In what police are speculating to be targeted racist attacks, bombs were left on the steps of the homes of three families of color in Austin, Texas. The first two deadly attacks occurred at the homes of black families. Police suspect the third bomb attack which seriously injured a Latina woman may also be related.
The first attack occurred March 2nd at the home of Anthony Stephan House who was killed by the deadly package which had been left on his door step.
The second attack which occurred today before 7 am left a 17 year old boy dead and injured a 40 year old woman. There are similarities between the March 2nd attack and the deadly incident today. The third explosion which occurred today in Austin at the home of a 70 year old Latina woman may also be related.
Police: "Similarities" indicate link in deadly Austin package explosions
AUSTIN, Texas -- Police in Austin say "similarities" between two deadly package explosions in Texas' capital city this month lead them to believe the incidents are related. The latest incident, reported Monday morning, killed a 17-year-old boy and wounded a woman, Austin police chief Brian Manley said.
The boy died at the scene and the woman in her 40s was taken to the hospital with potentially life threatening injuries after the explosion at the East Austin home before 7 a.m. In an earlier incident March 2, Anthony Stephan House, 39, was killed when a package exploded at his northeast Austin home, CBS affiliate KEYE reports.
Five hours later, another explosion was reported in another residential area, this time in the city’s southeast region. A woman in her 70s was taken to an area hospital “with serious potentially life threatening injuries,” according to the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service.
Relatives on the scene identified the woman injured in the third blast as Esperanza Herrera. They also said her mother, Maria Moreno, suffered minor injuries.
Police and local authorities are warning residents to not open any packages left on their door steps.
Police warn of ‘suspicious’ packages as deadly explosions rock Austin
AUSTIN — Local and federal authorities rushed Monday to respond to a pair of explosions in Austin, just days after another blast fatally injured a man in the Texas capital.
These three explosions at homes or in residential areas, which have not all been linked by authorities, set officials and residents alike on edge, with police urging residents to call 911 rather than opening unexpected packages.
Under the Presidency of Donald Trump, hate crimes are on the rise.
FBI: Hate crimes on the rise in the US
Hate crimes increased in the U.S. last year, according to new data released by the FBI.
There were 6,121 hate crimes reported in 2016, according to the FBI's data, an increase from the around 5,800 incidents reported in 2015.
According to the data, most of the reports were "single-bias incidents." Of those, about 58 percent were motivated by race, ethnicity or ancestry bias, while 21 percent were motivated by religious bias and about 18 percent were motivated by sexual orientation bias.
There was also an increase in the number of crimes reported targeting Jews, Muslims and LGBT people in 2016, The Washington Post reported.
Of the incidents motivated by religious bias, slightly more than 54 percent of the reported offenses were anti-Jewish and about one-quarter were anti-Muslim, according to the FBI's data.
*The victims in the Austin bombings include two black males who were killed, a black woman who was injured and a Latina woman who was seriously injured.
Tuesday, Mar 13, 2018 · 2:19:42 AM +00:00
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igualdad
WaPo is reporting that two of the victims killed came from prominent African American families. A local man, Mr. Dixon, who knows the families, raises the question, is the bomber, “trying to say something to prominent African American families?”