Terror attack on mosque: Double standard of govt, media slammed

Agencies
August 6, 2017

Social media users have voiced frustration at what they described as a double standard after a mosque was bombed in the US.

The explosion at around 5am local time (09:00 GMT) at the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, caused damage but did not cause any casualties.

Worshippers had been preparing for the dawn prayer when the attack happened.

There were between 15 and 20 people inside the building at the time, according to Star Tribune, a local newspaper.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sent agents to track down who was behind the attack, which it says was caused by an "Improvised Explosive Device".

The mosque, like many others in the US, received threats of attack prior to the bombing.

For many the response, or lack of it, revealed a double standard.

Some questioned why US President Donald Trump failed to respond to what they described as a "terrorist attack" targeting Muslims.

Mark Follman, an editor at the progressive-leaning Mother Jones magazine, said Trump's silence was due to the target of the attack.

"In normal times, the bombing of a house of worship with an IED would not go unacknowledged by the president of the United States," he continued, after posting a list of previous attacks committed by far-right attackers that Trump had also not responded to.

Marty Parrish asked: "Did I miss Trump's statement of concern for the victims of this bombing and members of the Mosque?" Adding: "Does he care?"

But Trump was not the sole target of anger, with some railing against the purported lack of media coverage.

Some US-based outlets did publish stories on the attack, but that did not assuage the anger.

A Twitter user named Brown Saraah wrote: "Someone bombed a mosque in Minnesota recently. You probably didn't hear about this because mainstream media likes to demonize Muslims."

Activist Simran Jeet Singh accused the media of avoiding the term "terrorism". 

"Are you kidding with this headline right now? Can you not cal it terrorism because Muslims were the targets? Why the double-standard?" He said, in response to a New York Times article, which used the term "explosion" to describe the attack. 

As with other recent attacks, well-wishers were quick to make donations to the mosque to help it repair damage to the mosque. 

By the time of publishing, hundreds of people had donated a total of $12,000 to repair the damage on two fundraising pages.

The latest attack comes amid rising Islamophobic sentiment.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has said that discrimination against Muslims swelled during the 2016 election campaign and has continued to rise following Trump's election victory.

The US president campaigned on a platform that promised a blanket ban on Muslims entering the country, as he vowed to closely monitor mosques.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Minneapolis, Jun 2: An official autopsy released Monday ruled that George Floyd, the African-American man whose death at police hands set off unrest across the United States, died in a homicide involving "neck compression".

George, 46, died of "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression," and the manner of death was "homicide," the Hennepin County Medical Examiner in Minneapolis said in a statement.

Floyd's other significant health conditions were listed as "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use."

The statement added that the "manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent."

It emphasized that under Minnesota state law "the Medical Examiner is a neutral and independent office and is separate and distinct from any prosecutorial authority or law enforcement agency."

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News Network
March 31,2020

Washington, Mar 31: The United States has performed over one million coronavirus tests so far, said President Donald Trump on Monday.

"Today, we reached a historic milestone in our war against coronavirus. Over 1 million Americans have now been tested, more than any other country by far, not even close," Trump said during a press briefing.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar said that approximately 100,000 samples are tested for coronavirus daily.

The number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases within the United States surpassed 150,000 and the death toll has reached 2828, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Washington, Aug 8: The United States has reported 58,173 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the total past 4.9 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

"The first case of COVID-19 in the US was reported 198 days ago on 22.01.2020.Yesterday, the country reported 58,173 new confirmed cases and 1,243 deaths," it said.

The country is expected to cross the 5 million thresholds in the coming days. It leads the world both in terms of coronavirus cases and deaths estimated at over 161,300.

Overall, there have been 19.4 million cases confirmed globally and almost 721,800 people have died from virus-related complications. Another 11.7 million have recovered.

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