[Discussion] Sooo, Nashville...

A place for Nashvillains to check in as safe, a spot for the latest news, and a repository for wild conjecture about the Christmas bombing.

I'm safe; are you?

Learned about the bombing an hour away from a sister in Canada. The AT&T backbone was knocked out, so it's cell data only for the nonce. Emergency services communications for the public are down, though the phone to the for-profit jail still works (?) so that's where they're asking people to call in our county.

I suspect the bomber will turn out to have had a surprisingly small and narrow motive.

I'm a little interested in what the actual goal here was. I mean, it was an RV loaded with explosives, but there was a computerized message with a countdown ("This vehicle will explode in 15 minutes"), and the voice kept telling people to "Evacuate now". It seems pretty clear that the intent wasn't to kill anyone, since the vehicle itself kept telling people to evacuate - it would have taken a lot less effort to have the thing just blow up with no warning whatsoever. So, what, property damage? Was there some important building there? Or was this more of a warning, like saying "look at what I can do and imagine what could happen next time"?

Presumably we find out more about this in the coming days - and hopefully not with another exploding RV.

Hard to say what the objective was. Seems that it took down cell service which is an odd goal unless it's part of a bigger plan. (Or you believe 5G is causing covid in which case a large VBIED makes sense.)

This was a pretty complicated device that looks like it was powerful. The truck was fully mobile and had some form of broadcast capability. So not only was it in running condition but somebody went to the trouble of adding additional stuff beyond the explosive device.

I did not think about that. It easily could be a Trumper who believes 5G stole the election.

Or a business owner in the area who's desperate and facing the end of their livelihood looking to cash out with an insurance claim (and "help" others in their same position around them).

Seems odd that there has been no manifesto or anything sent anonymously to the press if it's politically-driven terrorism.

Farscry wrote:

Or a business owner in the area who's desperate and facing the end of their livelihood looking to cash out with an insurance claim (and "help" others in their same position around them).

Seems odd that there has been no manifesto or anything sent anonymously to the press if it's politically-driven terrorism.

That's the sort of "small" motivation I'm talking about. John Muhammad wanted to hurt his ex-wife, not hold an entire city in fear, but that was the end result of the DC sniper.

It's still entirely possible the transmission building was the target.

As much as the thought horrifies me, I'm thinking, "test run." Somebody's refining their craft.

It's interesting how they were so careful to try to avoid casualties. Well, okay, it was a bomb, so "careful" might not be the right word, but they didn't kill anyone and only hurt a few people, despite the density of the area.

The goal, therefore, seems to be property damage, and the AT&T network hub seems the most probable target, taking that purely from media reports. (Well, that or some kind of top secret installation, which AT&T network facilities are known to have anyway.... NSA taps for sure.)

So what do the perpetrators gain by attacking AT&T that way?

edit: also, the timing strongly suggests that minimizing casualties was a very strong goal for these people. Downtown business areas at Christmas don't have many people in them. Doing it at Christmas makes it more scary for people, which is a possible motivation, but it also made sure the target was mostly empty. I'm inclined to think that they picked it for better safety, not for terror purposes.

Malor wrote:

It's interesting how they were so careful to try to avoid casualties. Well, okay, it was a bomb, so "careful" might not be the right word, but they didn't kill anyone and only hurt a few people, despite the density of the area.

The goal, therefore, seems to be property damage, and the AT&T network hub seems the most probable target, taking that purely from media reports. (Well, that or some kind of top secret installation, which AT&T network facilities are known to have anyway.... NSA taps for sure.)

So what do the perpetrators gain by attacking AT&T that way?

edit: also, the timing strongly suggests that minimizing casualties was a very strong goal for these people. Downtown business areas at Christmas don't have many people in them. Doing it at Christmas makes it more scary for people, which is a possible motivation, but it also made sure the target was mostly empty. I'm inclined to think that they picked it for better safety, not for terror purposes.

It's interesting to consider the sophistication of such an attack. Not only did the recording and device function separately in the ways they were designed, they also worked together with a relatively close degree of accuracy.

There's a lot of labor, knowledge, and expertise that went in to this thing.

I doubt this was a dry run or practice device given how well it worked the first time.

I wonder what technical details, if any, the government will release. Was it a manufactured explosive like C4? Did they use accelerants like fuels or oils? Was the device remote operated? Etc.

I have no professional experience with explosives, so none of that even occurred to me. (Well, other than the timing being somewhat off, I gather the van exploded later than it said it would.)

So, as you're pointing out, these people know what the heck they're doing, and they seem to be focused on damaging property only. That feels rather like a soldier's skill- and mind-sets.... using professional expertise to wreck the target, without hurting civilians. (or at least trying not to.)

It feels strangely like something out of a hiest movie.

NathanialG wrote:

It feels strangely like something out of a hiest movie.

Did anything else happen when the phones got knocked out? Nakatomi Tower getting robbed? Fort Knox getting gassed from the air?

The fact that it’s already being discussed as a false flag leads me to believe they know it’s a white Trump supporter.

Malor wrote:

I have no professional experience with explosives, so none of that even occurred to me. (Well, other than the timing being somewhat off, I gather the van exploded later than it said it would.)

So, as you're pointing out, these people know what the heck they're doing, and they seem to be focused on damaging property only. That feels rather like a soldier's skill- and mind-sets.... using professional expertise to wreck the target, without hurting civilians. (or at least trying not to.)

Doesn't really read that way to me as an ex-soldier trained to deal with explosives. The kind of guy that would have the training to do this sort of thing is like a West Point assistant professor; not really someone who'd be setting up an RV to blow up local infrastructure.

My own wild stab is engineer, possibly retired. Something about this has the stink of extremely focused knowledge-base combined with some really stupid political beliefs that is somewhat unique to the field.

Rat Boy wrote:
NathanialG wrote:

It feels strangely like something out of a heist movie.

Did anything else happen when the phones got knocked out? Nakatomi Tower getting robbed? Fort Knox getting gassed from the air?

it is Christmas...

I don't think this was fully automated, and expect them to figure out who was in the RV when it blew up. The timer counted down fully, and it was still some time afterward before they triggered the bomb. Whomever it was likely wanted to die in the explosion but not take anyone with them. They spent some time waffling over whether to go through with it and/or watching for the right moment IMO.

By the way, lots of RVs come with outdoor entertainment systems. Our fifth wheel had a crazy 1000W system built in.

Glad no one was killed. Waiting to hear more. This is a weird one.

This feels like a strange mix of wake up sheeple, 5G conspiracy nut and terrorism. I am betting this is a q follower.

Man, you guys knocked it out of the park.

The person of interest is a white male, 63, worked in IT (at some point, most likely installs alarm systems) and was paranoid about Chinese spying.

Probably thought by many of us but since I don’t see any use of the word terrorist I assume theses people of interest are white men.

garion333 wrote:

Man, you guys knocked it out of the park.

The person of interest is a white male, 63, worked in IT (at some point, most likely installs alarm systems) and was paranoid about Chinese spying.

He dead.

So suicide bomber? Or is he not the right skin color for that?

Definitely suicide bomber. Had every opportunity to just set a timer and walk away, but he stayed with it until it exploded. (Then he left, in various directions at various speeds.)

Internet came back at 5pm local. We were wondering if there'd be an arrest before the Internet got back up. So we'll call this one a push.

IMAGE(https://scontent-msp1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/133735126_3926469127364725_8678411441136346326_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=WgrtCrL3NZwAX8r5MBC&_nc_ht=scontent-msp1-1.xx&oh=671a9e5af5c7e4caa206a10e2e1267fe&oe=600EFF72)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ydO1HA4.jpg)

Sigh. I guess the new meme going around is why did it take the FBI a couple days to track this down when they announced that Bin Laden was behind 911 in a few hours. It amazes me 20 years later this is still a thing.

jdzappa wrote:

Sigh. I guess the new meme going around is why did it take the FBI a couple days to track this down when they announced that Bin Laden was behind 911 in a few hours. It amazes me 20 years later this is still a thing.

I think the US intelligence service had setup infrastructure to look into attacks from 'Islam-extremist' vectors year in advance. I have no idea how mature the FBI or any other intelligence system is with regards to domestic terrorism. I type assuming 100% ignorance on the matter. I'm not trying to justify or pass judgement.

Hobbes2099 wrote:
jdzappa wrote:

Sigh. I guess the new meme going around is why did it take the FBI a couple days to track this down when they announced that Bin Laden was behind 911 in a few hours. It amazes me 20 years later this is still a thing.

I think the US intelligence service had setup infrastructure to look into attacks from 'Islam-extremist' vectors year in advance. I have no idea how mature the FBI or any other intelligence system is with regards to domestic terrorism. I type assuming 100% ignorance on the matter. I'm not trying to justify or pass judgement.

Right, that's part of the point. This guy wasn't in Al Qaeda or flying an ISIS flag or anything. Stuff takes time to get right when the evidence comes out of nowhere.

9/11 we had known it was coming, sorta, but messed up.

Hobbes2099 wrote:

I think the US intelligence service had setup infrastructure to look into attacks from 'Islam-extremist' vectors year in advance. I have no idea how mature the FBI or any other intelligence system is with regards to domestic terrorism. I type assuming 100% ignorance on the matter. I'm not trying to justify or pass judgement.

But thinking about and looking for attacks from any/all sources is kind of their job. If the fire department let your house burn down and said "well we were only looking for fires caused by lightening and it wasn't stormy so we couldn't figure out your house was on fire" we would rightly say "it doesn't matter where the fire comes from your job is to be prepared for it"

If the intelligence services are so focused on Islamic terrorism that they don't protect us against domestic terrorists then they need to re-think their approach.

*especially, especially, especially!* - from Wikipedia about domestic terrorism

Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
Main article: Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a truck bomb attack by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols which killed 168 people on April 19, 1995 – the deadliest domestic-based terrorist attack in the history of the United States since the era of mass lynchings and race riots.[citation needed] It inspired improvements to United States federal building security.

Centennial Olympic Park bombing (1996)
Main article: Centennial Olympic Park bombing
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing on July 27, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, former explosives expert for the United States Army. Two people died, and 111 were injured.

Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting (2012)
Main article: Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting
On August 5, 2012, Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people (including himself) and wounded four others in a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Page was an American white supremacist and a United States Army veteran from Cudahy, Wisconsin, who was a member of the neo-Nazi skinhead Hammerskin Nation. All of the dead were members of the Sikh faith.

Boston Marathon bombing (2013)
Main article: Boston Marathon bombing
On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs detonated 12 seconds and 210 yards apart at 2:49 p.m., near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. Kyrgyz-American brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were apprehended and claimed to have been motivated by radical Islamist beliefs.

Cartoon Drawing Contest shooting (2015)
Main article: Curtis Culwell Center attack
On May 3, 2015 two gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, wounded a security guard before police shot and killed them. The two men targeted an event taking place in the Curtis Culwell Conference Center in Garland, Texas.[48]

Charleston church shooting (2015)
Main article: Charleston church shooting
On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, went into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and shot and killed nine people including South Carolina senator Clementa C. Pinckney. Roof was known to be a white supremacist who admired Apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia and owned a website with a manifesto both called The Last Rhodesian in which he outlined his views toward blacks, among other peoples.

San Bernardino shooting (2015)
Main article: 2015 San Bernardino attack
On December 2, 2015, 14 people were killed and 24 injured in a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, United States. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and holiday party of about 80 employees in a rented banquet room. Farook was an American-born citizen of Pakistani descent, while his wife was a Pakistani-born legal resident of the U.S. He had attended the event as an employee before the shooting. Both had become radicalized through jihadist material on the internet, and stockpiled supplies in their home.[citation needed]

Orlando nightclub shooting (2016)
Main article: Orlando nightclub shooting
In the early hours of June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 were injured in a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Omar Mateen,[49] was a security guard and person of interest to the FBI in 2013 and 2014. At the time, this event was the deadliest mass shooting in United States history by a single gunman, later eclipsed by the 2017 Las Vegas shooting on October 1, 2017. Additionally, it was the deadliest confirmed terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks and the deadliest attack against LGBT people in U.S. history.

Congressional baseball shooting (2017)
Main article: 2017 Congressional baseball shooting
While the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity was going on, James Thomas Hodgkinson opened fire on Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen on the field such as U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Crystal Giner, congressional aide Zack Barth and lobbyist Matt Mika, resulting in 6 getting injured (4 critically) and the perpetrator getting killed.

Charlottesville car attack (2017)
Main article: Charlottesville car attack
During the Charlottesville riots/Unite the Right rally on August 11–12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, by neo-Nazis, neo-fascists, white nationalists, alt-righters, Southern nationalists and Ku Klux Klansmen, Vanguard America (VA) member James Alex Fields drove his car into counter-protesters, killing 1 named Heather Heyer and injuring 28 others.

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting (2018)
Main article: Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
On October 27, 2018, 11 people died and 6 more were injured at the Tree of Life - Or L'Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Robert Bowers a user of Gab. The attack was motivated by anti-Semitism and a belief in the white genocide conspiracy theory.

Escondido mosque fire and Poway synagogue shooting (2019)
Main articles: Escondido mosque fire and Poway synagogue shooting
On March 24, 2019, a mosque in Escondido, California, was set on fire; no one was injured and the fire was contained without major damage. The following month, on April 27, 2019, an elderly Jewish woman named Lori Gilbert-Kaye was killed and three others (including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein) were injured at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California. The accused shooter, John T. Earnest, blamed Jews for "white genocide" and other ills in an anti-Semitic and racist open letter on 8chan confessing to the mosque arson and citing inspiration from the Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Harrison Tarrant and Pittsburgh synagogue shooting perpetrator Robert Bowers.

El Paso Walmart shooting (2019)
Main article: 2019 El Paso shooting
On August 3, 2019, a domestic terrorist attack/mass shooting occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people and injuring 23 others. The attack was carried out by Patrick Crusius, who wrote a manifesto and posted it on 8chan where he cited a supposed "Hispanic invasion of Texas" and "simply trying to defend my country from ethnic and cultural replacement brought on by an invasion" as motivations as well as praising the perpetrator of the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque shootings.

How many acts of Islamic terrorism have happened during that time frame? I think their focus on Islam may be misguided by a huge margin.