Yesterday two supposed terrorist extremists were killed attempting to open fire on a crowd exiting Curtis Culwell Center, which was hosting a contest for caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. They exited a car and started firing around 7:00 PM, just as the event was ending, and though one unarmed security officer was shot in the ankle, no one else was hurt in the shooting. The Garland Police Force said that the exchange lasted only 15 seconds, during which one gunman was killed instantly and the other shot multiple attempting to reach for his bag. The American Defense Initiative sponsored security for the event, costing upwards of $30,000, saying "we were prepared for something like this." These events come after the attacks in both Paris and Copenhagen for the same "offense", with the keynote speaker of the event being a Dutch Republican, Geert Wilders, who has been criticized as "islamiphobic."
This article shows the first good news in these turn of events. Though it is unfortunate that anyone had to die, this is a victory for the protection of free speech. With events such as the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the shootings in Copenhagen, the preparation for such an event is laudable, and shows real progress in our ability to defend against acts of extremism. This event is similar to the failed Ronald Reagan assassination attempt, in which the target (Ronald Reagan) survived and the assassin was eventually brought to justice.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/04/us/garland-mohammed-drawing-contest-shooting/index.html
I heard about this yesterday, too! It's terrifying to think that you could be murdered for doing something as trivial as creating/viewing a piece of art. I'm glad that there weren't any more deaths than the two extremists.
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