AUSTIN, Texas — Austin's interim police chief finally uttered words about the Austin bombing suspect that many have been wanting to hear. 

On Thursday, March 29, KUT radio hosted a panel at the George Washington Carver Museum. The focus was on how police, the media and the community responded to this month’s bombing attacks, and the implications of race in all of it.

Police alluded to a racial motivation early on after the first two victims killed were of African American descent. The police's narrative changed, leaving many in the black community confused/feeling invalidated, when two white men fell victim to a trip-wired bomb. 

Interim Police Chief Brian Manley, after perspective from the audience, said he finally felt comfortable using the term “domestic terrorist'' when referencing Mark Conditt, the man who set off a series of explosions that killed two people and severely wounded four others in the Texas capital.

FULL COVERAGE | Austin bombings

Manley had previously hesitated to label the bombings domestic terrorism, citing the ongoing investigation.

Audience member Kristina Brown of Counter Balance ATX, said Manley’s admission that the bombings were the work of a “domestic terrorist” was “too little, too late.”

Police aren't calling the Austin bomber a terrorist, and many are asking 'Why not?'

“We don’t know, we will not know what that qualification more early in the investigation would have done, what resources would have been provided to make sure that more lives were not lost,” Brown said.

Austin bomber Mark Conditt blew himself up as authorities approached his vehicle on March 21. He had planted bombs a series of bombs that left Austinites living in fear for weeks on end, killing two, injuring four. 

Initially, Manley referred to Conditt a “very troubled young man,” drawing criticism that the bomber would have been labeled a terrorist more quickly if he had not been a white man.