Austin Police Chief Labels Serial Bomber A ‘Domestic Terrorist’ For The First Time

The scene near Galindo Street in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2018 where a woman in her 70s was injured in an explosion. The incident was the second reported explosion on Monday and the third in two weeks. Two parcel b... The scene near Galindo Street in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2018 where a woman in her 70s was injured in an explosion. The incident was the second reported explosion on Monday and the third in two weeks. Two parcel bombs rattled the US city of Austin on Monday, March 12, 2018, ten days after a similar deadly blast, as Texas police said they were investigating the possibility that the attacks were serial hate crimes. The explosions came as Austin, the state capital and a metropolis of two million people, welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors for the massive South by Southwest entertainment and media festival. / AFP PHOTO / SUZANNE CORDEIRO (Photo credit should read SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Austin police chief says a “domestic terrorist” set off a series of explosions that killed two people and severely wounded four others in the Texas capital.

Chief Brian Manley had previously hesitated to label the bombings domestic terrorism, citing the ongoing investigation.

But at a meeting Thursday on the police and community response to the bombings, Manley labeled the accused bomber a “domestic terrorist for what he did to us.”

Mark Conditt blew himself up as authorities approached on March 21. He had planted bombs that terrorized Austin for weeks.

Manley previously called Conditt a “very troubled young man,” drawing criticism that the bomber would have been labeled a terrorist more quickly if he had not been a white man.

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