A 22-year-old Chicago man was charged with terrorism after he drove his car into a shopping mall. While no one was injured and police didn't know the reason for the incident, they were quick to slap terrorist charges onto Javier Garcia for the crime.
"Investigators say they examined the history on Garcia's cell phone and determined that he 'searched Woodfield mall, the aerial view of the mall and mall premises 124 times between 9/19/19 at 14:38 - 9/20/19 at 12:55,'" said ABC7 Chicago.
Police explained that because he caused at least $100,000 in damages to a building with multiple stores, it falls under the definition of terrorism.
Gun safety advocates have argued that mass shooters should fall under charges of terrorism, but they rarely, if at all, are. The El Paso shooting was one that Americans presumed would be charged since the shooter specifically drove to the city to kill Latinos.
Garcia, by contrast, didn't use a high-powered rifle and he didn't kill anyone but is being charged as a terrorist.
You can see the comments from the web below:
@cbschicago Fucking absurd. Law enforcement throws the word terrorism around so freely whenever it's a man of color… https://t.co/fwjoqsgsMn— Nicky George (@Nicky George) 1569769766.0
@cbschicago Lol wow. Terrorism if he were white he’d had a damaged childhood and deemed intoxicated— 🦂 LondonReborn 🔮 (@🦂 LondonReborn 🔮) 1569768976.0
I ain’t saying what he did was okay but we got white Mfs shooting up schools and they mentally ill but when it’s a… https://t.co/gTJtLeYeOg— Lucio Fulci (@Lucio Fulci) 1569765139.0
I’m not saying this isn’t terrorism but if this guy can get charged with terrorism there’s literally no reason any… https://t.co/fyY2YMdHmt— the sixler (@the sixler) 1569780610.0
@cbschicago I know what the guy did is bat shit crazy & very dangerous, but I find it very interesting how y’all ar… https://t.co/OU2IMeJYKi— ˗ˋˏ𝚂🏴☠️𝚂ˎˊ˗ | haechan got us 🙏🏾 (@˗ˋˏ𝚂🏴☠️𝚂ˎˊ˗ | haechan got us 🙏🏾) 1569773556.0
Obviously what he did was fucking wrong ... but do y’all see how quick they are too call/charge his way of acting o… https://t.co/KnxSMYm7wQ— citlalli✨ (@citlalli✨) 1569789243.0
Let me get this straight.. When white men mass murder PEOPLE with guns, it's not terrorism? When a man with the la… https://t.co/Ttoh11QD5V— Tim Bestbudz ✊🏴 (@Tim Bestbudz ✊🏴) 1569773627.0
I knew he wasn’t white as soon as I saw he was actually charged with terrorism. https://t.co/zGbXPKwC8T— Marxist LeBron (@Marxist LeBron) 1569778037.0
