White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer put out an ominous tweet hyping their concern over the motorist that killed one and injured dozens in Times Square. It seems like the White House might have been hoping for terrorism, but the incident was caused by a driver with multiple DWIs.
Spicer tweeted:
.@POTUS has been made aware of the situation in Times Square and will continue to receive updates
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) May 18, 2017
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The problem with the White House’s ominous tone is that the NYPD already said that the incident was caused by a 20-year-old with multiple DWIs:
DEVELOPING: NYPD says crash in Times Square was likely DWI, not terrorism https://t.co/B7NKuUMEnd pic.twitter.com/ZCZgQgzmph
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 18, 2017
While there have been incidents in Europe of terrorists targeting pedestrians with vehicles, it was irresponsible of this White House, and the media, to amp up the fear instead of waiting for details and then commenting.
Just to remind people that this was a horrible incident that shouldn’t be ignored even if it wasn’t terrorism, here are some pictures from the scene:
Photos from the scene in Times Square where a car fatally plowed into a crowd of pedestrians https://t.co/fPVLlZSYWt pic.twitter.com/GHrFTqPSDU
— New York Post (@nypost) May 18, 2017
The White House will probably pay no attention to what happened since it is not something that they can benefit from by using it to change the subject away from their numerous scandals, but people shouldn’t tune out. Drivers who drive under the influence are more dangers to innocent people than terrorists.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
