Lone Wolf Terrorism In America Is Becoming Commonplace.
Just a few weeks ago white supremacist Dylann Roof shoots up a historic black church in South Carolina. Before, America can even catch its collective breath we have another mass shooting in Tennessee by a gunman killing 4 Marines and injuring three?others.?Is this yet another act of terror by a ?Lone Wolf? ?
According to early reports people close to the shooter Muhammad Youssuf Abdulazeez say this has totally caught them off-guard. While others did say that the assailant had changed after a recent trip to the Middle East. The New York Times reported that Adulazeez had not long returned from a trip to the country of Jordan.
?This attack raises several questions about whether he was directed by someone or whether there’s enough propaganda out there to motivate him to do this,? said the FBI senior intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was still underway.
No matter the answer to these questions, domestic terror events conducted by “Lone Wolf” perpetrators?are on the rise in America.
What Triggers The Lone Wolf Terrorist?
NY Daily NewsA lone wolf terrorist is someone who acts alone. The lone wolf operates without the formal?help or encouragement?of any group or government. The lone wolf terrorist answers to no hierarchy. They design the plan of action and then carry it out themselves.
There is a difference between mass violence and terrorism. For the lone wolf terrorist, it is more?often than not politically motivated. It’s the political attributes of the lone wolf and the perceived violations thereof that generally trigger their acting out.
For example, the shootings in Aurora Colorado and Columbine were motivated by revenge and hatred. Therefore, they?were not classified as acts of terrorism.
When you look at ?Lone Wolf Terrorism” from 1940 to 2012 you will find a spike in the number of cases meeting the lone wolf definition. These events rose drastically with the electing of our nation’s first person of color to the White House. Starting in 2009, the Fort Hood shooting, the attack on the Holocaust Museum, the Little Rock, Arkansas Recruiting Center shooting, and the attempted assassination of?Gabby Giffords are prime examples of politically motivated lone wolf events.?This latest attack has yet to be classified. The situation is still fluid. But, what is clear is?that, in the world we live in today, anyone with an ax to grind can have easy access to a weapon legally and go shoot up the public square. For the victims and their loved ones, does it matter if it was political or out of revenge?
