‘Not terror-related’: Flinders Street driver of Afghan descent and mentally ill

You may wonder why I accepted that the man who tried to enter RAF Mildenhall on Tuesday really did have mental health problems but I am sceptical that the authorities are playing down the danger that this pair of prize specimens present. The man on Tuesday was preposterous; he drives up to a heavily guarded gate (I used to drive past RAF Mildenhall regularly on my way to the Norfolk coast – believe me the place bristles with heavy duty security) unarmed, demanding to be allowed entry saying something on the lines of “Admit me, my good man. I am a very senior military official traveling incognito and this teddy bear stuffed up my jumper will confirm my identity”.

The two men in Melbourne put people in hospital. A small child is fighting for its little life. There were TWO of them. What was it, ‘follie a deux’? His voices told me to do it? 

From the Age The horrific attack on pedestrians at a busy intersection in Melbourne’s CBD was not believed to be terror-related, Victoria Police have said.

Nineteen people were injured, including a four-year-old boy, after the driver of an SUV mowed down pedestrians on Flinders Street at Elizabeth Street on Thursday just before 5pm. The child was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital with head injuries, while four other victims were critically injured and are fighting for their lives in city hospitals.

The driver, a 32-year-old Australian citizen of Afghan descent, was arrested at the scene by an off-duty police officer whose actions have been described as heroic.

The car was registered to a family member and police said it was not stolen. The driver was about four cars back from traffic lights travelling west on Flinders Street before he drove up on the tram tracks and accelerated into pedestrians.

“We believe he’s driven down the tram tracks and he crashed into a tram stop on the other side,”  Victoria Police Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said.

Mr Patton said the man was known to police in relation to minor traffic offences and a minor assault in 2010.”?At this time we don’t have any evidence or intelligence to indicate a connection with terrorism,” he said. The driver also had a history of drug use and mental health issues. Doctors will determine when he is fit for interview,

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews described the incident as a “horrific act, an evil act, an act of cowardice perpetrated against innocent bystanders”. Mr Andrews lauded the efforts of an off-duty police man who detained the driver and emergency services including police who arrived within “15 seconds” and paramedics who were there within minutes. (He) commended the bystanders who “came to the aid of people who they had never met before”.

A second 24-year-old man seen filming the crash was arrested shortly after the crash and found with three knives in his backpack, but he was not believed to be involved in the incident. Police said it was probable that he had no links to the incident and said the driver was alone in the car. That explains that then. 

Christina’s comments earlier are pertinent now. 

…surprise, surprise, he’s committed assaults in the past, he’s into drug-dealing, and … he has … as so many,many of them seem to have, all these damn attackers seem to have “mental issues”. And so it’s “not terror-related’. NothingtodowithIslam… Pfffft. None of our stupid reporters thinks to draw the attention of the inquiring mind to the curious fact that, although we have lots of psychiatrically-ill non-Muslims in Australia, and petty criminals aplenty, NONE of them have ever taken an SUV and drove it full-tilt at and through hapless pedestrians on a busy city street in broad daylight. (In the case of a previous car-ramming attack in Melbourne, there is a quite strong suspicion that the disturbed mind of the attacker was attracted to/ inclining toward Islam… funny, that… even if he might not have been an actual convert).