Good Morning America’s Dan Harris on Sunday lectured viewers on worrying too much about terrorism and instead pushed gun control. Regarding Islamic plots, he wondered, “But, how serious is this threat, really?” Harris noted, “Terror attacks are actually quite rare. Since 9/11, Islamic extremists have killed 45 Americans on U.S. soil. Five a year, on average.”
Harris added, “Not even close to the 11,000 Americans killed every year by gun violence.” Of course, this skepticism came within a panicky segment about what to do in a workplace terror attack.
Harris included a clip of ABC contributor (and former NYPD commissioner) concluding, “If you look at the odds of being attacked and being killed in a terrorist attack are about one in 20 million.”
Harris included a voice from a government video: “If evacuation is not the best option, find a place to hide where the shooter is less likely to find you.”
Considering ABC’s proclivity to hype all sorts of things, from dangerous pools to sharks, it’s not surprising that the network’s journalists want to downplay terror and promote a liberal-friendly topic like gun control.
A transcript of the segment is below:
GMA
12/6/15
8:09:02DAN HARRIS: The recent terror attacks have created perverse — persuasive fear here in America. But, how serious is this threat, really? And what, if anything, can we do about it? We went looking for answers. They hit us at a holiday work holiday, on the streets in Paris and at a Marine recruiting center. But terror attacks are actually quite rare. Since 9/11, Islamic extremists have killed 45 Americans on U.S. soil. Five a year, on average. Not even close to the 11,000 Americans killed every year by gun violence.
RAY KELLY (ABC contributor): If you look at the odds of being attacked and being killed in a terrorist attack are about one in 20 million.
HARRIS: The attacks are rare, but real. So what can we as individuals do about it? Some companies are including active shooters in their training. Herbalife created this tutorial. For workers.
WOMAN: Being in the facility of an active shooter requires you quickly determine the most reasonable way to protect your own life.
HARRIS: Government officials also creating a lesson on how to survive an attack.
UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: If evacuation is not the best option, find a place to hide where the shooter is less likely to find you.
HARRIS: And reminding us, “see something say something” is not just an empty slogan. Neighbors of the San Bernardino shooters chose not to report behavior out of fear of racial profiling.
JAMES COMEY (FBI director): It will get to the right people and we will investigate in secret so we that don't smear innocent people
HARRIS: All right. So, I'm going to answer a question that Sara actually asked yesterday, who exactly should you call if you see something suspicious. So, the answer, Sara, is you can call your local police or sheriff’s department or you can call the FBI. In fact, they have a hotline number, 1800-CALL-FBI
PAULA FARIS: That's good to know. Lot of people, they feel like they are seeing something, they don't know who to call. They aren’t sure how they feel about calling.
SARA HAINES: People are nervous to call 911.
FARIS: Yeah, they really are.
HAINES: Is it an emergency? Is it not? So, I appreciate the answer, Dan.
