Brian Manley, the interim police chief of Austin, Texas today did something President Trump has not done and will never do – he called Austin bomber Mark Conditt what he was: a domestic terrorist.
If the self-described 23-year-old “psychopath” had been a Muslim or a Mexican immigrant or an African American, it is undeniable that Trump would have tweeted up a storm calling him a “terrorist.”
Instead, Trump, who for the first three weeks of the bombing in the Texas city had nothing to say, finally broke his silence the day before Conditt was caught to call him “sick.”
NEW: Pres. Trump calls string of Austin bombings "terrible."
"This is obviously a very, very sick individual, or maybe individuals…These are sick people, and we have to find them as soon as possible." https://t.co/tlQCLaDoNS pic.twitter.com/U9rBY7PyYg
— ABC News (@ABC) March 20, 2018
Then after Conditt was cornered and committed suicide, Trump’s only comment was to praise law enforcement.
AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018
Now that the investigation has shown through Conditt’s own recordings and writings that he considered himself a political conservative, and wrote that “gay marriage should be illegal” and that he favored the death penalty, among other radical views, it is clear he was not an agent of Islam or immigrants or black activists.
He was, in fact, a troubled young man who was American born and raised and knew just what he was doing in terrorizing his community.
The only things of note in the world that the president has tweeted about less than Conditt are Vladimir Putin’s interference in the U.S. election and his affair with Stormy Daniels.
It is refreshing to hear the police chief in Austin explain that while the investigation was going on, he refrained from talking about why he did what he did in case it ended up as a legal case, but now he was free to say the truth.
WATCH: @chief_manley refers to #AustinBomber as a “domestic terrorist.” pic.twitter.com/cutzM7JiYh
— Mary Huber (@marymhuber) March 29, 2018
At the panel in East Austin where Chief Manley spoke, Chas Moore, leader of the Austin Justice Coalition, also spoke the truth. Moore said that those in authority and the media applied a different standard to Conditt because he was white.
“The way the media covered this story,” said Moore, “this ‘troubled young man.’ Was the young man troubled? Absolutely. But he was a troubled young man that turned out to be a terrorist.”
“Because he is white,” added Moore,”we gave him the benefit of being a human first.”
It is hard to give Trump credit for even following that standard.
What Trump does is look to exploit incidents like Austin to prove his theories, policies, and ideas are valid, so when it is a Muslim, that proves his ban is righteous, or if it is an African American, then he is right to push a law and order agenda and close down on civil rights efforts across the federal government.
However, when the truth doesn’t match his twisted agenda, he remains silent or finds ways to work around the reality of the situation, as he did by emphasizing the work of the police over the crime of the domestic terrorist.
Trump is not going to change, learn from this or get better, but it is important to the rest of America recognize how short-sighted and narrow-minded he is, because he is continuing to manage this country one tweet at a time.
