A Muslim gunman killed two and wounded 13 in Toronto on Monday, but despite what police suspect are terrorist ties, everything but terror, we are told, caused the attack.
Toronto Mayor John Tory blames guns.
The New York Times blames guns.
The murderer’s family and the media blame the shooter’s mental illness.
But other evidence suggests a simpler explanation: a terror attack against Greeks, the historic enemy of Muslims and Islam.
Madman Started Shooting
Faisal Hussain, 29, began shooting about 10:00 p.m. Sunday in the east end of Toronto’s Greektown, a peaceful, upscale neighborhood where “hipsters” live, as the Times put it, and “where even the smallest house sells for $1 million.”
Hussain opened fire on the street, shooting randomly and killing two hapless victims: an 18-year-old college student and 10-year-old girl.
Thirteen more were injured, news reports said, before police caught up with Hussain, exchanged gunfire, then found him dead. Police have not disclosed whether Hussain shot himself or was killed by police.
Law-enforcement officials have not ruled out terrorism, which did not stop Toronto’s mayor and the leftist media from putting the blame elsewhere.
Total Disarmament?
Mayor Tory thinks the time has come for action, although Canada’s gun laws are, to put it mildly, extremely strict. Canadian officials tightly control what type of firearms individuals may own and where they may use them. Purchasing any firearm, for instance, requires a permit from local police, and all firearms owners must possess a valid license. Buyers must also pass a background check and safety test.
Open and concealed carry are against the law in Canada, and the law even controls how firearms are stored and transported: unloaded and with trigger locks. Permits are required to carry a gun outside the home.
Nonetheless, Tory urged, gun laws must be tighter: “Why does anyone in this city need to have a gun at all?” he asked, adding, “I know answering questions like this won’t fully eliminate tragedies like this, but even if we can prevent one of these incidents, then in my view it is a discussion worth having and having very soon.”
Reported the Times:
Despite [the] restrictions, gun control advocates say the measures do not go far enough. One problem, they say, is loopholes that allow for firearms to be transported under the pretext they are destined for a border crossing, a gun show or a gunsmith.
The Toronto Star flatly stated its goal: “Canada should ban private ownership of handguns.”
Mental Illness
Beyond blaming guns, the media also retailed the shooter’s family’s claims about the his mental illness:
Our son had severe mental health challenges, struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life. The interventions of professionals were unsuccessful. Medications and therapy were unable to treat him.
This raises the question, of course, of why Hussain was not institutionalized.
According to the Times, “Toronto Shooter’s Neighbors Unaware of His Mental Illness,” as the headline put it. His “million-dollar smile” apparently had everyone fooled.
One source told CTV News that Hussain was “polite, respectful, humble, quiet” and “kept to himself, didn’t talk to a lot of people.”
Another said, “he seemed fine. I can’t put two and two together. I mean, I can’t believe it’s him.”
Terror Attack?
But it was “him” — the question being who is he: a garden-variety nut, or soldier of jihad?
According to Joe Warmington, a columnist for the Toronto Sun, police are probing Hussain’s terror connections. “The [f]iles being reviewed by police include concerns that Hussain expressed “support” for a website that was seen as ‘pro-ISIL,’ says a law enforcement source.”
As well:
Sources say police in Toronto and CSIS officials in Ottawa, as well as the RCMP, are looking into his past, which sources say include his residence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Hussain apparently had been spoken to by authorities about his online activities. Sources say Toronto Police, the OPP and the RCMP have all had an interest in the now-deceased shooter.
What law enforcement is saying is that the attack was planned, and Hussain was “well known to Toronto Police” for investigations into past crimes “involving weapons and violence.”
Conservative Canadian writer Faith Goldy noticed something else: Hussain knew how to handle a gun. “I know firearms & have taken combat handgun training,” she tweeted. Video shows “Hussain is holding the firearm with a flawless push-pull grip, thumbs & fingers aligned as they should be despite adrenaline & chaos; many targets acquired. This was NOT his first time w a gun. Who trained the Toronto shooter?”
Goldy also pointed to the section of Toronto where Hussain struck: Greektown. “Greeks have fought bloodthirsty Muslims off their territory for over 1400 yrs, suffered Ottoman occupation for over 400 yrs, and have seen our islands & ports turned into the Third World with the current invasion. Now our neighbourhoods in the New World are being targeted, too.”
Photo: AP Images
