On September 17th, a bombing injured 29 people in New York.  That same day, an explosion went off in New Jersey near a Marine Corps Charity race, and 9 people were stabbed in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  All three of these instances are being investigated as terror acts, and people throughout America are devastated.  “In today’s world it’s not surprising that this is happening, but it’s terrifying,” commented Devika Dixit, a concerned sophomore.

Two days after the bomb in New York detonated, investigators identified Ahmad Khan Rahimi as the main perpetrator of the crime.  Officers apprehended Rahimi in front of a bar in Linden, New Jersey after a shootout that injured him and two other police officers.  However, on September 18th, a day before Rahimi was apprehended, several bombs were discovered in a wastebasket in Elizabeth, New Jersey close to a train.  One of the bombs in the wastebasket exploded when police investigated the scene, but thankfully no one was injured.  

The bombings in New York occurred just a week before the United Nations General Assembly was planned to convene in New York.   If the motive behind planting the bombs was to attack the UN assembly or target a person attending the assembly, then these bombs could have had even more disastrous results.   

Additionally, the unidentified man who stabbed nine people in a Minnesota mall was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer.  However, the incident revealed an underlying threat; ISIS has claimed responsibility for the event.  According to people who were the mall at the time of the stabbings, right before he went on his stabbing spree the suspect made a reference to Allah and asked people if they were Muslim.  This has ignited fear in local Muslim and Somali communities who fear backlash from the public.  The people of St. Cloud, Minnesota are all praying for the victims of the stabbings.  Of the nine people stabbed, three people remain in the hospital, and one person is in a life-threatening condition.  

Unfortunately, terror acts have not been a rare occurrence in America in the past few decades, and they seem to be growing more common as America’s relations with ISIS grow more.  “I don’t know how we can prevent it,” said Morgan Barrowcliff, in regards to the recent terror acts.  “It makes me cry,” stated Brooke Beeson.  

To find ways to help victims of terrorist attacks, you can visit www.UN.com/victimsofterrorism.