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"At least 19 people have died and many others are feared injured after a suspected terror attack at the Manchester Arena during an Ariana Grande pop concert."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/live-updates-multiple-fatalities-blast-ariana-grande-concert-manchester-arena-000236450.html

Such a terrible thing to happen, especially around a concert. What are your thoughts on this?

I hopped on the KYM entry quick so that I could get in a first comment to tell people to not be jerks.

Beyond what is, sadly, standard fare at this point (it's sad this happened, fuck whoever did this) it stands out to me that this was a stadium for a large event. Meaning, it had security. Meaning… whoever did this got past the kind of security we trust in general to keep us safe. It's worse psychologically than normal terror attacks because they very likely got this around the standard defenses we have.

Authorities are now saying detonation occurred outside the arena shortly after the concert had ended and people were leaving. Those with good memories will recall the Boston Marathon explosions were timed not when the elite runners crossed the finish line, but during a period when the area would be packed with more people hoping to see their friends or relatives finish the race. Additionally, the jihadists who participated in the November 2015 attacks at the Stade de France attempted to detonate one suicide bomb in the stadium, then set off two more suicide bombs outside among the evacuees. The plan failed when the first bomber couldn't make it past security.

There are indications some injuries occurred after the crowd panicked and a stampede began. I've been afraid this was going to happen for a while. We've reached the point where whenever there is a loud bang, people are going to assume they're being attacked and immediately panic. Under the right circumstances, it might be possible for a terrorist to trigger a mass panic without any actual weapons, leading to a deadly crowd surge and mass casualties. This is perhaps a hidden security concern that needs to start being examined. A stampeding crowd can kill hundreds of people.

Stefan Molyneux's Thoughts

It's really really frightening if that actually happens. Does it mean that security has to be more tighter now or it needs a big revision?

That's a very good point for sure. Stampede tragedies are nothing new, and unfortunately do happen.

Hopefully, there could be a way for it to be avoided, so injuries and casualties don't happen.

Vid from inside when the explosion was heard and the panic immediately after.

death count up to 22

I've been working private security for about 4 years now. A week ago, my staff was required to complete a FEMA independent study on adversarial surveillance – that is to say, a course on people who study sites, its security, exits/entrances, and so on with the intent of doing harm.

I'm not 100% sure what security is like in the United Kingdom. My first few questions were what type of security they had, what was the layout of the arena, and how many exits and entrances were there. The biggest question is how much premeditation the suicide bomber had, and if there were any signs of him "studying" the arena before committing the deed.

There are security procedures implemented today in 2017 that are so commonplace we don't often think of what life was like prior to having them. In 1998, I was five years old; on the first plane ride I ever took, I could lean from my seat and literally see the pilots in the cockpit. Now there's so much procedure in airports it turns people off from flying. Before certain shootings like the Virginia Tech Massacre, my school's doors were almost always open. Nowadays, you need a specific keycard to get in or you need to be buzzed inside.

Security is an industry that straddles the line between proactive and reactive, and not on its own volition. I wish there was an easy answer to this question, but it's more than just saying yes or no. I predict that security in Manchester, London, and Birmingham will be tight. The country will perhaps be on high alert for a while before they can determine what to do.

You are very much true on what you've said. Things have changed since way back when, it's really amazing tbh. No one really knew it was going to happen in the future.

@RandomMan Holy crap, that's frightening. I would freak out if I heard a nearby explosion.

The fact that it was an ariana grande concert means that some of the people killed were probably under the age of 18, which makes this all the more horrific and tragic.

Homeless people outside the venue were 'pulling nails out of children's faces' and 'cradled victims in their arms' after an improvised explosive device was detonated.

Victims ages so far are 8, 18, and 26. Authorities haven't released the other 19 yet.

Of the 59 victims taken to the hopsital, 12 were children.

60 victims treated on scene.

Suspect identified as 22 year old, British-born child of Libyan refugees. Another second-generation home-grown jihadi under the age of 30 who recently grew a beard and began "acting weirdly." It's only a matter of time before we find out about the other staples of home-grown jihadists: a history of family violence, recent overseas travel, either a relationship that resulted in a young child and a estranged mother or a recent relationship with a woman from an Islamic country, at least a partial college education, and the transfer of financial assets to family and/or recent family relocation.

What pisses me off is not so much that there were young people in there (though "not so much" is still like 40% of intense rage) but that an eight year old died.

An eight year old… a little girl who probably didn't learn about so many things that there are to be taught on this planet and probably didn't get to enjoy her childhood that hadn't even begun… died.

And I wouldn't be (sadly) surprised that there could be more not yet found. Death is sad no matter the age, but when it comes to kids who still don't know the difference between right and wrong and don't get to accomplish or decide anything – this really screws with my brain.

Sorry for the rant but when it comes to kids getting hurt in some way I just get instinctively pissed off, especially when knowing all of this will get politicized in some way or form.

Jesus christ, that's depressing.

[What pisses me off is not so much that there were young people in there (though “not so much” is still like 40% of intense rage) but that an eight year old died.]

Martin Richard was 8 years old when the younger Boston Marathon Bomber put a pressure cooker bomb directly behind him in 2013. Martin died, and his seven year old sister lost a leg. The POS put the bomb directly behind the Martin family.

The vehicle attacks in Nice, France and Melbourne, Australia deliberately targeted strollers and prams.

Back in April, a suicide bomber attacked a convey of refugees evacuating from an Aleppo suburb. 126 people died, many of them children who were gathering to collect candy being handed out by a relief agency, though you wouldn't know that by the coverage it received in the West.

ISIS established a "Cubs of the Caliphate" unit in which children were brainwashed into committing atrocities, which were then filmed.

That is the world these people want everyone else to live in.

Update: Since KYM won't let me update the post.

Police found a body of a 23 old man connected to the Bombing

"The man suspected of carrying out an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Monday that killed 22 people and injured 59 others was identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, police said today.

Abedi died at the scene after using an improvised explosive device, officials said. Police are still trying to determine if he acted alone or was part of a group."

I don't know how to really feel about this.

"To attain a purpose in life, end as many as possible."

What are the underworkings of such a grievous misunderstanding of humanity?

I honestly can't help but draw comparisons between the machines in Automata, myself.

I hope Ariana does not blame herself for this just knowing children died at your concert can take a toll on someone

She's canceled the rest of her tour due to this. I've got a bad feeling she is taking it hard.

This was a very wise choice to stop her tour and I extremely respect her for that. I hope she and everyone else recovers from this tragic night.

Weren't you just talking about how Ariana Grande is an asshole if she tries to capitalize on this?

>Ariana Grande is an asshole
You're taking what I said out of context. Have you read the recent comments I made for you? lol Also, play that BPS vid of what idea I was referring to.

https://knowyourmeme.com/comments/3894621#comment_3894621

Man With Axe Disrupts Birmingham Vigil

"In a statement, WMP said: “A man has been arrested following a disturbance near a vigil in Birmingham city centre this evening.

“The 39-year-old Birmingham man – who is known to police and is thought to have a history of mental ill-health – was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon."

Just another allegedly mentally ill man known to police, who happens to look like the the brother of Westminster Bridge jihadist.

Six Arrested Including Father and Brother of Attacker"

"Hamid El-Said, who worked for the UN on tackling radicalisation and now works at Manchester Metropolitan University, said [name] had had a "*really bad relationship" with his family and his parents* had tried but failed to keep him on the "right path".

"Eventually he was doing very bad at his university, at his education, and he didn't complete, and they tried to take him back to Libya several times. He had difficulties adjusting to European lifestyle," he said.

A former classmate of [name] told the BBC that he was a "very jokey lad" but also "very short tempered" and would get angry at "the littlest thing".

The man, who did not want to be identified, said [name] had hung around "the wrong crowd and was very, very gullible".

Before leaving Burnage Academy in 2011, [name] had become "more and more religious", the man added.

A Muslim community worker, who did not want to be identified, has told the BBC that two people who had known [name] at college had made separate calls to a hotline to warn the police about his extremist views.

He said they had been worried that [name] was "supporting terrorism" and he had expressed the view that "being a suicide bomber was ok".

The calls are thought to have been made five years ago, he added.

P-R-E-V-E-N-T-A-B-L-E. Easily. This guy wasn't a needle in the haystack; he was a pitchfork.

Suicide Bomber funded Jihad through Student Loans, Benefits

Abedi’s finances are a major ‘theme’ of the police inquiry amid growing alarm over the ease with which jihadists are able to manipulate Britain’s welfare and student loans system to secure financing.

One former detective said jihadists were enrolling on university courses to collect the student loans “often with no intention of turning up”.

Abedi was given at least £7,000 from the taxpayer-funded Student Loans Company after beginning a business administration degree at Salford University in October 2015.

It is thought he received a further £7,000 in the 2016 academic year even though by then he had already dropped out of the course. Salford University declined to say if it had informed the Student Loans Company that Abedi’s funding should have been stopped.

Separately, the Department for Work and Pensions refused to say if Abedi had received any benefits, including housing benefit and income support worth up to £250 a week, during 2015 and 2016. It would only say he was not claiming benefits in the weeks before the attack.

Abedi, 22, never held down a job, according to neighbours and friends, but was able to travel regularly between the UK and Libya.

Abedi also had sufficient funds to buy materials for his sophisticated bomb while living in a rented house in south Manchester.

Six weeks before the bombing Abedi rented a second property in a block of flats in Blackley eight miles from his home, paying £700 in cash.

He had enough money to rent a third property in the centre of Manchester from where he set off with a backpack containing the bomb.

Abedi also withdrew £250 in cash three days before the attack and transferred £2,500 to his younger brother Hashim in Libya, who is accused of knowing about the attack in advance.

In other news, Grande has announced she plans to cover the victims' funeral costs and also plans on holding benefit concert at Manchester Arena.