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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Replying to @NGrossman81
A bomber that can paralyze a city like Austin is more than likely a terrorist.pic.twitter.com/dxURPxXDRx
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Replying to @Chainuponmyfeet
Not necessarily. The DC sniper had a similar effect, over a longer amount of time, and was trying to extort money. Son of Sam in NY is another non-terrorism example. Not saying Austin bomber is definitely not a terrorist. Just that we need to know more.
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Replying to @NGrossman81 @Chainuponmyfeet
DC sniper really was paralyzing. Millions of people changed their habits and schedules. Every time there was a shooting, there’d be traffic jams 10 miles in every direction. I kinda suspect it’d be called terrorism now for no other reason than the guy’s name was Muhammad.
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It was crazy. The sniper attacks lasted about as long as the Austin bombings (3 weeks) and killed more people (10 compared to 2). You're probably right that the attacks would get called terrorism due to Muhammad's name. But it wasn't. They demanded $10m. Criminal, not political.
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Replying to @NGrossman81 @Chainuponmyfeet
I had to look it up just now to check that it was really less than a month. It felt much longer.
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