Americans weren't "confused" about whether the attack in Oklahoma, where a man with reported ties to radical Islam allegedly attacked and beheaded a former coworker, was workplace violence or an act of terrorism, Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry told "Fox & Friends."
Officials were treating the incident of the alleged attack by Alton Nolen as a case of workplace violence, but the FBI is investigating his reported ties to radical Islam and anti-American statements he may have made on social media, reported
Fox News.
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"I think Americans aren't confused about what this is. This is a clear case of an individual going in and doing something that doesn't meet their definition of workplace violence," Perry said Monday. "I think any rational thinking American is going to look at this and go, this is more than just normal workplace violence."
Perry cautioned that people should "give the appropriate time to really do the investigation," but maintained the administration of President Barack Obama, which has refrained from labeling previous similar incidents as terrorism, would eventually have to confront the issue.
"I think the administration does have to address this as what it appears to many people that it is, and that is an act of violence that is associated with terrorism," he said.
Perry said the threat to the U.S. from Islamic terrorist organizations, like the Islamic State (ISIS), was one reason why he recently sent the National Guard to secure the border in southern Texas.
"In the case of the border, individuals who are coming up with the understanding that if you cross the border and you can come into the United States and stay, they now understand that that is not the case," he said.
Perry explained that it was "a major admission that this administration got it wrong" when Obama on Sunday told CBS' "60 Minutes" the White House had underestimated the threat posed by ISIS.
Perry said it would be "interesting to me if the president will ever make that admission" to making a mistake, and maintained that it was a matter of trust to be able to admit being wrong.
"The American people, in my case, the Texas people, are not going to trust you if you stand up and say, 'You know what, I'm 100 percent right, 100 percent of the time.' People know that's not the case, because human nature is not going to allow that," he said.
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