"I want more Muslims to do more to help us all get rid of these medieval IS monsters. Or as Trump so rightly called them, 'evil losers'," Morgan writes in a Daily Mail column.
Arguing that it was not "offensive or racist or bigoted or wrong to ask decent, law-abiding Muslims to do more to tackle this growing menace," Morgan asks why the bomber, Salman Abedi, went by unnoticed by those around him. "He is someone’s son, someone’s friend, possibly someone’s work colleague. Did anything change about his behaviour?"
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"But I refuse to believe this disgusting excuse for a human being never gave a single clue to anyone around him that he was becoming radicalised," he stressed.
In all fairness, the writer may have a point. Abedi's behaviour would have had to change in days leading up to the attack. But what the British journalist missed is that it did not go unnoticed.
In fact, two people from the Manchester College, which Abedi attended, told BBC News that they had, on separate occasions, called anti-terrorism hotline to warn the authorities about Abedi's changing narrative. While a community support worker too had reported him to the officials after he stated support for 'terrorism', saying it was okay to be a "suicide bomber".
We may not know whether the warnings were processed or ignored by the law enforcement agencies but we do know that Morgan's opinion of Muslims did not go unnoticed. Social media responded to his article and subsequent tweets with lots of sarcasm.
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"Many of us can cope and will have society to pull us through. The rest, thanks to likes of
Many of us can cope and will have society to pull us through. The rest, thanks to likes of @piersmorgan will just retreat feeling useless. https://t.co/aGUWBGlbB6
— Adil Ray OBE (@adilray) May 23, 2017
Ray was not the only one. Fellow comedian, Abdullah Afzal, had questions too while Andi Osho and others joined in.
We educate young people on ways to integrate. We promote peace, we do community projects and yet we're still told we need to do more. What?
— Abdullah Afzal (@Abdullah_Azfal) May 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/andiosho/status/867326380744331264
And all you did is make the situation worse by blaming Muslims. Grow up, Piers. Think. Don't Trump. https://t.co/6ty5g6Wx7b
— Mo Ansar (@MoAnsar) May 24, 2017
By your logic men should do more to root out rapists. Doesn't really work like that does it?
— Charlotte Church (@charlottechurch) May 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/_itsyusuf/status/866985030073110528
Protip, Mr. Morgan: "extremist-hunting" has never once saved a life. It has, however, led to thousands of murdered innocents.
— Brine Gildchaff (@Brine_Gildchaff) May 25, 2017
When Twitter was almost over Morgan's column, he reignited a storm by taking a dig at Ariana Grande for returning to the United States soon after the attack.
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Agreed.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 25, 2017
Might have been nice if @ArianaGrande had stayed to do the same. https://t.co/s4ibBma3IQ
On cue, social media rushed to defend the traumatised star.
Hey Piers. Just wanted to let you know that even though the world largely ignores you, we are aware you lack empathy and logic.
— Richard Lawler (@rjcc) May 25, 2017
And what's there to say she won't eventually visit?? Honestly, the mind boggles. There's very clearly no line you won't cross for attention
— Shehnaz Khan (@shehnazkhan) May 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/Harold_Hudeani/status/867847899622907904
https://twitter.com/theyearofelan/status/867863904663162880
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