While there are numerous mass shootings and attacks in U.S. history, the one cited by Kellyanne Conway was another “alternative fact.”
Conway, President Donald Trump’s counselor, told MSNBC on Feb. 2 that Trump’s immigration order is valid because of terror threats. According to her set of alternative facts, one of those attacks is the “Bowling Green Massacre.”
Accordingly, she said two Iraqi refugees carried out the attack and the media did not cover the event. As it turns out, nobody covered the massacre because it never happened.
Despite her claims, there was never a Bowling Green Massacre. The event she is referring to is the 2011 arrest of two Iraqi men in Bowling Green, Ky. Investigators incarcerated the men after they tried to send weapons and money to al-Qaeda.
Although the men admitted they conspired with foreign groups to attack U.S. troupes, they had no plans of attacking U.S. soil. The Department of Justice reported that Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 25, and Waad Ramadan Alwan, 31, both admitted guilty to their crimes. Hammadi is serving life in federal prison and Alwan is serving 40 years in federal prison.
In the DOJ’s statement in 2013, Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the men attempt to provide material support to terrorists overseas.
“Both men are being held accountable,” she said. “I thank the dedicated professionals in the law enforcement and intelligence communities who were responsible for this successful outcome.”
Conway also compared President Trump’s immigration ban to President Obama’s 2011 order, “when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.” However, there was no Iraqi ban under Obama’s jurisdiction.
After police detained the Iraqi men from Kentucky, Obama’s administration imposed new, more extensive background checks on Iraqi refugees. The new vetting delayed individuals because of additional steps in visa approval. However, the administration did not place any bans based upon national origin.
The temporary policy reexamined the visas and background checks of 58,000 Iraqis living in the U.S. It also created a decline in refugee immigrants for 2011 caused by longer approval processes.
