Just one month after a Massachusetts woman went on a stabbing rampage and killed two of her own young children, a seriously disgruntled man stabbed several refugee children at a birthday party in Boise, Idaho, according to ABC News on Sunday. The suspect was arrested and identified as Timmy Kinner, aged 30, of Los Angeles. Kinner's motive for the attack was apparently revenge for having been evicted from the apartment complex in which he had been staying.
The six children, ranging in age from three to 12, live at the same apartment complex as the one from which Kinner was evicted, just a few doors down from his former apartment.
Kinner, who had been provided a room by a good Samaritan who was renting the apartment, was evicted from the apartment complex because of bizarre behavior. Kinner has a prison record and a history of violence against others.
Stabbing was not a terrorist attack
Unlike an attacker who stabbed several people in Finland a year ago, killing two and injuring several additional others, Kinner apparently did not have a terrorist motive for his rampage. Allegedly, Kinner was motivated by a need to retaliate against the manager of the apartment complex and the tenants, most of whom are low-income earning refugees, even though they had absolutely nothing to do with his eviction. The young children became easy prey for the knife-wielding madman.
Embracing refugees
Boise Mayor Dave Bieter described Boise, which has become a refuge for displaced immigrants from Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia and other nations with inner turmoil, as a city that embraces refugees. Bieter stated that Boise is and will continue to be a city offering safe refuge to those "seeking refuge from tyranny, suffering and war," according to ABC News on Sunday.
Bieter then eloquently finished his statement: "It is who we are and who will we continue to be."
Children in cages
Although he is a city mayor and not a member of Congress or an official of the Trump Administration, Bieter's words evoked memories of Trump's policy of taking children from their parents and keeping them in cages.
One is caused to question whether this Administration policy would pass Bieter's litmus test of a nation providing safe sanctuary for those "seeking refuge" from horrific conditions in their native countries. Most likely the answer is an emphatic, "No, no, not at all!!"
Bieter's message to Trump
Whether Bieter was trying to send a message to Donald Trump or simply expressing what was in his heart, is irrelevant. The point is that no matter what Bieter's intentions were when he made his statement, Donald Trump and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions could learn something from Bieter: This is a compassionate country of immigrants that provides sanctuary to refugees seeking asylum within its boundaries. And we do that and will continue to do that because "It is who we are."
