Synopsis: There was a very violent and brutal attack today on the Ohio State University campus, which has been confirmed to have perpetrated by a student at the school. Abdul Razak Ali Artan was shot by police as he was attacking random pedestrians by hitting them with his car, and then coming after them with a knife. Though the current investigation has not yielded any motive for this aggression, there is some speculation it has to do with things he spoke about in an article a few months back. In the school newspaper, he talked of how he was scared of being Muslim at his school. He went on to say how he felt there was no safe place for him to pray on campus, and that the media has vilified him and his religion. There is no proof that this is the reason for today's attack but this is the current popular theory.
Analysis: This act of violence is very scary and difficult to hear about. Luckily the only death was Artan, but there were at least eleven other people injured. Another chilling detail of this story, is that Artan reportedly showed no signs of being capable of anything like this. He has gotten into no trouble at school, and co-workers described him to be normal and sociable. The fact that this might have been triggered by hate due to his religion is a very disturbing thought. If he thought this was the appropriate response, it makes you wonder what he was experiencing at school and on social media. If this does turn out to be his motive, it would just go to prove that hate does not stop violence, but exacerbates it.
Synthesis: This event can be synthesized to the shooting of Columbine High School in 1999. Two students went into their high school and started shooting. The massacre resulted in thirteen victims being fatally wounded, and then the deaths of the two attackers themselves. One theory is that the boys were bullied frequently, and this is what facilitated the shooting. It is truly a shame that people don't realize what affect their words can have.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/28/us/ohio-state-attacker-abdul-razak-ali-artan/index.html
It's truly odd how a person could suddenly do something like that. But we really don't know exactly what this person was going through, even if they seemed normal.
ReplyDeleteSuch a terrible thing, I hope that one day we will be free from stupid attacks like this.
ReplyDeleteViolence is not okay. Bullying is not okay. Respect those around you, and if you do not like them, don't not like them because of their religion. But also let's not kill people. There are some situations where no one is in the right, and if this student felt unsafe due to the actions and words of those at his school, that appears to be the case here.
ReplyDelete-Cal Thompson