Yeah, and I’m going to do the next predictable thing and point out that strict prohibitions against private automatic firearm ownership did nothing to stop a bad guy from bringing a loaded one aboard a train.
I wonder what the global fallout from this incident will have on train security…
Just last month, a deranged elderly man set himself on fire aboard a bullet train in japan. There was also a vandalism incident to the Chunnel tracks.
High profile, high speed trains would seem to be a vulnerable yet easy terrorism target.
Another angle of the story that is being overlooked is that these 3 brave Americans were close childhood friends from middle school. In light of the awful racial tensions in Ferguson, Baltimore, etc, and all the talk about African Americans being marginalized, it’s a big relief to see a close-knit, black-white friend group, and see a young black man who is a college student who has the wherewithal to vacation in Europe.
I don’t think that Stone qualifies for a Purple Heart from the U.S. government even under the new regulations.
The regulations recognize wounds received in terrorist attacks, but it sounds like the attack has to be aimed at the United States or aimed at the service member because of his/her status as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces for the Purple Heart to apply. A vacationing airman in civvies who stops an attack doesn’t fit that description.
quote Pursuant to 10 USC 1129a, as amended by the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, Section 571, the award of the PH for Servicemembers killed or wounded in
attacks by foreign terrorist organizations, the SECARMY will treat a Servicemember of the Armed Forces who is
killed or wounded as a result of an international terrorist attack against the United States as stated in 2–8b(6).
(a) A member described in this subparagraph is a member on active duty who was killed or wounded in an attack
by a foreign terrorist organization in circumstances where the death or wound is the result of an attack targeted on the
Servicemember due to such Servicemember’s status as a member of the Armed Forces, unless the death or wound is
the result of the Servicemember’s willful misconduct.
(b) An attack by an individual or entity will be considered to be an attack by a foreign terrorist organization if—
The individual or entity was in communication with the foreign terrorist organization before the attack; and
The attack was inspired or motivated by the foreign terrorist organization.
An angle that may be relevant to these forums and a rather long current discussion going on is that Sadler will be a senior at CSU Sacramento. He is a member of ΚΣ fraternity there. That chapter appears to be much more racially/ethnically integrated than most chapters of historically white fraternities (though it does appear that fraternities tend to be less segregated than sororities), based on the photo on the chapter’s page on a popular social media web site.
But that hope may look more like Sacramento than places like Chicago that have highly segregated diversity.
That many weapons, mostly deadly, and he was “just trying to rob some people”.
The opposite story is true in our state, a kid was killed in a carjacking, with multiple perps, and the guy who shot him said “hey, it’s terrorism, charge me as a terrorist!”. Other “terrorism” the guy had committed included robbing someone outside of a coffee shop in a shore town. And killed a few gay guys, saying it was because they were gay.
Kudos to all who not only saved many lives, but saved themselves so that they could be with their families. When it comes down to it, IMHO it’s a combination of self-preservation (the only chance they had to survive) and indignation (how DARE they try to kill so many people with no concern for those people’s families!). And that’s the thing, not trying to be selfless, but actually being selfish enough to do something.
Amazing too that they were all fast asleep and this was their instant response when waking up and hearing the alarm!
The man from Cal State, who is African American - he walked around with the AK after they had subdued the terrorist in case there were other gunmen. With his beard, he could pass for being North African himself and I’m very glad he didn’t run into a security guard or anyone else who might assume the worst. Scary.
Here’s a very thorough account of the whole event. It doesn’t mention the French actor who pulled the alarm but it does cover the other two people who first made contact with the gunmen, one of whom was shot in the neck. There are 6 people who will be receiving the Legion D’Honneur.
An inspiring reminder that it means something to be an American, even when abroad. No, not nationalism or jingoism. Just a motivation to protect others selflessly when circumstances call for it.
Indeed they were. But it reminds one of the saying “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong…but that is the way to bet”.
A big factor was their recognizing/perceiving that he wasn’t able to shoot them instantly (because they understand some things about weapons?), and having the courage to do something, probably because they have combative sports experience. Stone said he got him with a rear naked choke, but I think that hold was relinquished when he was cut with the boxcutter, so they switched to percussion therapy. Not complete sure from the reports.
I’m not going to go too hard on the French staff. If there is an armed assailant, job #1 is not to get shot, and, if possible, look for an opening to do something about it if you have the physical tools. Most people should run.
I know as a parent I’d be so proud of my son, and so glad to hear about it after the fact. I think since 911 Americans assume it may be up to them to stop an attack. Great job by everyone involved.
I think being American had something to do with their “let’s go get 'em” action…and also probably being 22 or 23 years old.
It was extremely brave to run towards the man while he was doing his best to get his AK-47 to work. But it’s not the case that nobody else did anything before that. An unidentified man, presumably European, grappled with the man outside the bathroom and was repulsed, then a second man, who has been identified as a French-American national, grabbed the rifle and was then shot in the neck by the assailant who also had a pistol. It was after this that the gunman was having trouble with the assault rifle and the three young Americans charged him.
Truly remarkable on top of that, though, was Stone having the presence of mind to notice the bleeding man, find the wound with his fingers, and apply enough pressure to stem the blood flow all the way to the station where EMTs could get to him. He may have saved many lives, but he definitely saved that one.
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I'm going to do the predictable thing now and point out that these brave fellas were good guys without guns stopping a bad guy with a gun.
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I bring up my point, not to stoke an endless gun-control debate, but to raise the issue of security screening. How feasible is it to have airport-like screening for train passengers? And its it even worth doing, since there are thousands and thousands of kilometers of accessible RR tracks?
I doubt it’s possible to screen train travel for weapons the way airport travel is. It’s true that strict prohibitions against private firearm ownership in Europe didn’t stop this bad guy from bringing a loaded weapon onto a train. But its also true that the strict prohibition meant that seeing a guy with a large firearm immediately set off alarms that people responded to. Absolutely no confusion about whether this was the exercising of a right to bear arms whenever and wherever.
We really have to hope that ISIS never manages to successfully recruit white Americans because in some places they will be able to walk anywhere they want with loaded assault weapons without raising an eyebrow — until they start firing them.