Yes, bomber a ‘terrorist’ – Tex. chief

THE YOUNG Texan who sent a series of package bombs, killing two people, was a “domestic terrorist,” authorities said Thursday.

“This is a distinction I wanted to make today,” interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a panel discussion about race relations in Austin, the Statesman newspaper reported.

Mark Conditt “was a domestic terrorist for what he did to us,” Manley told the crowd of about 100 people.

“I was so focused that we put a stop to it,” Manley said of why Conditt was not referred to as a terrorist by authorities earlier.

Zeke Prado, whose 75-yearold aunt, Esperanza Herrera, was critically injured by a package bomb on March 12, argued that Conditt should have been labeled a terrorist from the beginning.

“He terrorized the city of Austin,” Prado said, the Statesman reported.

Conditt, who is white, was portrayed as “troubled,” rather than a “terrorist,” because of his race, according to Austin Justice Coalition leader Chas Moore.

“Because he was white, we gave him the benefit of being a human first,” Moore said.

Conditt, 23, planted at least six bombs across Austin, causing weeks of panic and fear in the capital city. Two people died and five more wounded before he killed himself.