The Sunday morning massacre at an Orlando nightclub — the worst mass shooting in U.S. history — is by any definition an act of terrorism. The horror that left at least 50 dead and as many injured is another episode of extreme violence that makes our world feel less safe. That is the ultimate aim of terrorists, regardless of the prejudice or politics that motivate them.
Whether it was Islamist terrorism or the act of a deranged anti-gay extremist who happens to be Muslim — in the way that murderous anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh happened to be Christian —is a question yet to be answered. The police and FBI are on it. Give them time.
The ease with which the gunman obtained weapons that allowed, apparently, one person to slaughter 50 has to be part of that quest.
Regardless, this was, as President Obama said Sunday, “an act of hate.”
It’s human to reach for a reason at times like this. It’s a way we deal with tragedy: A loved one dies a seemingly meaningless death, and we find ourselves asking: Why? Hundreds of people in Orlando are asking that today, mourning loved ones cut down, hoping and praying that others seriously wounded will survive. We long for a pat answer. Sometimes we get it. Sometimes we never do.
What happened Sunday morning in that club should never happen to anyone, anywhere. For now, as details trickle out and the magnitude of the horror settles in, the one commonality for Americans should be mourning.
The families touched by this slaughter must not feel they are alone.
