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Sayfullo Saipov: confessions of a lone wolf

by | 1st, November 2017

saipov New York uber terrorSayfullo Saipov, 29, the Uzbek immigrant accused of murdering at least eight people in New York, is recovering from surgery after being shot in the abdomen by a New York City police officer.

What do we know of him? Well, not much. Saipov arrived in the US back in 2010. He worked as an Uber driver.

But the Telegraph knows lots:

Eight people died and 11 injured in the worst terror attack on New York since September 11, 2001 as a lone wolf extremist screaming “Allahu Akbar” used a pick-up truck to mow down cyclists along a bike path on Halloween.

He did this alone? Sayfullo Saipov has no connection with any organised group, says the paper. He’s got the jihadi slogans, jihadi mode of attack and the jihadi beard, a panoply of symbols beneath which his violent urges achieve a narrative.

His is the face of a leaderless rejection of Western society, a fearful, murderous malcontent. Can we find some comfort in international terrorism manifest in an ordinary, unexceptional man with a limited access to weapons, albeit one who is capable of committing a brutal act of mass murder?

If we call the suspect a “lone wolf”, don’t we ignore the causes that led to him wilfully killing people, negating debate and investigation by adapting the crime to fit out own prejudices and anxieties?

The terrorists can’t dictate our reaction to their actions. The attack on innocent people going about their day under a clear New York sky can be meaningless, signifying something much less than a looming war.

 



Posted: 1st, November 2017 | In: Broadsheets, News Comment | TrackBack | Permalink