Judging from Twitter, US conservatives and ISIS have something in common at present: they want the deadly accident that happened around noon in Times Square to be an act of terrorism. What would greatly disappoint them is if the investigation of the tragedy reveals that the driver who took a wrong turn and sped into a crowded sidewalk, killing an 18-year-old woman and injuring 22 other people, was impaired by booze or drugs. Officials are ruling out terrorism, and there are even reports that the suspect, who is in custody and a US citizen a navy veteran, has a history of DUIs.
As the hope for terrorism fades, some conservatives are resorting to conspiracy theories...
I just got a text from a New York firefighter who says NYC is in full cover up mode. Something is fishy about the Times Square incident.... pic.twitter.com/67JzX1nMtD
— Steve Hirsch (@Stevenwhirsch99) May 18, 2017
But, as Christopher Hayes tweeted, if this is indeed a "DWI, which kills 'thousands of more people a year than terrorism,'" we will quickly move on and forget about it.
Sources: Times Square driver was apparently high on synthetic marijuana (K2) at time of pedestrian crash https://t.co/lYIJScqhXf pic.twitter.com/OSgLVyHcZN
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 18, 2017
Deaths caused by bad drivers (and therefore America's car culture) do not concern our president or the GOP. They want, and can make lots of noise about, deaths caused by Muslim terrorists or black gangs or bad hombres...
Reporter: A man plowed his car into Times Square.
Trump Supporter: Radical Islam!
Reporter: His name is Richard Rojas.
T.S.: Build the wall!
— David Blattman (@davidblattman) May 18, 2017
This is the sad state of things.
