Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

LONDON — The parents of two British tourists who were fatally stabbed in Australia have sharply criticized President Trump after their deaths appeared on a list of terrorist attacks that the White House said have not received enough attention from the media.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 20, was stabbed to death in front of dozens of people at a hostel near Townsville in Queensland state in August. Another Briton, Tom Jackson, 30, was stabbed when he came to Ayliffe-Chung’s aid and died in a hospital a week later.

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.

“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.

“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,” she wrote

Les Jackson, Tom Jackson’s father, wrote on Facebook: “I’m pretty sure he (Trump) and his advisors know full well — or could very easily verify — that Tom and Mia died not as the result of an act of terror but rather through the actions of a disturbed individual. Of course, that doesn’t suit his agenda."

Ayliffe-Chung and Jackson were killed by a 29-year-old French national named Smail Ayad.

Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski alleged that Ayad shouted "Allahu Akbar" — Arabic for God is the greatest — during the attack.

However, investigators concluded that there was no indication the attack was motivated by extremism and the suspect had no known ties to the Islamic State.

Investigators suspect Ayad may have been romantically obsessed with Ayliffe-Chung. Ayad's lawyer said in October that Ayad was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The Queensland Mental Health Court is considering whether Ayad is fit to stand trial, the Independent reported.

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."

"Any fool can shout Allahu Akbar as they commit a crime," she added.

The son of Curtis Cheng, an Australian police accountant whose death was also on the White House list — although in this instance for an incident that does appear to be terror-related — said governments should not "drag" families through the traumatic incidents again, the ABC reported.

Cheng was shot dead as he left a police building in Sydney in Oct. 2015. His 15-year-old, Iranian-born attacker had become radicalized, Australian media reported.

"(It was) a bit of a shock and surprise that this has made news again in a very obtuse and sort of illogical way," Cheng's son Alpha Cheng told ABC Radio Canberra.

The White House claimed its list of attacks supported Trump's assertion that media organizations were deliberately failing to adequately report on terror attacks. USA TODAY reported on 59 of the 78 attacks on the list. All the attacks that went unreported either involved non-fatal terrorist episodes or two or fewer deaths.

Trump signed an executive order Jan. 27 to temporarily ban the refugee program and citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States because of security concerns.