The State Department has declared that the United States is safe for foreign tourists.
The highly unusual statement came after a Japanese and a Japanese-American student were brutally slain in California during an attempt to steal their car."It is safe to travel and to explore the United States, and to visit the United States as a tourist or on business, and take advantage of the many opportunities here," State Department spokesman Michael McCurry said.
He said the "deplorable and senseless act of violence" gives "a very distorted and one-sided view of the United States abroad."
McCurry noted that carjacking was made a federal crime in 1992, which should reassure foreign tourists by showing them just how "repugnant" such an offense is in the eyes of U.S. officials.
Takuma Ito, a 19-year-old Japanese, and Go Matsura, a 19-year-old Japanese-American, were shot in the head Friday during the theft of their Honda Civic at a supermarket in San Pedro, near Los Angeles.
Life-support equipment for the Marymount College students was turned off after they were declared brain dead.