Brennan Monaco remembers seeing terror unfold on his Twitter feed in real time Monday evening.
When the UF alumnus first saw the earliest headlines on his iPhone — “explosion in Manchester” — he was on his way to a dinner with his hometown friends in Jensen Beach, Florida.
He said at first he hoped the explosion was some sort of fireworks or pyrotechnic accident. But then the updates came in. It was then, when he had to briefly interrupt the otherwise happy reunion to deliver news of the attack, that 26-year-old Monaco said his heart sank.
The country Monaco called home last Summer, and the same country he’ll be returning to for graduate school in October, had been senselessly attacked.
“You just start to see the horror, detail by detail, as it drips out,” he said.
Late Monday night at the Manchester Arena in England, where American pop star Ariana Grande had just finished her performance, a bomber detonated what local police describe as an “improvised explosive device,” killing himself and 22 audience members, including children, as they were exiting the arena, according to The New York Times. There were 59 people hospitalized, some with life-threatening injuries.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Monaco said of the bombing. “You’re talking about a concert that was intended for children. I mean, Ariana Grande, she works a younger set.”
On Tuesday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, though Greater Manchester Police have said they are still investigating the bombing and the motive of the assailant, 22-year-old Salman Abedi, according to the Times. Abedi is a Briton of Libyan descent who lived near the arena.
In 2016, Monaco spent about six weeks of his Summer in England and France for the UF in Cambridge study-abroad program. In October, he will begin his yearlong master’s program in American history at the University of Cambridge, about three hours from Manchester.
“Having been with the British people, having felt their hospitality — it hits you a bit harder, I think,” he said of the attack.
Unfortunately, Europe is no stranger to these terror attacks or the heightened sense of security that comes with them, Monaco said. One day during a trip to Paris in mid-July when Monaco visited the iconic Pantheon monument, he said a tourist nearby accidentally left his backpack on the ground of the main plaza outside the monument.
“Immediately there were four French soldiers there, and then there were more coming down the street a few minutes later,” he said. “It was very clear on that trip that both in England and France were under a heightened state of security.”
There are currently four UF students studying abroad in Manchester at the Alliance Manchester Business School, about three miles south of the site of Monday night’s attack, said UF spokesperson Janine Sikes.
“They’re all safe,” Sikes said.
Sikes said she believes UF is treating the attack as an isolated incident and is not currently making attempts to bring them back to the U.S. However, she said if any of the four students feel concerned for their safety and wish to be brought back home, the university will work to make that happen.
Sikes said student safety is a No. 1 concern.
“There are always students studying abroad somewhere, and unfortunately, there have been numerous terrorist attacks around the world,” she said.
Despite these recent attacks across Europe, the U.S. and the rest of the world, Susanne Hill, the executive director of UF’s International Center, said her message to students is that fear or danger is no reason to not travel.
Hill, who is originally from Germany and has studied in England, France and Wales, said these attacks made her feel more inclined to go abroad, if anything. The message of internationalization and globalization is more important now than ever, she said.
“If students travel, if students open themselves up to other cultures, this acceptance of other cultures eventually will reduce those attacks,” Hill said.
Knowing that five months from now Monaco will be at the University of Cambridge in England, he said he’s not allowing himself to feel any more stress or apprehension.
The way he sees it, there’s risk everywhere you go, be it New York, Brussels, London or Paris.
“That’s life,” Monaco said. “Your alternative is really to hide under a rock or lock yourself up in your room, and that’s no way to live.”
Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @hoffdavid123.
A child places flowers in a square in central Manchester, England, on Wednesday after the suicide bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert that left 22 people dead and many more injured as it ended on Monday night at the Manchester Arena.
