When Alexandre Bissonnette was not charged with terrorism, the logic was that it would be easier to prove that he committed first-degree murder, rather than politically-motivated violence. A thread.
While to any sensible person, a mass murder committed in a mosque that targeted muslims was clearly terrorism, there was at least a line of logic here: we wanted a trial that would be a success. A terror charge would make that potentially harder.
Regardless, we still refer to the attack as terror. We say those words when we speak of that horror. There was reluctance to contradict the charges from some officials but now that AB is in jail, there is less of a reason to avoid saying terrorism.
The shooting in Nova Scotia is an act of terror, obviously. There won't be charges, there will be no trial. Officials and politicians don't need to be careful with their words as there will be no charges lain.

So if they aren't saying terrorism today, we need to demand why.
These are contested terms. The coverage of the murderer has already shown the fidelity of Canada's national newsmedia to whiteness. And in the aftermath of this horror, it's up to everyone to challenge these frames, these norms and insist that we call it what it is.
Remember that it took decades before Polytechnique was considered an act of anti-feminist violence. Decades of struggle.
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