Kirstjen Nielsen: Brenton Terrant has no ties to the US as Trump attacked by CAIR, Max Boot, Jim Acosta
While it’s not a surprise, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Friday afternoon that there are no terrorist ties between the New Zealand shooter, Brenton Terrant, and the U.S.
“We are not aware of any current, credible or active threat domestically, nor of any current information regarding obvious ties between the perpetrators in New Zealand and anyone in the US,” Nielsen said in a statement issued by DHS.
“The Department is cognizant of the potential concerns members of Muslim-American communities may have as they gather at today’s congregational prayers. Communities with concerns should contact their local law enforcement agency, whom we are committed to supporting as they protect local mosques and reassure local community members.”
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad immediately blamed President Trump for the attack.
“Mr. Trump, your words matter. Your policies matter … You should condemn this not only as a hate crime, but as a white supremacist terrorist attack … You need to condemn this community today.”
On CNN, guests on Anderson Cooper 360 compared President Trump to a white supremacist as well as the shooter that killed dozens of Muslims in New Zealand.
Jim Acosta talked about how Kellyanne Conway was “urging reporters to read the entire manifesto and that there were parts of the manifesto that said that this killer was an ecoterrorist” before complaining that she was “looking past the language in this manifesto that was describing the President as…sort of a hero to people who identify with their white heritage.”
Acosta continued: “what was also striking, Anderson, in that manifesto, was that the killer was using terms like ‘invaders’ and ‘invasion’ when talking about immigration and the immigration issue; almost the same kind of language that the President was using earlier today when he was vetoing that legislation up on Capitol Hill.”
According to Washington Post columnist Max Boot, “He has done and said a lot of things that are very congruent with the kind of ideology that these white supremacists actually have.”
Boot argued that their rhetoric wasn’t “exactly the same” before adding “there is enough overlap there that they take inspiration from his words.”
CNN Political Commentator and USA Today columnist Kirsten Powers had a similar take: “I don’t think you can blame Donald Trump for this attack, I think you can blame Donald Trump for really trafficking in bigotry and, you know, Islamophobia, wanting to ban all Muslims as he said during the campaign,” adding “they have maybe some things in common in terms of how they think about people.”