Adam
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
On the 2nd of June, 2017, the Resorts World casino, hotel and leisure centre in Manila was terrorised by a lone gunman in what many suspected was an ISIS attack. This attack, when accounting for local time-zone differences, occurred exactly four months prior to the recent shooting in Las Vegas.
Early reports from the attack at Resorts World Manila, stated that there were multiple gunmen rampaging throughout the casino floor and into hotel areas.
Shortly after the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility. This was not considered unusual, primarily because the attack came shortly after ISIS began waging a proxy war in the southern Philippine city of Marawi.
During the chaos, a fire broke out in the casino which feed the narrative that it was a coordinated ISIS attack on the Philippine capital.
James Agustin on Twitter: “Bumigay ang isang bahagi ng warehouse na nasusunog sa Atlanta St. Port Area Maynila. Nakataas pa rin sa ikaapat hanggang ikalimang alarma. pic.twitter.com/NUvVDFUGUi / Twitter”
Bumigay ang isang bahagi ng warehouse na nasusunog sa Atlanta St. Port Area Maynila. Nakataas pa rin sa ikaapat hanggang ikalimang alarma. pic.twitter.com/NUvVDFUGUi
James Agustin on Twitter: “MORE: Lalaking nakatakip ang mukha at armado ng baril ang nakita ng mga nasugatang tao. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/kK8OPBzK7Q / Twitter”
MORE: Lalaking nakatakip ang mukha at armado ng baril ang nakita ng mga nasugatang tao. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/kK8OPBzK7Q
Investigations later determined that the lone assailant, a Filipino named Jessie Javier Carlos, acted alone. Furthermore, Carlos was found not to have any links with organised terrorism, but instead had large debts which fed a gambling habit that only aggravated his financial troubles. Carlos who wore a mask and thick black clothing, clearly planned the attack in advance.
Carlos’ killing spree ended up killing 36 people and wounding 70. By contrast, the recent killing spree in Las Vegas committed by Nevada local Stephen Paddock killed at least 59 while wounding over 500.
There are some eerie similarities to the attacks in Manila and Las Vegas. In both cases, local men acted alone in a clearly premeditated attack which took place on the grounds of a hotel/casino. In Manila, the shooting took place partly on the casino floor and into hotel areas and in Las Vegas, the killer fired on his victims at an outdoor music concert from his window in a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino.
In both instances, ISIS claimed responsibility shortly after the attack, although local authorities in both Philippines and now the US, instantly refuted such claims.
Ultimately, both killers had a profile which did not match that of a typical young, violent radial ISIS recruit. Instead, both men had decent jobs not long before the incident. Both men had a relatively large gambling habit and in the case of the Vegas shooter, he apparently enjoyed the country and western style music that was being played at the concert whose audience he massacred. Likewise, both men worked in jobs related to the public sector. Carlos was a tax collector in Philippines and Paddock worked for a company that later became Lockheed-Marin, one of America’s biggest defence contractors.
The lesson in this story is that ISIS is not only capable of making false claims in order to bolster its ‘brand image’ among its dwindling band of sick followers, but that it has a precedent for exploiting matters which are best classed as domestic lone-wolf terrorism, in order to promote their ideology. In the case of the Manila attack, there was no ideological motivation and from what is known about the Las Vegas killer, the 64 year old man had no links with radical ideologies.
The other lessons whose nature will only be apparent as more information becomes public.
As more information about the killer in the United States comes out, it may be that the situations become even more similar than they already are.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
