Stop me if you’ve heard this one, PJ Media readers. There was a terror attack in Melbourne, Australia, and the suspect was already known to authorities.
#BREAKING @theheraldsun reports the gunman shot dead in the Brighton siege was known to counter-terrorism police. https://t.co/k2zNgO9Q5f
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 5, 2017
Khayre "was known by counter-terrorism police & had been on parole" + "involved in failed plot" on military base:https://t.co/uf4KphZgzT
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) June 6, 2017
Yep, another “Known Wolf.”
The attack occurred yesterday morning when Yacqub Khayre took a hostage in an apparent attempt to lure police into his position.
BREAKING: Hostage situation unfolding in Brighton, heavily armed police surrounded an apartment building. @PaulDowsley with the details. pic.twitter.com/xQrws9QGqt
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) June 5, 2017
Brighton hostage drama: police investigate terror link to deadly siege. 3 officers with gunshot wounds. https://t.co/nT9HLwaeih
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) June 5, 2017
Khayre had previously been charged and acquitted in a suicide bombing terror plot, and later arrested for a home invasion. It appears he was out on parole at the time of yesterday’s attack, only having served three years of a five-year sentence.
BREAKING: ISIS claims responsibility after hostage situation leaves two dead in Melbourne https://t.co/m18Jj19t7c pic.twitter.com/98JbUlJhfV
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 5, 2017
The Associated Press reported:
A gunman who killed a man and took a woman hostage before dying in a police shootout had been acquitted of plotting a terror attack at a Sydney army base years earlier, police said Tuesday. Three police officers were wounded.
The siege Monday at an apartment building in a Melbourne suburb was being treated as an act of terror, but Victoria state Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the gunman appeared to have acted alone and not as part of any ongoing plot or threat.
“There is nothing that we’ve found thus far that would suggest to us that this was anything that was … planned or done in concert with others,” Ashton said.
The gunman, Yacqub Khayre, 29, was one of two men acquitted by a jury in 2010 of plotting a suicide attack in Sydney. Three people were convicted of conspiracy for that plot, which police thwarted before it could be executed.
Khayre, a Somali refugee, served prison sentences for arson and violent crimes unrelated to extremism before being paroled in November, Ashton said.
Despite his role in a previous terror plot, authorities had deemed him “low risk.”
#Melbourne, Australia: Another "KnownWolf" attacks. https://t.co/R7pJm8t3sg pic.twitter.com/Qf3X0Xf3rj
— Nick Short 🇺🇸 (@PoliticalShort) June 5, 2017
ISIS later claimed credit for the attack:
2) Breaking: As expected #ISIS' Amaq claimed: "The executor of the #Melbourne attack in #Australia is a soldier of the #ISIS" pic.twitter.com/BR3M8HeiqQ
— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) June 5, 2017
Initially, authorities were dismissive of the claim.
Police commissioner very dismissive of ISIS claim of responsibility for #Brighton
"It's the sort of thing they jump up and say a lot"— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) June 5, 2017
But Prime Minister Trumbull has declared the incident a terror attack:
The Australian siege that left 2 men killed and 3 police officers wounded was a terror attack, PM Turnbull declared https://t.co/C4rALPKrKG
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) June 6, 2017
Aus police confirms that shooting & hostage situation in Melbourne that killed 2 is an act of terrorism, after #ISIS claimed responsibility. pic.twitter.com/FNvhpRuGlQ
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) June 6, 2017
The Associated Press reported further:
Khayre spoke about al-Qaida in phone calls to police and to Seven Network television, and Ashton said the gunman possibly had plotted to lure police into an ambush. But it was too early to know if the gunman set out to target police or “seized the opportunity he thought was presented to him last evening,” Ashton said.
No doubt they’ll search endlessly for a motive.
This seems to be a great question to ask following this incident:
#Melbourne siege: Turnbull questions how Yacqub Khayre was on parole https://t.co/gkGvadWAba
— CounterJihad (@CounterJihadUS) June 6, 2017
Just this weekend I was noting that one of the London attackers was already known to UK authorities.
At Least One London Bridge Terrorist Was a #KnownWolf — Just Like Manchester, Westminster, etc. https://t.co/m0eTQ5d1eU via @pjmedia_com
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 4, 2017
This has become the rule, not the exception, in virtually all of these terror attacks targeting Western countries.
Nor is this the first time that two “Known Wolf” attacks have occurred so close together.
5 Days and 2 'Known Wolf' Terror Attacks, Yet No Apparent Concern from Western Govts — How Many More Must Die? https://t.co/bYMXtsh0o2
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) March 23, 2017
The phenomenon has become ubiquitous, and yet virtually no action has been taken on the part of any government.
After the Manchester attack last month, MI5 decided it would investigate itself.
MI5 will investigate itself and conclude they need to do better #KnownWolf https://t.co/T71xBaonoz
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) May 30, 2017
The New York Post recently noted that 12 of the 14 Islamic terror attacks during Obama’s presidency were by “Known Wolf” terrorists.
Terrorists don't go from thought to action overnight https://t.co/CTKhKsBdDa
— New York Post (@nypost) May 27, 2017
Until there is an acknowledgement that this problem is real, the attacks by “Known Wolf” suspects will inevitably continue.
When a system is failing, repeating the same mistakes is bound to produce the same results. And in this case, that means more dead citizens on the watch of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
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Below, find Poole’s prior coverage of the “Known Wolf” scandal:
Oct. 24, 2014: ‘Lone Wolf’ or ‘Known Wolf’: The Ongoing Counter-Terrorism Failure
Dec. 15, 2014: Sydney Hostage Taker Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Syndrome
Jan. 7, 2015: Paris Terror Attack Yet Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Syndrome
Feb. 3, 2015: French Police Terror Attacker Yesterday Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Syndrome
Feb. 15, 2015: Copenhagen Killer Was yet Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Terrorism
Feb. 26, 2015: Islamic State Beheader ‘Jihadi John’ Yet Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Terrorism
Apr. 22, 2015: Botched Attack on Paris Churches Another Case of “Known Wolf” Terrorism
May 4, 2015: Texas Attack Is Yet Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Terrorism
June 26, 2015: France’s Beheading Terrorist Was Well-Known By Authorities
July 16, 2015: Report: Chattanooga Jihadist Was Yet Another ‘Known Wolf’ Terrorist, Anonymous Feds Dispute
Aug. 22, 2015: European Train Attacker Another Case of ‘Known Wolf’ Terrorism
Oct 14, 2015: Yet Again: Turkey, Israel Terror Attacks Committed by “Known Wolves”
Nov 14, 2015: One Paris Attacker Was Previously Known to Authorities, Marks Fifth “Known Wolf” Attack in France This Year
Feb 16, 2016: Machete Attack in Ohio Yet Another Case of “Known Wolf” Terrorism
May 16, 2016: News Reports Yet Another Case of “Known Wolf” U.S. Terrorists
June 12, 2016: Orlando Night Club Attack by “Known Wolf” Terrorist Previously Investigated by FBI
July 14, 2016: Senate Intelligence Committee to Investigate “Known Wolf” Terrorism Problem
July 26, 2016: ISIS Suspect in Normandy Priest’s Killing Already Known to French Authorities
August 10, 2016: Canadian ‘Known Wolf’ Terrorist Planned Suicide Bombing of Major City, Killed in Overnight Police Operation
August 19, 2016: Man Who Stabbed Rabbi Thursday in Strasbourg, France Involved in Prior Attack
Sept. 20, 2016: NY-NJ Bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami Already Known to Law Enforcement Authorities
Sept. 28, 2016: “Known Wolf” SCANDAL: In at Least 12 of the 14 Terror Attacks Under Obama, FBI Already Knew Attackers
Dec. 21, 2016: Suspect Sought for Deadly Berlin Terror Attack, Anis Amri, Yet Another Known Wolf
March 23, 2017: Five Days and Two ‘Known Wolf’ Terror Attacks, Yet No Apparent Concern From Western Governments
March 26, 2017: “60 Minutes” Whitewashes Massive FBI Failure in 2015 ISIS Texas Terror Attack
May 23, 2017: Manchester Bomber Is Yet Another “Known Wolf”
June 4, 2017: At Least One London Bridge Terrorist was a “Known Wolf” — Just Like Manchester, Winchester, Etc.
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