There are days when America reminds you why it fascinates as much as it exasperates. Yesterday, at Old Dominion University in Virginia, ROTC students did what American heroes have always done: they ran toward danger while others ran the other way. Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, previously convicted for attempting to support ISIS, had opened fire in a classroom. One dead, two wounded. The student-soldiers subdued him.

Bravo. Sincerely. These kids deserve every medal we can give them.

But while we're applauding — and believe me, I'm applauding — I have a question that's nagging at me: how the hell was this guy still free?

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Let's look at the facts according to the FBI and concordant sources from the New York Times, BBC, and Washington Post: Jalloh had already been convicted for attempting to support a terrorist organization. Not for stealing candy, mind you. For wanting to help ISIS. And yet, on March 12, 2026, he was casually strolling around a university campus with a weapon.

Americans have this unique ability to create extraordinary heroes to compensate for ordinary systemic failures. These ROTC students? They represent what America does best: courage, training, decisive action. The fact that they had to intervene? That represents what America does worst: gaping holes in a system that gloats about its "national security."

The Comparison That Hurts

Let's take a little world tour, shall we?

In France, an individual convicted of terrorism is subject to strict judicial monitoring. S-file listing, surveillance, movement restrictions. Not perfect, but coherent. In Canada, the parole system includes regular psychological evaluations for this type of profile. In China... well, in China, he simply would never have gotten out.

And in the United States? Apparently, we're betting on luck and on the fact that 20-year-old students will do the job that the judicial system didn't do.

American Irony in All Its Splendor

What fascinates me is this American capacity to transform every systemic failure into a heroic epic. Tomorrow, there will be movies about these ROTC students. Documentaries. Political speeches. "America of heroes," "courage in the face of terrorism," the whole shebang.

But nobody — NOBODY — will make a film about the bureaucrat who signed Jalloh's release. Nobody will make a documentary about the flaws in the surveillance system for former terrorism convicts. Nobody will make speeches about why a university campus didn't have appropriate security measures for this type of threat.

That's American genius: transforming every symptom into a celebration to avoid talking about the disease.

The Uncomfortable Questions

According to sources, there's even confusion about how the incident ended. Some reports indicate that Jalloh was "subdued," others that he was "found dead." This inconsistency in accounts — reported notably by CBS News — reveals another problem: American crisis communication often resembles a game of telephone.

But the real questions are elsewhere:

• What was Jalloh's level of surveillance since his conviction?
• How did he obtain a weapon?
• Why did he choose this campus specifically?
• What security measures were in place at Old Dominion?

These questions, we don't ask them. We prefer to talk about the students' courage. It's more marketable, more unifying, more... American.

The Exception That Proves the Rule

Don't misunderstand me: I'm not criticizing yesterday's heroes. These ROTC students did exactly what needed to be done, when it needed to be done. They saved lives. Period.

What I'm criticizing is a system that relies on individual heroism to compensate for its structural failures. A system that prefers to celebrate firefighters rather than prevent fires.

America excels at crisis management. It's less gifted at crisis prevention. And that's exactly what we saw yesterday in Norfolk: a failing prevention system saved by an exceptional response system.

The Real Challenge

Domestic terrorism in the United States isn't a new problem. According to the FBI itself, it's a growing threat. But between debates over gun control, partisan squabbles over surveillance, and the American tendency to treat each incident as an isolated case, nothing really changes.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old students are doing the job that should be done by a $700 billion per year national security system.

It's beautiful, America. It's heroic. It's inspiring.

It's also completely insane.

VERDICT: 9/10 for the courage of the ROTC students, 2/10 for a system that puts them in this situation. America continues to confuse symptoms with solutions — but at least it produces some damn fine heroes.