This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2783
March 21, 2007
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=saltlake32007.htm
By Beila Rabinowitz & William A. Mayer
March 20, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLinenews.org - In a recent interview in the Deseret Morning News Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank ascribed a "death wish" to the motivation of Sulejman Talovic, who gunned down 5 people in a Utah shopping mall during a 6 minute jihad rampage before being killed by police.
According to Burbank, "it was possible that Talovic had wanted to 'commit suicide by cop.'"
While no one disputes that 18 year old Bosnian Muslim Sulejman Talovic intended to die by having the police shoot him, the denial by the Salt Lake City police chief and law enforcement agencies that the shooting was an act of terrorism runs counter to all the available evidence which clearly points to Sulejman seeking to become an Islamic "martyr."
According to Chief Burbank police and law enforcement just "don't know" why Talovic committed the murders and said that "investigators are struggling to find answers" adding "maybe we won't learn what the motive was."
It seems obvious at this point that those most responsible with maintaining local law and order simply are fearful of coming to the obvious conclusion, one which might risk criticism from the self-appointed pro-Islamist bulldogs such the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] whose legal jihad in such matters is well known.
Yet It was Sulejman Talovic himself who divulged that his motive was martyrdom, to a girlfriend on the night before the shootings, see Sulejman Talovic's Salt Lake City Murder Spree Was An Act Of Jihad.
It's time that police chief Burbank and Utah law enforcement agencies stopped ignoring the Islamist angle and understand that martyrdom and "suicide by cop" are not mutually exclusive.
Case in point, after the murder of Theo van Gogh in November of 2004 his killer - a Dutch born Muslim Mohammed Bouyeri - shocked the court by telling the traumatized policemen [whom he had fired upon in an attempt to get them to kill him as a martyr, as the farewell note found on him also indicated] in the court room that:
"I shot to kill and be killed. You cannot understand."
It should therefore be clear that the manner of the perp's death in no way changes the basic nature of an act of jihad or the motivation of its instigator.
The transparently fraudulent assertion by Salt Lake City police officials, that Talovic was merely a "disturbed" youth has added to the guilt being experienced by the policemen who responded to his murderous rampage.
SLC Police Chief Chris Burbank's deference to multiculturalism has blinded him to reality and hamstrung any real investigation into this act of domestic terror.
Such attitudes from law enforcement bolster a head in the sand mentality among the public, leading to an inability by them to be able to distinguish the nature of future threats.
Letters printed in local Salt Lake City newspapers in support of the Talovics bore testament to this phenomenon, with one suggesting that, "all news media must leave the family of Sulejman alone - for good."
In another letter - almost pathological in its level of denial - the Talovics are cast as "victims" when in fact it was their son Sulejman who in a cold-blooded act of jihad extinguished the lives of five only a few weeks previous.
The almost obscene alacrity with which misguided members of the community went into high gear to place the Talovics off limits within hours of the shootings, such as festooning the killer's home with balloons and flowers, borders on the surreal.
The Talovics of course intentionally stoked these sympathies immediately after the Trolley Square massacre with father Sujlo prefacing his unctuous expressions of gratitude for support and concern with news that his wife had suffered a heart attack. This news was followed less than 48 hrs later with her "miraculous recovery" as photographs depicted her standing and crying in the doorway of the family home apparently healed.
Such tactics betray a level of intentional manipulation that is well beyond the borders of propriety, one which invokes the Biblical admonition that "he who has pity on the cruel will be cruel to those deserving of pity."
In this matter the "needs" of Talovic's family have trumped the genuine requirement of the public to be both secure in their knowledge that no other such threats loom on the immediate horizon and that law enforcement officials are not ignoring such threats because of an overweening devotion to the politics of multiculturalism.
Sujlo Talovic's truculent statement that "he and his family will never leave Salt Lake City" is both an act of defiance and an indication of a self-serving, total lack of real sensitivity that the family has to the irreparable damage that their son caused.
This episode highlights a collective show of denial on the part of the public who are taking their lead from officials who have cavalierly abdicated their responsibility as pubic servants, unbelievably even expressing guilt that maybe they did not do enough or provide adequate social services for immigrants like the Talovics.
Such attitudes bolster law enforcement's now common reluctance to announce that the act was what it obviously was, one of domestic Islamic terrorism and provides them with cover to continue to dissemble that the killings were the act of a disturbed "18 year-year old kid."
This collective denial makes it even harder for the victims whose lives have been torn apart to seek closure. As a result of this pretence the family of the perpetrator has been morally equated with that of the victims.
Until law enforcement and the public accept the fact that Sulejman Talovic wanted to die an Islamic martyr through jihad, Chief Burbank's announced intention to soon close the case constitutes a cover-up and is reprehensible in the extreme.
Notes and links: In a recent interview in the Deseret Morning News Utah Police Chief Chris Burbank ascribed a "death wish" to the motivation of Sulejman Talovics, who gunned down 5 people in a Utah shopping mall during a 6 minute jihad rampage before being killed by police. According to Burbank: Given his actions, I think he resigned himself to that fact [being killed by police] acknowledging that "it was possible that Talovic had wanted to "commit suicide by cop".
While no one disputes that 18 Bosnian Muslim Sulejman Talovics intended to die by having the police shoot him – the denial that that the shooting was terrorism on the part of the the Utah police chief and law enforcement agencies is blatant denial in the face of indications provided by the killer himself that he was aspiring to martyrdom. According to Chief Burbank police and law enforcement just "don't know " why Talovics murdered and said that ‘investigators are struggling to find answers' adding ‘maybe we won't learn what the motive was'.
Yet It was Sulejman Talovics himself who divulged that his motive was martyrdom, to a girlfriend on the night before the shootings telling her" "Something is going to happen tomorrow that you'll never be able to forgive me about". She said that he had told her it was supposed be the happiest day of his life and that it could only happen once in a lifetime." When she questioned him further about his statement he answered "It involves everyone and everything" adding "I would never in the world want something like that to happen to you."
Another clear indication that Talovics act was one of jihad is the story which he related to his girlfriend about seeing a white horse and knowing that he had a "good heart" a revelation which is synonymous with martyrdom. Its time that police chief Burbank and other Utah law enforcement agencies stopped ignoring the Islamist angle and understand that martyrdom and "suicide by cop" are one and the same.
After the murder of Theo van Gogh his killer a Dutch born Muslim shocked the court by telling the traumatized policemen that: "I shot to kill and be killed. You cannot understand." Some spectators rose to their feet, visibly stunned by his comments. The confession and lack of remorse highlight the worst fears haunting the mainstream Dutch society about the seemingly unbridgeable gap between them and some of the alienated Muslim youths growing up in the country.[italics MIM]
The policemen demanded financial compensation for their mental distress incurred in the aftermath of the shootout expressing shock and remorse that they had been forced to shoot someone. Two senior policemen involved in the final shootout with Bouyeri appeared in court to ask for €3,000 (£2,060) compensation for emotional distress. Insp Marcel Groenendaal and Brig J S de Ruyter said they had suffered loss of concentration and apathy since the gunfight. Bouyeri rolled his eyes at their testimony, apparently amused http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/780
The words of Mohammed Bouyeri in a Dutch courtroom which "highlight the worst fears…about the unbridgeable gap between [the native Dutch] and some of the Muslim youths growing up in the country" also point to the reason why Police Chief Chris Burbank, law enforcement agencies and the public are in such a state of denial and eager to put this event behind them as some tragic aberration by a disturbing kid who had a traumatic whose family [like that of Bouyeri's in Holland] had come to the West in search of a better life. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/787
According to the Deseret Morning Times the police who shot Talovic are receiving counseling and police chief Burbank issued a quasi apology by stating that". "Our officers had to shoot and kill an 18-year-old kid to stop him from doing this," he said.http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660204115,00.html
Utah Police Chief Chris Burbank said that his officers had no choice but to use deadly force because they had to stop the 18 year old Bosnian Muslim son of a Mujaheed fighter "from doing this". His statement is tantamount to a denial of terrorism and aimed at covering up the Islamist threat. Letters printed in local newspapers in support of the Talovics bore testament to the collective desire for denial of terrorism and a wish that the whole episode would just disappear from the news.
In a comment headlined "Leave Talovics Alone" one resident wrote: " I noticed once again you are not letting the Trolley Square massacre go… Do they appreciate you and other news media swarming in front of their house and pestering them for a month - a constant reminder of their son? I don't think so. So the bottom line is all news media must leave the family of Sulejman alone - for good. http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_5461271
MIM: In another letter the writer said seeing the picture of Talovics in his casket as "tasteless" it is likely that the writer of the letter below did not write to express the same outrage when pictures appeared in papers nationwide of a policeman who was crouched with his gun drawn next to the body of one of Talovics victims.
Why can't The Tribune give the Trolley Square shootings a rest? Your article, "A final conversation's unanswered questions," (Tribune, March 14) was tasteless.
Not only have you dragged the Talovic family through the mud, but now you drag his girlfriend in Amarillo, Texas, into the picture. How is she any of our business, let alone yours?
And how extremely tasteless of you to print a picture of Sulejman Talovic lying in his casket. Have you no shame? Have you no decency? Have you no respect? Have you no standards? Obviously not! Hasn't the Talovic family been shamed enough?
You have stooped to a new low in sewage reporting. Forget about it! Give it a rest and leave the Talovics alone!
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_5474710
In another letter which was almost pathological in its denial, a former landlord and present employer Talovics waxed lyrical about the family, especially Talovics father, the former Mujahideen fighter under the headline "Utah Voices- the Talovics are also victims."
As the former landlord of the Talovic family and as the employer of Suljo Talovic, the father of the Trolley Square shooter, I wish to add yet another commentary to this tragic story.This unfortunate family have become victims twice. They lost a beloved child, for whom there are no flags now flying in Utah at half-staff. Certainly they also feel themselves to be community pariahs, burdened by unwarranted feelings of profound guilt… Suljo is a peaceable, caring and saintly man. His coworkers all feel his absence from the job site. We sincerely hope that he comes back to work for us after he recovers from this tragedy. http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_5350943
[ This landlord should not be mistaken with the one whom the killer threatened with a knife at the age of 10] see: " Talovics threatened former landlord with a knife" http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_046201830.html
In a further attempt to dispel the thought that any Salt Lake City non Muslims would think of attributing the killings Islamist motives [aka affirmative dhimmitude] or consider ostracisng them, many Utahns [often Mormon] set up several funds to provide financial support to the killers family and make them feel even more welcome. Within days of the shootings $5,000 dollars had been donated [reportedly by a non Muslim ] to provide for transport to enable Sulejman Talovic and his family to travel to Bosnia to give him a martyrs farewell in his hometown which became a media event. In scenes which could have been lifted out of a Borat movie the burial was attended by over 300 emotional relatives and friends and a picture of Talovics corpse in his white casket made the front pages of a Salt Lake City paper provoking outrage from some readers. After the burial in Bosnia [ where Suljo Talovics ironically and outrageously announced to the media that the family "would never leave Salt Lake City"] the Talovics returned to Utah and set up house in a newly rented apartment which had in all likelihood been procured with help from well wishers and immigrant social service agencies who had been demanding more funding in the wake of the shootings see: "Salt Lake City Muslims cast themselves as victims in mall shootings" http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=saltlake22107%2Ehtm
The almost obscene alacrity with which the community went into high gear to help the Talovics within hours of the shootings, such as the festooning of the killers house with balloons and flowers bordered on the surreal. [Note [italicized] how Talovics made a cynical play for more sympathy by prefacing his unctuous expressions of gratitude for support and concern with news that his wife was sick. What the papers failed to note is that she made a miraculous recovery from the "heart attack" less then 48 hours later when she was photographed standing and crying in the doorway of the family home ] Surrounded by friends at the mosque Suljo Talovics sounded more like a proud rather then grieving father when he cheerfully thanked the community for its support via the Salt Lake Tribune that:
He said his wife, Sabira, suffered a heart attack about 5 a.m. Tuesday, three hours after police informed them their son was the Trolley Square shooter.
"I'm so happy for these people, Utah people,"They bring flowers to my door."
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5248199 http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2726
He also appeared to be disconcertingly upbeat when he told the press after the burial: Suljo Talovic said his wife, Sabira, was one of the women who fainted earlier during the service
"She is not good (doing well)," he said. "She may need doctor, I don't know."
"Thank you, all in, like, Salt Lake and everybody in the United States," he said. To Bosnians and Americans who helped the family, he said, "I thank you guys. Thank you very much."
Later, Hasic translated when Suljo Talovic spoke in his native tongue: "He had more friends among Americans than he had before, because people understand the tragedy and what he's (enduring) right now."
Among those mentioned with gratitude were "the Mormons." He added that he "will never move from Salt Lake City." http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660200547,00.htmlhttp://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2007/wayitis_2007-03-22.cfm
With a month past since the Trolley Square shooting, the community still is stunned by the random brutality of young Sulejman Talovic and, as he is laid to rest recently in his home village of Talovici, Bosnia, the mystery of his bloody motivations refuses to be buried. Lindsay Saxton, owner of Barberettes Barber Shop in West Valley City thought the publicity of it might be hard on the victim's families as well as the shooter's.
It's on everybody's minds, but I feel bad for [Talovic's] family as well. They're grieving, too. They've also suffered just like the victims' families and [the media] just keep bringing it up so much. They're never going to let it go, it's a constant reminder for [the families]. Just the other day, the newspaper had a whole three-page article about him. And I don't know that they're ever going to find out what was wrong with him, or what made him go off like that.
In a perverse illustration of the biblical injunction "he who has pity on the cruel will be cruel to those deserving of pity" the needs of the Talovic family appear to have been amply provided for. Instead of ostracism the family has been embraced by the community to the point where the father has brazenly and in effectively taunted the victims and their families by announcing from Bosnia that he and his family "will never move from Salt Lake City".
This collective show of denial on the part of the public [who have also expressed guilt that maybe they did not do enough or provide adequate social services for immigrants like the Talovics] bolsters law enforcement reluctance to announce that the act was one of terrorism and provides them with more reason to dissemble that the killings were the act of a disturbed "18 year-year old kid."
This collective denial makes it even harder for the victims whose lives have been torn apart to seek closure. As a result of this pretence the family of the perpetrator has been morally equated with that of the victims. Until law enforcement and the public accept the fact that Sulejman Talovic wanted to die a martyr through jihad and the massacre was a terrorist act Chief Burbank's announced intention to soon close the case constitutes a cover up.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2783