Contacting Donald Trump - Compassion and Eccentricity

I never thought that I'd have reason to contact Donald Trump, other than possibly writing to him on behalf of Amnesty International. That changed on October 31, when an Uzbek immigrant to the USA called Sayfullo Saipov (pictured below) drove a rented pickup truck into cyclists and runners in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Unlike other perpetrators of such attacks, Saipov was taken alive. His FBI interrogators were thus able to establish that he was a supporter of ISIS/Daesh and that he was happy with the results of his murderous attack.

His "results" include eight dead innocent people: two Americans, five Argentinians and one Belgian. Twelve others were injured, including Saipov himself. One victim had two limbs amputated. This attack happened close to the site of the World Trade Centre, destroyed on 9/11, and it seems to me that Saipov was trying to contact President Trump on behalf of ISIS. The message sent, I think, being something like this:
"In spite of all the billions of dollars you have spent trying to destroy us, despite your sophisticated weaponry, we can still hit you in exactly the same place as Al-Qaeda hit you sixteen years ago".
Saipov's weapon of choice was a humble truck, not a plane, but the terror and publicity his crime attracted was every bit as sensational as that engendered on 9/11.

We in the UK, and especially in London, have suffered from similar attacks this year, and I have been moved to lay flowers and a card at the sites of two of them. After Saipov's lethal rampage, unable to lay flowers at the scene of the incident in New York, I sent a message of condolence via email to a New York radio station and to the President himself, Donald Trump. I have received no reply, but that really wasn't expected or necessary. At least I felt that I'd done something worth while.

It will come as a surprise to some to learn that I have been sending similar messages to other countries that, like us, are suffering from terrorism. The first time I did this was in an email sent to the Norwegian Embassy in London, following Anders Breivik's killing spree in Norway in 2011, and I have sent other sympathy messages to diplomatic and political representatives after similar incidents in other countries. I haven't always received a reply, but have been gratified by notes of thanks from the German, Swedish and Russian embassies and from the Canadian Prime Minister's office.

I never talked about this to friends or family. Not that I was ashamed or embarrassed about it; I simply didn't think of it as being of much interest. That changed on June 7th, when I went to lay a floral tribute to the victims of the London Bridge attack that had happened four days previously.

While I was laying my flowers and standing in silent contemplation, I was unaware that I was being photographed by two Norwegian journalists: one male reporter and a female photographer. After I finished my moment of silence, they approached me and asked a good deal of searching questions (eg. "What were you praying about?"). They were very curious as to what had motivated me to travel into central London to lay flowers. Perhaps unwisely, I told them of my practice of sending sympathy emails to foreign embassies and politicians, and how Norway had been the first recipient. They conducted what seemed to be a fair and friendly interview, and promised to publish the article online. When it was published (link lost, sorry), the Google translation, which admittedly is not always the most accurate, made me sound rather like a typical English eccentric. I have no doubt that a few other people, reading this, will hold the same derogatory opinion. How sad it is, when small gestures of compassion can be dismissed as bizarre and eccentric!

This does not discourage me in the slightest, and I shall continue sending messages of condolence to other countries when terrorist incidents happen. If anyone else feels encouraged enough to do similar, I wish you well. It costs little in the way of time to send a short email, and only a little more time than it takes to sign an online petition. As Margaret Mead said:

 "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have".

But... let's not forget one thing. This really is not about me, a few scoffers, or even the possibility that some people will be motivated to join me in my emailing endeavours. Let's keep our focus on the people who matter here: the victims of terrorism, whatever their country of origin or domicile. They have faces, names and people who care for them. And we could so easily become victims ourselves... I leave you with a photograph of a floral tribute laid at the Monument for the London Bridge victims. It is short, but eloquent.