Attack not labelled an act of terror yet
Although some are labeling the act as an act of terror, President Trump appears to downplay that factor and emphasized that the Saudi king had called to express his condolences and say that he was much angered by the attack. While the Saudi king has ordered full cooperation with the investigation of the incident since the attack was in the US the information they can provide may be limited although they can provide background information on the attacker. According to Trump: “The king said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shoots and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people so much,”
A recent article report on the attack shows good reason for the attack to be considered terrorist: “A Saudi military student reportedly condemned America as a “nation of evil” in an online manifesto prior to opening fire Friday at a US naval base, killing three people before being shot dead by police.The shooting, which took place in a classroom building at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, left eight others wounded, including two sheriff’s deputies who responded to the attack.Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the shooter was from Saudi Arabia — the same nationality as 15 of the 19 men involved in the 9/11 attacks, some of whom attended civilian flight school in Florida.”
Given the online manifesto posted by the attacker one would think that this would immediately be classified as a terrorist act but no doubt the Trump administration is unwilling to classify it as such as this could perhaps hurt relations with Saudi Arabia which Trump regards as a close ally of the US.
The US is opening a terrorism investigation into the incident
Another recent article reports on the investigation by the FBI and the incident: “In Florida, the FBI is conducting a terrorism investigation after a shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in which a Saudi Air Force officer killed three sailors and wounded eight others on the base. The FBI says the gunman, Mohammed Alshamrani, carried out the shooting using a Glock 9mm pistol that he bought legally. President Trump said he received a phone call from Saudi King Salman. Trump told reporters, “They are devastated in Saudi Arabia.” But Trump never used the word “terrorism,” and he avoided answering any questions about why the United States is training members of the Saudi military, even as Saudi Arabia faces accusations of repeated human rights abuses in Yemen.”
There is no mention of the anti-US manifesto Alshamrani posted in the article. An ABC news article also does not mention “terrorism” or the posted manifesto: “According to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation, authorities are urgently focused on two likely possible motives: whether the shooter had religious or ideological reasons; or was there a problem or hostility that developed in the course of the training at Pensacola.”
There seems to be a reluctance of some in the mainstream press to classify actions as terrorist until important officials are willing to label them as such.
