EDITOR'S UPDATE:
ISIS has now claimed responsibility for the OSU attack and, while Pres. Obama still hasn't commented, President-Elect Donald Trump wasted no time yesterday in responding to the tragedy, expressing his condolences to the victims and praising law enforcement on Facebook:
Pres. Obama has yet to comment on Monday’s brutal attack at Ohio State University (OSU) by a suspect who is a Somali refugee with a potential terrorist motive – but, he’s been much quicker to weigh in when police can be condemned.
Obama has not issued a statement – even of condolence – on the OSU attack that left 10 people wounded and one in critical condition, but White House Press Sec. Josh Earnest assured reporters Monday afternoon that Obama had been briefed on the tragedy:
Q: "One more question on -- there was an attack on Ohio State this morning. I was just wondering, has the President been briefed on that? Do you have anything further about like the investigation of that attack?"
MR. EARNEST: "The President was briefed this morning by Lisa Monaco who is his top Homeland Security Advisor. The President asked to be updated on the investigation. I know that local law enforcement officials have indicated that the situation in Columbus is no longer active, the site has been secured. FBI officials in Columbus are assisting local authorities as they conduct this investigation.
"But we’ll obviously defer to local law enforcement to disclose additional information about what exactly occurred there. There’s still a lot of information to review and collect. But obviously this is a difficult situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Columbus and the community of Ohio State at this difficult time."
Delaying comment and deferring to local authorities is unlike Pres. Obama, who has a habit of rushing to judgment – especially, when he has a chance to chastise police. When Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, firing back in self-defense, in Ferguson, Missouri, Obama wasted no time commenting:
“Rather than encouraging the country to wait for the facts to emerge and permitting Missouri to handle the matter, President Barack Obama swiftly announced a Department of Justice civil rights investigation just two days later and sent Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson to investigate.”
Sean Hannity has chronicled Obama’s more recent “history of rushing to judgment”:
"And what we saw this weekend in Baton Rouge: this guy literally lures them in, lying in wait, and fatally shooting three guys, severely wounding three others, just for being policemen.
“Now this is the second attack on U.S. law enforcement in ten days. Within that ten-day period, by the way, your president met with the Black Lives Matter leaders--the guy, you know, the group that has members chanting, ‘Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon. What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want it? Now.’
"Obama’s answer? ‘Well, police can make the job of being a cop a lot safer by admitting their failures.’
“His history of rushing to judgment in high-profile racial cases--it is now unconscionable.”