Nice, France :(

Not again. And not France again.
Truly awful.
Guess I'm starting to sound like old angry person, but the world does seem to turn sh*ttier every day.
(I'm assuming this is an attack and not an accident, even if it isn't 100% confirmed yet)

Drivers in accidents don't come out shooting. Upwards of 73 dead at this time.

At this point it seems to certainly be intentional. 70+ dead, 100+ injured. The lorry (semi for US people) accelerated through the crowd, apparently during the fireworks to ensure maximum distraction. Driver was killed by police, no ID yet. Rumors of passenger that escaped/shooting at hotel/other locations as yet unconfirmed.

The title for this thread is super confusing. Is France itself as a country responsible for this?

Demosthenes wrote:

The title for this thread is super confusing. Is France itself as a country responsible for this?

The attack was in the city of Nice (sounds like niece) in France.

I'm so goddamn sick of this kind of thing happening. Sometimes I wish I believed in hell, so that I could find some comfort in the thought of the perpetrators of this violence burning there. Then again, that kind of thinking is a large part of what got us here in the first place.

Do we have any Goodjers in the south of France to be specifically concerned about? I know Eleima is in Paris, usually, but I'm not sure about any other Euros who might have been thereabouts.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

The title for this thread is super confusing. Is France itself as a country responsible for this?

The attack was in the city of Nice (sounds like niece) in France.

...somehow I knew that and did NOT make that connection with the thread title. Very tired and this is all horrifying and just... never mind.

Feegle wrote:

Do we have any Goodjers in the south of France to be specifically concerned about? I know Eleima is in Paris, usually, but I'm not sure about any other Euros who might have been thereabouts.

El was the only one I was thinking of, and I know she's usually not really in the region.

Doesn't she live on a French island, somewhere out in the Pacific?

Sad.

Goddamnit

Just once it would make a real nice change to wake up to non-sh*tty news in the morning

Most of my extended family are in Paris but some of them were raised in Nice. My heart clenches for them and the French nation, two attacks so closely timed and in major locations.

Malor wrote:

Doesn't she live on a French island, somewhere out in the Pacific?

She came back to France from Réunion a few years ago.

Death count up to 84 now. Jeez.

Checking into it briefly now that things have settled down I can't see any corroboration of the initial rumors of a possible passenger or simultaneous attacks elsewhere. The police have not yet ruled out that he didn't have help, but at this time it looks like the event itself was the work solely of the driver who was killed, and who's identity has now been released.

Not much to say, just sad.

Heartbroken - not only for the victims, but for the fact that this will be used by xenophobic bigots to justify their agendas.

Dimmerswitch wrote:

Heartbroken - not only for the victims, but for the fact that this will be used by xenophobic bigots to justify their agendas.

I thought it was found that it wasn't religion/terrorism motivated, more just a disturbed person?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...

From reading the article, it sounds like still speculation on the motive.

LeapingGnome wrote:
Dimmerswitch wrote:

Heartbroken - not only for the victims, but for the fact that this will be used by xenophobic bigots to justify their agendas.

I thought it was found that it wasn't religion/terrorism motivated, more just a disturbed person?

Hardly matters for those who want to use it.

LeapingGnome wrote:
Dimmerswitch wrote:

Heartbroken - not only for the victims, but for the fact that this will be used by xenophobic bigots to justify their agendas.

I thought it was found that it wasn't religion/terrorism motivated, more just a disturbed person?

Sadly, that is unlikely to stop people.

I don't really want to speculate about the repercussions, though. There will be time enough for that, if recent tragedies are anything to judge by.

It's horrific enough that a mundane celebratory event can be turned into a tragedy by the misuse of a mundane object.

LeapingGnome wrote:
Dimmerswitch wrote:

Heartbroken - not only for the victims, but for the fact that this will be used by xenophobic bigots to justify their agendas.

I thought it was found that it wasn't religion/terrorism motivated, more just a disturbed person?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...

From reading the article, it sounds like still speculation on the motive.

According to Tunisian security sources, Lahouaiej Bouhlel hailed from the Tunisian town of Msaken, which is close to the seaside city of Sousse, where 38 people, including 30 Britons, were gunned down by terrorists in June 2015.

Nothing like trying to associate someone with terrorism based on the fact that 30 years after they were born a terrorist attack happened in a nearby town...

OG_slinger wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:
Dimmerswitch wrote:

Heartbroken - not only for the victims, but for the fact that this will be used by xenophobic bigots to justify their agendas.

I thought it was found that it wasn't religion/terrorism motivated, more just a disturbed person?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...

From reading the article, it sounds like still speculation on the motive.

According to Tunisian security sources, Lahouaiej Bouhlel hailed from the Tunisian town of Msaken, which is close to the seaside city of Sousse, where 38 people, including 30 Britons, were gunned down by terrorists in June 2015.

Nothing like trying to associate someone with terrorism based on the fact that 30 years after they were born a terrorist attack happened in a nearby town...

Not to mention that the majority of the "what we know" article was quotes from his neighbors about whether or not he was religious.