Rosie Ayliffe says president is wrongly using daughter’s death in Australia to further ‘persecution of innocent people’ 
 
 The mother of a murdered British backpacker has accused Donald Trump of using “fake news” about her daughter’s death to further the “persecution of innocent people” by falsely claiming she was the victim of a terrorist attack. @realDonaldTrump An open letter regarding the deaths of the heroic Tom Jackson and my daughter, Mia Ayliffe-Chung: pic.twitter.com/e4oK5eey0H — Rosie Ayliffe (@RosieAyliffe) February 7, 2017 
 
 Ayliffe-Chung and Jackson were killed by a 29-year-old French national named Smail Ayad. A 29-year-old French national, Smail Ayad, was charged over the deaths. But even though police in Australia ruled out terrorism in the case, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the incident still appeared on a list of 78 attacks the White House said were terror-related and "executed or inspired" by the Islamic State. In a defiant open letter to Trump, Rosie Ayliffe pointed out that police discounted the possibility that the attack was terrorism related despite reports that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the stabbing. pic.twitter.com/6VC61DPbug — Gem News (@wearegemnews) October 28, 2016 
 
 “My daughter's death will not be used to further this insane persecution of innocent people,” Ayliffe-Chung’s mother Rosie Ayliffe wrote in a letter to Trump published on Facebook. In the letter, Ayliffe-Chung's mother wrote that she wanted to "discount this myth of a connection between my daughter’s death and Islamic fundamentalism." “It’s the police who say it wasn’t a terror attack. He [Trump] is using it in a quite pernicious way to justify unfair practices and discrimination against people I find personally we have a lot to learn from.” 
 
 The email from Rohweder said: “The crimes were not about race or religion, but individual criminal behaviour. "We are confident [the French national] acted alone and had no known local connection," police said. What he really needs to do is visit some of these countries and learn about their cultures.” 
 
 In her letter to Trump, she wrote: “The circumstances of Mia and Tom’s deaths prove that those with the strength of character to travel the world and learn about other cultures should be cherished as brave, resilient characters who have so much to offer if they are nurtured and give opportunities rather than defeated by adverse circumstances.” 
 
 She said of Trump’s travel ban: “This vilification of whole nation states and their people based on religion is a terrifying reminder of the horror that can ensue when we allow ourselves to be led by ignorant people into darkness and hatred.”
– Two Australian parents are blasting President Trump for including the incident that killed their children on his list of 78 terror attacks he contends weren't properly covered by the media, USA Today reports. British tourists Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 20, and Tom Jackson, 30, were stabbed to death at an Australian hostel in August. Police say Smail Ayad, the French national who killed them, may have been "romantically obsessed" with Ayliffe-Chung. He has no connection to the Islamic State and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. Despite that, the deaths of Ayliffe-Chung and Jackson were deemed terror-related by Trump. In an open letter to Trump, Rosie Ayliffe accuses the president of using her daughter's death to "further this insane persecution of innocent people" and "lead ignorant people into darkness and hatred." In his own open letter, Les Jackson says Trump is purposefully lying about his son's death to "suit his agenda." Ayliffe says that after seeing Trump's list, the police chief in charge of the investigation emailed to let her know there was still "no terror link" in the case, the Guardian reports. Even people whose family members actually were killed in terror attacks aren't thrilled with Trump's list. Alpha Chung, whose father died in such an attack in Australia, tells ABC it's a "painful experience" to have the death of a loved one dragged back into the news to further a political agenda. And he says the attack that resulted in his father's death was heavily covered all over the world.