A lot of heated rhetoric surrounding the Austin bomber--who thankfully won't be hurting anyone anymore--and whether or not he was a terrorist. I teach classes on terrorism, and here's a thread why it's unclear (based on what we know now) and why the classification matters. 1/x
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Terrorism is political. Criminal violence is personal, motivated by profit, revenge, enjoyment, etc. The motives of gangsters, conventional murderers, serial killers. Terrorists, by contrast, believe themselves to be altruists, aiming to improve society or defend their people 2/x
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For example, Charleston church shooting was terrorism. As seen in videos the killer posted online, he believes white people are under siege and targeted a historically black church hoping to get others to "wake up" and join him in a race war. He was trying to send a message. 3/x
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By contrast, the Parkland school shooting wasn't terrorism. The killer's motivation wasn't political. This political/not political distinction matters because it helps us understand what happened and develop strategies to prevent it. 4/x
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Based on what we know, the Austin bomber could've been a terrorist like the Unabomber (who wrote a manifesto about societal dependence on technology) or a serial killer like Ted Bundy or the Zodiac killer (who didn't have political motivations) albeit one who preferred bombs. 5/x
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That being said, I share the criticisms many have against Trump and his spokespeople who insist the Austin bombings have no connection to terrorism. We've seen them jump to that conclusion with nonwhite killers (especially Muslims), and they likely would've done so here. 6/x
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The evidence is clear: America has a problem with white nationalist terrorism. As
@peterwsinger has pointed out, more Americans were killed in the last decade by white nationalist terrorism than Islamic terrorism. Past time we took it seriously as a national security problem. 7/x3 replies 91 retweets 177 likesShow this thread -
Trump has directed national counterterrorism resources away from white nationalism and focused them entirely on jihadism. He has downplayed or ignored the former while playing up the latter. But both threaten Americans, and both deserve counterterrorism attention. 8/x
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Replying to @NGrossman81
Is the explanation for this as simple as "They make up part of his base and he doesn't want to alienate them?" or is it more nuanced than that?
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I don't know. Could be political calculation. Could be personal beliefs. Maybe a combo, or something else. From his actions and rhetoric, it's clear he plays up jihadist terrorism and plays down or ignores white nationalist terrorism, but I can't give you a definitive answer why.
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