Steven Rogers, a former FBI official who worked in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, has stated that the Christmas day Nashville bombing incident was atypical and chilling. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 38 years in law enforcement, where an individual who wants to bomb an area actually notifies potential victims to clear the area… So clearly, this individual did not want to kill people. He wanted to minimize the loss of human life,” he said in an interview with NTD.
The bombing has been ascribed to Anthony Quinn Warner, who parked his vehicle outside an AT&T facility and then broadcast a warning about the impending explosion, thereby allowing people to evacuate the area. As a result, even though the explosion was quite powerful, only Warner died from the incident. A few people suffered minor injuries. Rogers points out that a 911 call was made to the police to ensure that as many officers arrive in the area and help in evacuating people. The call was not made to kill the officers.
Rogers believes that there is more to the story than what the press has informed the public of. He makes this conclusion based on the fact that the motivation of the bomber is unknown. Even more unsettling is the fact that Warner was able to procure enough equipment to make a powerful bomb that caused large-scale damage. If an ordinary citizen can do this, then the potential damage from a professionally trained terrorist could be devastating.
The mayor of Nashville, Democrat John Cooper, has dismissed concerns of a terror attack, noting that authorities from the FBI, the U.S. Attorney, and everyone else have been extremely careful in not using the “T-word.” This may have to do with the fact that the perpetrator did not leave any manifesto or political statement. Cooper noted that the explosion might have had something to do with AT&T given the facts that Warner had parked the vehicle right next to the company building and Warner’s father had worked at a company called BellSouth, which was acquired by AT&T.
Douglas Korneski, an FBI special agent, says that officials have reviewed numerous hours of surveillance content and determined that Warner acted alone. David Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said that Warner was not on the law enforcement radar. Authorities have collected his DNA for further analysis. Nashville police have released body cam footage recorded by officer Michael Sipos who was present at the scene of the explosion.
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Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn praised the act of Nashville police officers who worked to evacuate the area before the bomb explosion. She argued that the officers should be honored for their work. Six officers had visited the homes and apartments in the area and warned people to get to safety, which is why there were no significant civilian casualties from the blast.
“These six officers … did a phenomenal job. They saved lives. And they really humanized the police force. So, I encourage everyone to watch it. I don’t see how anyone could say ‘defund the police’ after listening to this press conference,” which demonstrates “what good police work is, and why we need to honor these men and women who wear that thin blue line who are our first responders,” Blackburn said to Fox News.
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