^ you're missing his point, which (I'm pretty sure) was to equate the Oz authorities with the FBI, both of whom seem to be in a perpetual state of denial regarding terrorism - even when evidence of actual terrorism stares them in the face.

I usually miss the point, thank you for clarifying.

... having waited for the next day, further police and press releases ... "mental health" and meth abuse ... Australia has a mental health underbelly that is largely ignored.

Friends downtown texted they were safe but the scene was a mess with lots of gawkers and looky-lou's messing the place up for first responders.

An off duty officer dragged the driver's ass out of the crashed vehicle, resulting in injuries to the officer. And to the driver.

Updated footage - graphic NSFW



Investigators have spent the night examining the scene of Thursday's horrific attack, as witnesses say the car reached speeds of up to 100km/h.

Four people remain in critical condition, and a four-year-old boy with head injuries is among 19 people injured in the incident, including the 32-year-old driver who is an Australian citizen of Afghan descent.

The new footage shows the car pulling out onto the street as unsuspecting pedestrians make their way across the road.

Bystanders further down the road can be seen watching on in horror as the tragedy unfolds.

The man, who was arrested by an off-duty officer, is known to police following a 2010 minor assault matter, and has a history of drug use and mental health issues.

"I, like, just like hear this big... Sounded like explosion, screaming. I sprinted down seconds after the crash and just bodies, just like everywhere," one witness told 7 News.

Other bystanders said the man was only slowed down by the pedestrians he hit.

Those hospitalised vary in age from four to 83, including an off-duty police officer.

Acting Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton says the man was on a mental health plan but was not on bail or any corrections order.

"He is still in custody, under arrest for these offences, for what we allege was a deliberate act," Mr Patton told reporters on Thursday night.

Mr Patton said there was no evidence to suggest any links to terrorism but investigations continue.

'Deliberate act': Horror in Melbourne CBD as vehicle ploughs into pedestrians
Witnesses describe horrific scenes as car ploughs into Melbourne shoppers
He said the man was alone in the car and accelerated as he drove on tram tracks down Flinders Street.

Police, who don't believe the attack was terror related, were on the scene within 15 seconds of the incident, Mr Patton said.

A second man, 24, was arrested after being seen filming the incident and was found with three knives in his bag although police believe he has no links to the incident.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the "evil and cowardly" act has affected all Victorians but urged the public to go about their festive activities.

"At a time of the year when so many families are celebrating the end to the year, doing their Christmas shopping, making plans for what ought to be a festive season, we have seen a horrific act, an evil act, an act of cowardice, perpetrated against innocent bystanders," Mr Andrews said.

A day after the government announced a public memorial for the Bourke Street massacre, Mr Patton said authorities were working to prevent such attacks.

He said hundreds more police would be on the streets to give comfort to the public.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tweeted his thoughts.

"As our federal & state police & security agencies work together to secure the scene and investigate this shocking incident our thoughts & prayers are with the victims & the emergency & health workers who are treating them," he posted.

Jingle bells.

quote:

Originally posted by cjevans:

...Police, who don't believe the attack was terror related, were on the scene within 15 seconds of the incident, Mr Patton said...

Maybe not but...

"A refugee from Afghanistan who plowed a car through a teeming intersection in the heart of Australia’s second-largest city made rambling references to God, the mistreatment of Muslims and Australia’s domestic security service after he was arrested, officials said Friday."

Complete article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.d652633b6485

Australian police: Melbourne driver says attack motivated by mistreatment of Muslims

By A. Odysseus Patrick December 22 at 6:33 AM

SYDNEY — A refugee from Afghanistan who plowed a car through a teeming intersection in the heart of Australia’s second-largest city made rambling references to God, the mistreatment of Muslims and Australia’s domestic security service after he was arrested, officials said Friday.

Nineteen people were injured in the incident Thursday, three of them critically. Police identified the driver as Saeed Noori, 32, an Afghan granted entry to Australia in 2004 as a refugee. He became an Australian citizen two years later.

Noori has a history of mental illness and a minor criminal record, but no known links to any extremist groups, and he was not on the intelligence agencies’ list of potential terrorist suspects, said Shane Patton, acting chief commissioner of the Victoria Police.

In his brief discussions with police at a hospital where he was taken after he was arrested Thursday, Noori also spoke about dreams and hearing voices, Patton said.

The motivation for the attack outside Melbourne’s main train station during the hectic pre-Christmas shopping period could have big implications for a country long nervous about refugees, especially from the Middle East.

“He has said that he attributes his actions to the perceived mistreatment of Muslims,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. “At this stage . . . apart from that statement, there are no known links to any political issues or any links to extremist groups.”

If police or intelligence officials conclude that Thursday’s vehicle attack was motivated by religious or political beliefs, as opposed to mental illness, the incident could trigger a backlash against Australia’s refugee program and strengthen conservatives in Turnbull’s center-right government.

“I don’t have an issue with saying this is an act of terrorism if we establish that it is,” Patton said. “It would be easier to come out and say that straight up. But that’s not the case at this stage. We don’t have sufficient [evidence] to justify that.”

A key unspoken sensitivity of the official response is the possibility of creating the perception that Noori was inspired by Islamist extremists, which could fuel hostility toward Australia’s Muslim minority.

“How many mentally ill Japanese run down pedestrians?” wrote a popular conservative columnist, Andrew Bolt, on Friday.

Fears that some refugees from the Middle East could become terrorists have contributed to Australia’s decision to force more than 1,000 Iranians, Iraqis, Sri Lankans, Afghans and others seeking asylum to wait for years in isolation on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Manus, which is part of Papua New Guinea.

The tough policy has been condemned by international organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but it has strong public support in Australia. The Melbourne attack, even if it is not declared terrorism, could buttress that support.

Turnbull, who is seen as a moderate in the ruling Liberal Party, emphasized the positive aspects of the incident in his public response: an off-duty police officer who arrested the driver and bystanders who helped the injured.

“We are a nation that looks after each other,” he said. “Mateship. Solidarity. That degree of mutual respect and love that we always show when times are tough was brought out in sharp relief in Melbourne.”

Some critics ridiculed his approach. “Love is not going to solve this problem,” a former leader of the opposition Labor Party, Mark Latham, tweeted. “Too many dangerous, Islam-fanatical, drugged-up criminals on our streets.”

Australia’s military contribution to the coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has raised fears that the country has made itself a terrorist target. Coincidently, Australia’s defense minister said Friday that the government was withdrawing Australian combat aircraft from Iraq — six Super Hornet fighter-bombers — following Iraq’s declaration of victory over the extremist movement.

Security was already being enhanced in downtown Melbourne when Thursday’s incident took place, and the city’s mayor warned two weeks earlier that a lone-wolf-type attack would be hard to stop.

Noori lived in recent years in Melbourne’s poor northern suburbs, a long way from the heart of the city’s Afghan population in the outer southeast, The Age newspaper reported. He regularly walked to his home from the hospital where he received treatment for his mental illness, the paper said.

Police said Noori drove an SUV into pedestrians at a busy intersection in central Melbourne at 4:41 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Three of the 19 people injured remain in critical condition; the worst injured is a 83-year-old man from Melbourne, officials said. A 4-year-old boy was also hurt and is now in stable condition, they said. Nine of those injured were foreign nationals.

Noori is in police custody but has not been charged.

I'd be 'mistreating' that Mother with a TASER suppository and a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat...

tac

The definition of terrorism doesn't require one to have coordinated the attack with anyone else nor does it require one to have been a member of a certifiable terrorist group nor anything of the sort.

The dude himself says that he attacked innocent people, at least in part, over Muslim issues. It may be junior league terrorism, it may be solo, half ass, poorly planned terrorism, he might even be mentally ill / not firing on all cylinders, but it's damn sure terrorism by a Muslim extremist who is an Afghan refugee they were kind (crazy) enough to take in just the same.

His words and the actions and faith and place of origin are completely self explanatory.

Afghan Refugee Attributed Melbourne Terror Attack to ‘Perceived Mistreatment of Muslims’
In this image taken from video made available by Lachlan V, an afghan refugee is held by police after a car was driven into pedestrians on a busy Melbourne intersection in Melbourne, Australia Thursday Dec. 21, 2017. Australian police said two men have been arrested after a car was deliberately driven into pedestrians during the late afternoon rush on Thursday, injuring at least 14 people.(Lachlan V via AP)Lachlan V via AP
by SIMON KENT22 Dec 20172,018
The Afghan refugee responsible for the Melbourne terror attack “attributed his actions to perceived mistreatment of Muslims”, a senior Australian police officer said, contradicting earlier statements that police knew of no reason for the crime or what motivated the suspect to ram his vehicle into pedestrians.
On Thursday, 32-year old Saeed Noori drove his car into pedestrians on Flinders Street in the heart of Melbourne, injuring 19 people. Noori, who was arrested at the scene by an off-duty officer, is an Australian citizen of Afghan descent who arrived in Australia in 2004 under a refugee resettlement programme.

Acting Chief Commissioner of Victoria State Police, Shane Patton, said the man was known to have a history of mental illness. He was on a treatment plan but had missed an appointment on Thursday, ABC News reported.

When interviewed by police, he “spoke about dreams, he spoke about voices”, the chief inspector said, “but he also did attribute some of his actions to the poor treatment of Muslims”.

“I don’t know the exact detail, to do with Allah and some ramblings about ASIO (the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation), ‘ Mr. Patton added, according to the Herald Sun.

Asked if there were links to terrorism, he said: “That’s certainly one area we’re exploring in respect to motivation.”

Nine foreign nationals are among the injured, according to media reports. These include three South Korean tourists, as well as tourists from China and Italy, India, Venezuela, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Police said a second man, aged 24, who was arrested after being seen filming the incident and found to have three knives in his possession, had been released.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerus...tm_campaign=20171222