New Year's Massacre: What If the Attacker Was Muslim?

At 3:15 AM on Jan. 1, an armed man intentionally drove a speeding truck into a New Year's Eve celebration crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter early Wednesday.

The attack killed at least 10 and injured more than 30, six of whom were seriously hurt, before the man was shot and killed by police. The FBI is calling this a terrorist assault.

Nine hours after this horrific attack, no information about the attacker's identity or a photo has been made publicly available by law enforcement agencies. Hold your horses-the attacker was not an immigrant, had no Middle Eastern connection, and he was not a "Moooslem either."

If the New Year's Day attacker in New Orleans had been a Muslim, here is a summary of what I think the reaction would have been:

• The story would dominate 24/7 news cycles for days to come.
• Islam and Muslims would be put on trial.
• Trump would tweet to his 45 million followers: "I told you so, Islam hates us!"
• We would know the mosque the shooter attended, the charities he donated to, and even his favorite vacation spots.
• The "Imam" of the mosque would be blamed for radicalizing the "terrorist," with claims that his rhetoric stoked the attack.
• U.S. officials would be quick to condemn Muslims as bloodthirsty savages.
• It would be the lead story on every TV station and a front-page story in every newspaper.
• TV stations would preempt regular programming for constant updates and analyses.
• Major TV networks would dispatch top-tier hosts to broadcast from New Orleans.
• Every radio talk show would discuss the incident, giving listeners a platform to vent their frustrations.
• The slogan "Je Suis New Orleans" would go viral.
• Facebook users worldwide would change their profile pictures to pay tribute to the victims.
• Concerned Americans would visit the crime scene with flowers and dolls for moral support.
• Finally, Muslim communities would be asked the naive question: Do you condone or condemn the New Orleans terrorist attack?

Hold your horses-the attacker was not an immigrant, had no Middle Eastern connection, and he was not a "Moooslem either." Furthermore, no name or photo of the suspect has been released by the police. I wonder why.

When I read about the latest tragic news in New Orleans very early this morning, I hoped and prayed that the culprit was neither Muslim nor had connections to the Middle East. There is no doubt in my mind that Muslim haters were crossing their fingers, hoping the terrorist who committed this crime was a Muslim or a foreign national.

It is ironic how quickly public officials and news organizations blame Islam when a Muslim commits a crime. However, when non-Muslims commit a crime, their religion is never mentioned. How do you spell hypocrisy?

Finally, this Muslim offers his condolences and prayers to the family, friends, and all who witnessed this horrible massacre last night in New Orleans. Americans should sleep better tonight knowing that President Joe Biden was informed about this tragedy and is being constantly updated.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelancer for Islamicity.org and ColumbusFreePress.com. He can be reached at [email protected].