Another ISIS-supporting terrorist has taken a truck and mowed down pedestrians in New York City. This Islamic killer, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, was from Uzbekistan but had been in the country since 2010. Authorities have him alive, so he can at least be questioned. (Early reports indicate that he was shot in the stomach and should survive, but thus far he’s not talking.) This terrorist at least did us the favor of sparing everyone the initial guessing game as to his motives, shouting “Allahu Akbar” as he exited his rental vehicle and leaving a note saying he’d done it for ISIS. CNN has a regularly updated article with the latest developments.

A Tampa, Florida, address is connected to the suspect. Investigators are also looking into a possible connection to New Jersey, the sources said.
• The man rented the truck in New Jersey on Tuesday, a person briefed on the investigation told CNN.
• President Donald Trump tweeted that the incident “looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person.” In a later tweet, he wrote, “My thoughts, condolences and prayers to the victims and families of the New York City terrorist attack. God and your country are with you!”

It’s worth noting that Saipov entered the United States on the so-called Diversity Visa program which President Trump is trying to put an end to. Also, the fact that he came from Uzbekistan shouldn’t surprise anyone. That nation was one of the larger sources of ISIS fighters when they were first setting up their caliphate.

Much like previous attacks in Europe this year, it seems that the terrorists have largely given up on the idea of stockpiling huge quantities of explosives. Anyone with a driver’s license can rent a vehicle and plow into a crowd of people, killing or wounding significant numbers. There were initial reports last night indicating that Saipov had guns but they turned out to be a paintball launcher and a pellet gun. Unless we’re going to start putting barricades between the roadways and the sidewalks in all of our cities there’s not much to be done in terms of stopping these sorts of attacks.

Of course, there’s one exception to that last statement. If you can’t harden the targets against attacks of this type, your only other choice is to shut down the supply of people willing to attack you. But of course we’re not allowed to talk about that, are we? No, that would go against that whole “diversity” thing and be considered discriminatory.

If there was any sort of silver lining to the dismal cloud of this attack it was the way New York City bounced back and went on with the regularly scheduled Halloween parade and trick or treating events.

Undeterred by a deadly attack hours earlier and just a few blocks away, New Yorkers gathered Tuesday night in Manhattan’s West Village for Halloween festivities.

The 44th annual Village Halloween Parade went on as planned amid increased increased security after a truck tore through a bike path on New York City’s West Side Highway. The NYPD installed more personnel, blocker trucks and officers with long guns along the parade route, spokesman Eric Phillips said.

Call me an emotional old sap or whatever you like, but the sight of the parade and all the kids going door to door with their bags of treats only blocks from where the attack took place just about brought tears to my eyes. As silly as it sounds, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Dr. Suess tale of the Grinch. That Islamic monster probably thought he was going to shut the city down on one of the more festive nights of the year. But much like the village of Whoville, Halloween came just the same.