From a machete attack to the media under attack - Adelup is saying news outlets blew yesterday's machete madness out of proportion. This after an emergency meeting to address the Mangilao on Tuesday incident.

"I think the media blew it out of proportion," Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said

Even FSM Consul General Theresa Filepin throwing the media under the bus.

"I think it was blown out of proportion," she said.

Even Mayors Council of Guam President and Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares went in on the media.

"I think it was an exaggerated incident," she said.

But if the media blew it out of proportion, why was an emergency meeting held this morning to figure out how to address what has become an all too familiar story in the news? What about the eyewitness account of former Sen. Judi Guthertz's? Was Guthertz blowing it out of proportion?

"Former Sen. Judi Guthertz felt her true feeling of how she felt and of course being attacked by a machete as a passerbyer is a very frightening situation," the governor said.

Guthertz said she saw four to five young men attacking several cars with machetes. This morning Guam Police Department Chief Steve Ignacio said there were "three or four" men involved - two have since been arrested and the other was stabbed in the stomach.

The governor said the victims in the case probably didn't think the attack was exaggerated.

"They were definitely disturbed and upset about it they feared for the safety of their lives," Leon Guerrero said.

The maga'haga instructed Chief Ignacio to step up village patrols and worked on plans to hold meetings at the village level with FSM civic and church leaders, mayors and other officials. The first meeting will be held in Mangilao.

The governor said reaching out to the FSM community at the village level would help address what causes behavior like the Mangilao machete attack.

But the contradiction seemed obvious - if we the media blew it out of proportion, does that mean there isn't anything to worry about?

"I'm not saying we should not be alarmed," the governor said. "Definitely we are alarmed. That is why I asked for this meeting. I am alarmed. I am alarmed for the safety of these people. I'm alarmed for the fact that these two individuals are known to the police they are recurrent offenders. I'm alarmed by the fact that maybe it's a system dysfunction. There's a lot of things that I'm alarmed about."

Like the governor, the FSM consul general is initiating a response to the event despite saying it blown out of proportion.

"The FSM Consulate office is very concerned and very saddened by this unfortunate turn of events," Filepin said. "We are working with the governor's office and other organizations here on island on how we can reach out to the FAS communities and see how we can alleviate some of these occurrences."

Despite what seems like an increase in violent crimes like home invasions, robberies, sexual assaults and machete attacks, the governor says it's not as bad as it seems.

"It's very important to assure the community that we still live in a safe community," Leon Guerrero said.

The governor also is calling on the community to step up and help. She asks island residents to be vigilant and form neighborhood watch groups and report any suspicious activity to GPD.

Meanwhile, Committee Chair on Public Safety Sen. Pedo Terlaje plans to call a roundtable meeting to address the incident in Mangilao. Among those he's inviting include the attorney general, the governor and lieutenant governor, the Mayors Council, FSM elders as well as Superior Court Presiding Judge Alberto Lamorena.

He hopes to open dialogue on issues FSM citizens face. Additionally, Senator Terlaje plans to express his concerns to the federal government. He says although the Compact of Free Association monies are intended to stabilize the conditions of FSM citizens, this is not the case. DOI's failure to consider the impacted costs to Guam must be brought up again, he added.