's your own incorrect interpretation.

 

[flourish]

Exactly. Someone can give a million examples of the US Gov't lying to citizens and it has nothing to do with this case.

Rereads title of thread... This happened in CANADA. So yeah. Plus I always have to wonder how one ascertains that "the government" is lying... Because someone else said so but they could be a liar? Shrug.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

That's not what she said. That's your own incorrect interpretation.

Actually it is what she said in the post.

 

[flourish]

You do not know that they are lying. Just because the US government may (or may not) have does not mean that the Canadian Government is.

So, you're saying gov'ts always tell the truth?

The government are the people that you have elected, not some big bad entity that gangs up on its citizens.

That's not what she said. That's your own incorrect interpretation.

Actually it is what she said in the post.

Nope. Not. True.

 

[MistyWaters]

This is really getting off topic. All I will say is that a gov't should tell the truth about crime and not lie to the public. It causes distrust in the gov't.

In Canada it’d be a conflict of interest for “the government” to become directly involved in criminal cases including this one. If you’re that unaware of the role of “the government” versus the structure of RCMP and various other municipal police departments including Toronto Police Service, your expectations will likely not be met.