The Many Faces of Domestic Terrorism

The Many Faces of Domestic Terrorism

The incidence of domestic terrorism in America, the commission or threat of violence against civilians by political, religious, or other ideological fanatics, actually pre-dates the establishment of the United States.

Domestic terrorism has many faces, all of them ugly, all of it carried out by U.S. citizens.

Defined by the FBI in 1994 as,”the unlawful use of force or violence, committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals, against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives,” that definition of domestic terrorism was expanded by the Patriot Act to incorporate actions of “mass destruction, assassination, and kidnapping occurring within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.”

The British may have construed the Boston Tea Party as domestic terrorism even before the term existed. However, most of us are more familiar with contemporary incidents, those perpetrated by the KKK, the Black Liberation Army, the Jewish Defense League, the Weather Underground, the Unabomber, the Fort Hood Muslim, and the deadliest of all, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombers.

Depending on one’s sociopolitical perspectives, almost any domestic crime can be considered an example of domestic terrorism.

Thus, the 2009 senseless murder of the abortionist Dr. George Tiller by Scott Roeder, a man crazed by the inhumanity of late term abortions, has been termed by some as domestic terrorism. Conversely and perversely, gays who proudly attack a gathering of normal people with bricks are accorded an MSM pass. (http://tiny.cc/ifhnt)

Go figure.

On the other hand, transparent efforts at coercion by the Wall Street Occupiers, efforts clearly aimed at intimidating our government and civilian population “in furtherance of political or social objectives” aren’t being classified as terroristic by our governments or by the mainstream media.

If violence and murder constitute the requisite distinctions in determining what is and what is not domestic terrorism, what of the threat of violence and murder posed “in furtherance of political or social objectives”?

No murders by the OWS protestors have been reported so far but widespread violence has been committed against the public weal and against public sensibilities, overt threats have been directed toward individuals, institutions, and Jews in general, and rapes, thefts, and clashes with police. . . (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5758.)