Today. Moscow mourns. Russian President Vladimir Putin himself
among the many lighting candles after Russia endured its deadliest
terror attack in 20 years on Friday. Yeah. I honestly thought it was a firecracker,
said this survivor. But these crackles, they were here,
they weren't stopping. There was screaming panic. At least 137 people were killed
by four gunmen who marauded through this huge concert venue, shooting,
throwing bombs and burning the building almost completely to the ground. So o
n Friday, 137 people, including three
children, were killed in that terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall. According to Russia's
investigative committee. But there's a lot more details unfolding
as the number of people injured is 182. 121 are still in the hospital. Search for bodies is ongoing. What we do know is the auditorium at the
Crocus Hall was about three quarters full when, with a crowd waiting to see picnic,
which is a popular band since the Soviet days of the early 80s. But the
concert was sold out in a 6200
seat hall, so some of the audience was still likely getting food or shedding
their heavy coats in the cloak room. And about 7 to 10 minutes
before the start of the show, which was scheduled for 8:00. That popping sound of guns rang out, and
for khaki clad men with automatic weapons opened fire on those in the in the hall. The Islamic State claimed responsibility
first Friday and then again on Saturday on social media channels that they
typically use to issue state
ments. In their Saturday statement,
they said the attack had come in the, quote, natural framework of the ongoing
war between the extremist group and the countries they accuse of fighting Islam. That would be, in this case, Russia. They're specifically, it's ISIS K,
which is a Central Asian affiliate of the Islamic State group. ISIS has thousands of members
and is the Taliban's most bitter enemy and top military threat. The group has continued to carry
out attacks in Afghanistan and beyond since
the Taliban takeover. I'm sure folks remember they they were
behind that 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 US troops
and 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic, chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. ISIS also claimed responsibility
for the bombing attack in Kerman, Iran, that killed 95 people in January
at a memorial procession for General Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian general who
was killed by a US drone strike in 2020. Us officials are saying
that ISIS has long targeted Russia
. This is from Colin Clarke of the Soufan
Center says that ISIS K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years,
frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda. And Michael Kugelman, excuse me,
of the Washington based Wilson Center said ISIS cases Russia as being complicit in
activities that regularly oppress Muslims. I did want to, jump down because there
was a an interesting continuation of Michael Kugelman, who's been speaking
out about this, spoke to Al Jazeera, said that Russian foreign
policy
has been a big red flag for ISIS. And he again, is the South Asia Institute
director for the Washington based Wilson Center, the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, Russian actions in Chechnya, Moscow's close relationships with Syria
and the Iranian government, and especially the military campaigns that
Russia has waged against ISIS fighters in Syria and through the Wagner Group,
mercenaries in parts of Africa. Now, that is their rationale
and also their particular take on Islam. And who is
targeting, Muslims. Right. Obviously, Iran is a muslim nation. So again, and ISIS is a particular strand
of extremist organization, but it's pretty nuts. I mean, there was talk initially after,
the attack that maybe this was coming from Ukraine, obviously, given the war. But there was nothing to back that up.
But was here we are again. And I think we can there's going
to be a lot of fallout from this, but I want to talk want to just kick it
to you before we talk about who has been suspected of d
oing this. It's obviously horrible
what's happened to those those people who lost their lives in this attack. And, you know, our thoughts go out
to their families in this time because obviously this is just horrible. However, this is kind of what happens when extremist factions kind of decide they
want to deal it blow to the great powers. Right? We know these guys. They can't go out in the fields
in that region and fight a Russian army or a Russian backed,
you know, Syrian army head up. They can
't. They will get their blows,
their doors blown off. And they know that quite explicitly. And so they feel like how they attack
the Russians for, you know, what they see as oppression of the, Chechen Muslims and,
and definitely the, the sort of, Islamic State backed forces in Syria,
because pretty much from the start of of that uprising, the Russian government
has backed, Bashar al Assad. Right. In Syria pretty strongly. I feel like he's they've been
his strongest ally from the beginning. You k
now, the Johnny come latelys
in the US. When they finally decided that ISIS was a problem,
they kind of collaborated on, you know, kicking those guys out of that region. But Russia has been heavily involved
from the beginning in these extremist folks feel like, all
right, this is these guys are our enemies, and this is the only way that we see
we can hurt them is by targeting their civilian populations at home. Obviously, this is an atrocity.
Obviously it's wholly unjustified. But this is what t
hese type of groups do
when they feel like foreign powers who they have absolutely no chance of
beating head to head, have wronged them in their people, and they feel like this is
how they, you know, strike a blow, right? I mean, I think you pretty much
just define terrorism, which is. Yeah, non-state actors trying, you know,
taking it out on actual on civilians, sort of in an act of desperation or extremism. Four of the 11 who were arrested,
I guess 11 were, you know, and again, there will be m
ore unfolding, but it seems
that four gunmen have been arrested. But there may have been more. You heard in that report
that there were four. I it's believed
that there more were involved. But again, it's unfolding. But four of the 11,
were identified as Tajik nationals. And they've been arraigned and charged
already under, a terrorism act in Russia. And that carries a life
sentence in prison. However, some conditions on
how they actually came to that confession are raising eyebrows. A court sta
tement said that two of
the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault after being charged with prelim. In the preliminary hearing, though,
the men's condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely. There had been earlier conflicting reports
in Russian media outlets that said three of the four men admitted culpability. The reason their condition
raised some ideas and questions about whether they were speaking freely
is that they clearly had been tortured. They had signs of h
eavy bruising,
swollen faces. One guy didn't have an ear, because it
had been cut off during interrogation. So again. We'll keep following this story.
It will be unfolding. Vladimir Putin is still somehow trying
to blame Ukraine for this. But it is really scary was-I think to me,
what stands out is Putin's government is one that Tucker Carlson
and the right in this country love. They they praise. Right. And there is no due process
when it comes to what if you're accused of an act of terrorism? N
o. You're getting your ear cut off. You're going to be tortured,
tortured into confession, to confessing. Who knows? And that's it. Life. Life. Good. Goodbye. This country. At least there is due process
and the rule of law. In addition to, as I pointed out
on the damage report this morning, if you're Dylann Roof for a white domestic
terrorist, you might get a Burger King thrown in with that before, you know,
you actually get charged. But, it's that separation
that I think those of us who still t
rying to work on the whole justice system
in this so-called democracy, that's what we want to preserve, not the presumption
of guilt or even the torturing of. Yeah, let's say these people
do have blood on their hands. They should be,
tried and sentenced in accordance with, you know, law and not what what was that? In two days? Two days? Yeah. See, I don't think civil liberties
have ever been a specialty of Russian authorities. This probably goes back
for about 100 years now. That hasn't seemed t
o be a priority. However, where I might disagree
with you a bit and where we we cede the moral high ground very often. And when I say we, I mean
the American foreign policy establishment. Putin's no dummy. He knows he can go on any, outlet and say,
have you guys ever heard of Gitmo? You think those guys get fair trials
with due process, a speedy trial? Get lawyers, get released,
get any of that? No, they don't. They. Putin will come out and say,
the Americans do this all the time. They had their
little CIA black sites. They were torturing the hell
out of people that those things. And that's why I feel like a lot
of the these steps that we took during the quote unquote,
war on terror has weakened us abroad. People look at America is very,
suspect in their claims to have some moral high ground when when push came to shove,
after 911, we wiretapped the hell out of our own citizens. When whenever we accused anybody
of being a terrorist, they didn't get to go to a court in New York City
or
Los Angeles or Washington, D.C.. We tried these folks abroad. Right. And that's and that's not even to speak
of, you know, President Obama killing American citizens with drone strikes.
No judge, no jury, no court, no anything. Right. And so I think that's our problem
that we stand in right now. As far as the American establishment,
as it relates to foreign policy, they've done so many horrible things
we can't even come out in, in good faith, explain to people that what the Russians
are doing are
horrible because we come up to that line very often. No, I think you're 100% right. I, you know, I think that's
a really not just fair point. That is the point.
And especially if they're Muslim. Right. Like, that is the difference. When I say Dylann Roof,
that wasn't brown or Muslim, but when they are and especially if they
have actual ties abroad or to an ISIS or like organization, you're 100% right. I mean, there are still people,
people languishing in Guantanamo. - So point taken and great p
oint.
- All right. Thanks for watching this free clip
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