{"id":2173,"date":"2026-02-17T00:24:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/2173\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T00:24:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:24:06","slug":"u-s-embassy-in-belgium-takes-action-after-alabama-women-attacked-on-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/2173\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Embassy in Belgium takes action after Alabama women attacked on train"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">MONTGOMERY, Ala. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsfa.com\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"http:\/\/www.wsfa.com\">WSFA<\/a>) &#8211; Two American women and their young children are getting some answers following a frightening encounter on a Brussels train in early February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">A man approached them with an 18-inch knife after asking them if they were American and if they liked ICE. When they contacted the U.S. Embassy for help, they say their calls weren\u2019t handled appropriately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White has since apologized to Amanda Hardy and Courtney Sucher.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">On Saturday, Hardy shared an update on Facebook announcing the U.S. Embassy has taken steps to change its policies to prevent other travelers from having a similar experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIf there is an American that contacts the embassy in Belgium with a safety concern, the ambassador has to be notified personally so they can decide what needs to happen,\u201d Hardy said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Ambassador White confirmed he has instituted a new protocol requiring embassy personnel to first notify Belgian law enforcement, then immediately notify him of any situation where a U.S. citizen is in immediate danger or has been a victim of a crime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">While appreciative of the embassy\u2019s response, Hardy and Sucher say they\u2019re still seeking critical answers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cOur Department of Homeland Security\u2014have they been notified? Are they going to do something to prevent this individual from entering America, where he has clear intent on harming Americans?\u201d Hardy asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">White said he is investigating why the suspect was detained and later released by Belgian authorities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing start, but we want people to know we\u2019re not finished,\u201d Sucher said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The two women hope the new policies will eventually be implemented at U.S. embassies in other countries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWe do not want any other women, children, or persons to be put in the same situation as us,\u201d Hardy said. \u201cWe want policy change, and we want justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wsfa-12-news\/id449733109\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple App Store<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.raycom.wsfa&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Play Store<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2026 WSFA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) &#8211; Two American women and their young children are getting some answers following a frightening&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1920,7,1922,18,1722,1918,1923,1921,1919,1615,1614,1917],"class_list":{"0":"post-2173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-belgium","8":"tag-american-women","9":"tag-belgium","10":"tag-bill-white","11":"tag-brussels","12":"tag-courtney-sucher","13":"tag-embassy-u-s","14":"tag-homeland-security","15":"tag-ice","16":"tag-overseas-trip","17":"tag-wfsa","18":"tag-wsfa","19":"tag-wsfa-12-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}