At least six people are reported dead in a shooting at a mosque in Quebec. Two suspects are reported to be under arrest.
A few dozen people were inside the Islamic cultural centre of Quebec in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood when the shooting began just after 8 p.m.
Quebec City Police Constable Étienne Doyon said mostly men were gathered at the mosque for evening prayers.
The director of the centre said at least five people were killed, but that information has not been confirmed by police.
Two suspects have been arrested, one of whom was apprehended after a chase that ended near l’île d’Orléans.
Five people are listed in critical condition, while at least a dozen others suffered minor injuries.
There were few credible facts known immediately after the shooting, other than what anonymous witnesses were reporting to local news sources.
A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBC’s French-language service Radio-Canada that two masked individuals entered the mosque.
“It seemed to me that they had a Quebecois accent. They started to fire, and as they shot they yelled, ‘Allahu akbar!’ The bullets hit people that were praying. People who were praying lost their lives. A bullet passed right over my head,” said the witness.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck exactly the right tone with the limited information on hand.
Tonight, Canadians grieve for those killed in a cowardly attack on a mosque in Quebec City. My thoughts are with victims & their families.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 30, 2017
But when did that ever stop wild speculation on Twitter that somehow, this must be Donald Trump’s fault?
https://twitter.com/DameBrochant/status/825927246967930880
This happened in Quebec because of Trump getting guy's excited…there is going to be a war…then that will be the end
— patti solda (@solda_patti) January 30, 2017
this doesn't happen in Canada. I'm Devastated ..I blame Trumps fear.and hate mongering. & whiskey nose bannon
— Stacey Derouin (@sugarspank48) January 30, 2017
Prime Minister: this is a made-by-Trump tragedy. denounce Trump's ban. stand up to his hatred. #Resistance
— Raffi Cavoukian (@Raffi_RC) January 30, 2017
Even supposed “journalists” sat and speculated on Twitter.
Too early to know if #Quebec mosque shooting was perpetrated by right-wing extremists. If it was, then this is result of Trump rhetoric.
— Conor McCormick (@ConorMichael28) January 30, 2017
And then there was this now-deleted gem from actor Kumail Nanjiani.
And then the fake news began. There was the side blaming white supremacists. The source? A parody Reuters account.
Quebec City is a tragedy, so is the reporting on it. Here is @justinjm1 at @thedailybeast on the left his apparent source on the right pic.twitter.com/TLIr4nyToR
— Charles Signorile (@CharlieSigs) January 30, 2017
And the side claiming the shooters were Syrian refugees. The source? Reddit.
This is a false claim, which originated on Reddit. #FakeNews #quebeccity #QuebecShooting https://t.co/W7GRfOnIgY
— Bob Owens (@bob_owens) January 30, 2017
The lesson is, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, to never trust and always verify any news that you see on Twitter. ESPECIALLY if they come from accounts with that special blue checkmark after their name. As you can see, even “real” journalists can get easily taken by parody accounts because the information involved is just “too good to check.”
In the meantime, we wait for actual confirmation by Quebec law enforcement as to who has actually been arrested. Victory Girls will update this story as information is released.
UPDATE 10 am PST:
The suspects were identified.
https://twitter.com/LouiseMartinCBC/status/826087158733795330
But now there seems to be a question of who is a suspect, and who is a witness.
#Breaking Quebec police said they have released one person arrested in connection with the #MosqueeSteFoy shooting
— Louise Martin (@LouiseMartinCBC) January 30, 2017
#important : We cannot confirm which of the two men arrested in #quebeccitymosque mosque shooting is considered a suspect. Waiting on more..
— Louise Martin (@LouiseMartinCBC) January 30, 2017
This is all very confusing, at best.
Interestingly, where things like the Orlando nightclub shooting were “wait and see – we wouldn’t want to fly off the handle and call it terrorism too soon”, Trudeau went straight to “Terrorism!” with this one.
While I agree it’s likely terrorism, no matter who is responsible, the double standard is so tiring.
Ooooh, and now one report says (among some things that first reports seem to have misreported) one of the two terrorists is “of Moroccan origin” and is named Mohamed. Hmmmmmmm….
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