Columbine Or Caliphate?

On Monday night, an 18-year-old gunman named Sulejmen Talovic opened fire on unsuspecting shoppers at the Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. Talovic has been identified as a Bosnian refugee, but so far I have only seen him referred to as a Muslim in two sources: WorldNetDaily and Serbianna. I'll quote from the former, since the latter mentions Talovic being a Muslim only in the title.

The 18-year-old gunman who killed five people in a crowded Utah shopping mall was a Bosnian Muslim refugee who was prepared to kill many more, say investigators.

I can't say for sure if Talovic is Muslim or not, but I must say that my suspicions were raised when the MSM didn't identify the Bosnian refugee as a Muslim, yet they made seemingly Columbine-esque references to the fact that Talovic was wearing a trench-coat.

A day after the shooting, investigators struggled to figure out why a trench-coated Sulejmen Talovic opened fire on shoppers with a supremely calm look on his face.
ABC, CBS, and MSNBC

Investigators are struggling to figure out why the trench-coated teen opened fire.
CNN

The trench coat-clad gunman who killed five people and wounded four at a shopping mall before being fatally shot by police calmly fired a shotgun at his victims and had a handgun, authorities and witnesses said.
FOXNews

See, I think that if Talovic wasn't a Muslim, the MSM would have made that clear already. And while they may not be trying to make the Columbine connection with the statements about Talovic being a teen (although an adult teen) and having worn a trench-coat, that is one of the connections that a reader is likely to make.

It also reminds me a bit too much of the beginning coverage of other incidents, such as the attacks by Naveed Afzal Haq or Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, in which the fact that the perpetrator was a Muslim was withheld or glossed-over initially.

Hopefully we will know more soon, but I believe that we will find out that WorldNetDaily and Serbianna are ahead of the curve in identifying Talovic as a Muslim. Of course, if the MSM is forced to identify him as a Muslim, they will more than likely just portray him as a loner who acted out for any reason other than killing in the name of Islam. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the reason presented is a claim that the poor guy was having a hard time assimilating in America because he felt discriminated against due to his Muslim faith.

If I'm wrong, call me paranoid. If I'm right, you might want to avoid the Mall of America on the day after Thanksgiving.

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