Last week, three package bombings happened in the city of Austin, Texas.
The package bombings have killed 2 people and injured 2 others. Although the Austin Police Chief doesn’t want to classify this as a hate crime, many citizens want to label this as a hate crime because the targets of the package bombings have been people of color (the victims were either Hispanic or African-American). The packages, from the outside, appeared to be regular mail packages. But when they are opened by the targets, the packages were triggered and exploded.
The first victim, Anthony Stephan House, he was a father and a talented senior project manager. House was killed after the explosion of the package on March 2nd, 2018.
The second bombing resulted in the death of Draylen Mason, a 17-year-old African-American male was killed and his 41-year old mother was injured from the package bomb at his doorstep on the morning of March 12th, 2018.
On the same day of March 12th, a third bombing critically injured a 75-year-old Hispanic woman, Esperanza Herrera. Our prayers go out to the victims killed or injured from these bombings.
According to ABC.news, “Investigators believe that the trio of bombs displayed a level of sophistication, indicating that the bomb-maker or bomb-makers were highly skilled. The devices were set up to be detonated by a motion like shaking or jostling, which is why they exploded when they were picked up. They also had some sort of safety switch, which enabled the bomber to move the devices without blowing themselves up, the sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.” These bombings have left many in Austin distraught and on edge. America mourns for the victims of the bombings. As authorities believe that the Austin bombs were “meant to send a message”, it left the people of color in the community to feel threatened because the victims of the crimes identified as African-American and Hispanic.
While the Austin Police, the FBI and investigators of the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) search and investigate for those responsible, they have found information to help them in that case.