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Religious/Extremist Terrorism: Non-Muslim edition

Brad Sallows said:
My loose working definition of "terrorism" has always been "criminal violence to effect political pressure (in service of political ends)".
Infant_Tree said:
Terrorism is a term used in its broadest sense to describe the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror or fear, in order to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim.

Source: Wikipedia

Both useful ways to see it, and both are more or less on the mark, though we could haggle a bit over what we mean by 'indiscriminate'. I view 'indiscriminate' as a failure to discriminate, e.g. a carpet bombing in a military campaign that goes after military targets but wilfully disregards the disproportionate presence of civilians in the effected area. Conversely, a lot of terrorist operations are very discriminate indeed. They don't care which particular civilians they kill or harm, but they ARE specifically targeting civilian targets in general in order to achieve the desired political effect of their fires.

Old Sweat said:
The terrorists of the sixties, seventies and eighties were motivated more by political beliefs of the far left variety rather than religion. Many had cut their teeth on liberation ideology and had a "radical chic" upper middle class background. While some of the modern genre's western recruits also were from the same social base, their motivation and that of their hosts/sponsors was much more religious than political.

Perhaps that makes it more difficult to deprogram the modern variety. On the other hand, the home grown variety tend towards ideology rather than religion as a motivator. In some cases is is difficult to draw the line between criminal and terrorist.

Terrorism will almost always be also inherently criminal; I struggle to think of where those would not overlap. It is that intent to exert political/ideological/economic influence through that unlawful use of force that pushes acts that are criminal anyway into the more narrow criminal realm of terrorism. As for the home-grown ones, it's hard to tell where religion and ideology start and end and blend in to each other... A lot of discussions could be had about the doctrinal legitimacy of religious justifications for violence/terror; that's outside I think almost all of our arcs here- I'm not aware of anyone on the site who professes theological expertise sufficient to this. Suffice to say a lot of lines are blurred.

It has been my observation both from what has made the news and from what I see at work that many of our 'home growns' do not come from backgrounds that necessarily lend themselves obviously to radicalization. Aaron Driver, the Ontario suicide bomber last year, was the son of an RCAF member. Tevis Gonyou-McLean, who has been in the public eye here in Ottawa as the subject of a terrorist peace bond, is another red headed white kid. who seems to have descended into a combination of drug abuse/mental illness, and then at some point in recent years slid into self-radicalization online. Michael Zehaf-Bibeau (Parliament shooter) was the son of a Canadian bureaucrat and a Libyan businessman, and was Roman Catholic for 22 years before converting and subsequently radicalizing. Martin Couture-Rouleau (St. Jean attack that killed WO Vincent) was a young adult, had recently failed in small business and undergone a religious conversion and brisk self-radicalization.

There are plenty of others who have been reported on, and many more who have not. A lot of them would very easily slip into the current on any major city's streets- living out of the shelters, in and out of drug abuse, uttering paranoid / anti-government rantings that seem more attributable to mental illness than anything. Most will never present a genuine security threat, but of course that cannot necessarily be known at the point of risk assessment. And that switch may flip abruptly and with little warning. We were lucky Aaron driver was an idiot and posted a YouTube video that got the U.S. to alert Canadian authorities. Several of the others, obviously, we did not learn about sufficiently until they acted.

So is there a clear line between criminality, ideology, mental illness, and terrorism? No. I would contend that while mental illness is not a necessary cause i acts of individualized terrorism, it is often present. The ideology in such terrorism is usually linked to at least the perpetrators interpretation of a religion, usually Islam- though this is not always the case; Anders Breivik comes to mind, and the most recent ramming in London looks initially to have been an attack against a religious population but not likely motivated by the attacker's own religious beliefs.

How useful is it truly to have a working definition of terrorism? I would say very, and this is for pragmatic purposes- it gives police and intelligence agencies something to hang their hat on with regards to identified potential threats to the state/society that exist outside the normal rationality of criminal behaviour. I believe there *is* something distinct about someone or a group who want to specifically harm our society, vice those who act criminally for acquisitive purposes, or due to more run of the mill human idiocy- those who target individuals, or satisfy their own sick urges, versus those who deliberately attack the social fabric itself. I believe more steps are justified on the part of the state to combat the latter, and we see that in certain investigative and enforcement powers that put a bit more weight against terrorism offences.

I do not believe we can have a perfect operational definition of terrorism that will be both inclusive and exclusive flawlessly and precisely. I believe we have erred on the side of not including things in terrorism, versus erring on the side of including things that we shouldn't. I believe this is the correct decision to err, because there is still quite a bit that can be done once a risk is identified, even if they don't outright commit terrorist offences. However the legitimacy of such an enhanced security approach rests on us being cautious in its application. I think we mostly get it right.

I believe, unfortunately, that there is no way we can get this 100% right, and that as a result we (the collective Western 'we', inclusive of Canada) will take the odd hit and will suffer losses. Canada has barely seen this yet- we will eventually have major attacks on our soil that will test our resolve and probably make my week very crappy. There is a diminishing rate of return on added security measures, and I think other than certain target hardening there's not a great deal more we can achieve simply by putting more police on the streets (or troops, for that matter, if it came to it). Though I am cognizant that in the past couple of days police and soldiers have interrupted attempted attacks in both Paris and Brussels, resulting in the deaths of two separate suicide bombers who both launched their attacks poorly. So I don't dismiss the utility of the 'boots on the ground' approach in major urban centres at all. Some target areas are reasonably predictable. But that's a decision well above my level.

I don't see a way out of this. We will simply have to keep doing the best we can to be vigilant, flexible, adaptable, and at times promptly ruthless when an imminent threat is identified. And we will have to keep learning from each new attack. I can assure you that a lot of information and training is now flowing to those of us on the front lines in our communities. We'll do our best.

 
jmt18325 said:
Can we all at least agree that it was a hate crime?
if he was targeting Muslims for the sake of being Muslims then I think that would fall under the definition of hate crime for sure.

It's essentially an attack committed by an identifiable group right?

Let me ask you this. Should we consider attacks against non-Muslims by Muslims hate crimes? An almost crate-Blanche if you will?  The term Muslim denotes someone who is a devout follower of Islam. I'd say the Quran has some pretty clear cut views on what to do with non-Muslims. So anyone who identifies as a follower of Islam falls under hate crime laws when committing any violent act against a non-Muslim/s?

 
A few more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle from the U.S. ...
Domestic extremists tend to be much older, better educated, more affluent, more religious, and are more likely to be white than street gang members, according to a sweeping new University of Colorado Boulder study that systematically compares the groups for the first time.

The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and published in the journal Justice Quarterly, also found that contrary to popular belief, U.S. gang members seldom go on to become radicalized and commit acts of terrorism.

The findings come as the Trump administration has named the large U.S. street gang MS 13 “one of the gravest threats to American public safety,” and ideologically motivated extremism remains a national concern. The authors hope the paper, and related studies, will be used to help inform policies to counter both domestic terrorism and gang participation.

"Both criminal gangs, like MS-13, and domestic extremist groups, like neo-Nazis, pose great risks for crime and violence in the United States,” said lead author David Pyrooz, an assistant professor of sociology. “This study gives us a much better statistical portrait of what such groups look like in relation to each other.”

(...)

In all, the groups showed similarities in only 10 out of 27 measures.

“Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that, on an individual level, policies and programs designed to prevent and intervene in gang membership might not translate very well to domestic extremism,” Pyrooz said. “The jury is still out for group- and community-level approaches.”

That said, the researchers did find a few compelling commonalities that draw people to both types of groups, including strong attachments to like-minded peers and poor employment history ...

- mod edit to fix link -
 
Only just spotted this from the NJ Department of Homeland Security & Prearedness - Google Cache version here -- also attached if link doesn't work for you...
Anarchist Extremists: Antifa

Anti-fascist groups, or “Antifa,” are a subset of the anarchist movement and focus on issues involving racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism, as well as other perceived injustices.

    Self-described Antifa groups have been established across the United States and in several major cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco. A majority of New Jersey-based anarchist groups are affiliated with the Antifa movement and are opposed to “fascism,” racism, and law enforcement. Antifa groups coordinate regionally and have participated in protests in New York City and Philadelphia. There are three loosely organized chapters in New Jersey, known as the North Jersey Antifa, the South Jersey Antifa, and the HubCity Antifa New Brunswick (Middlesex County).
   
    In December 2016, a group known as the Antifascist Action-Nebraska engaged in a doxing campaign against a prominent member of American Vanguard, a white supremacist organization. The group published his personal information on several social media platforms and posted fliers on the University of Nebraska Omaha campus, calling for his expulsion ...

- mod edit to fix link -
 

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This from the U.S. justice department ...
Man Arrested for Trying to Detonate What He Thought was a Vehicle Bomb at Downtown Oklahoma City Bank
Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Oklahoma, Monday, August 14, 2017

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — Jerry Drake Varnell, 23, of Sayre, Oklahoma, was arrested early Saturday morning in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at BancFirst, 101 N. Broadway, in downtown Oklahoma City, announced Mark A. Yancey, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Oklahoma yesterday, the FBI arrested Varnell at approximately 1:00 am on August 12, 2017, after he attempted to detonate what he believed to be an explosives-laden van he had parked in an alley next to BancFirst. The complaint alleges that Varnell initially wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., with a device similar to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing because he was upset with the government.

The complaint explains that after Varnell’s intentions came to the attention of law enforcement, an undercover FBI agent posed as a person who could assist him. According to the complaint, Varnell took a series of actions to advance his plot. He identified BancFirst as the target, prepared a statement to be posted on social media after the explosion, helped assemble the device, helped load it into what he believed was a stolen van, drove the van by himself from El Reno to BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City, and dialed a number on a cellular telephone that he believed would trigger the explosion.

Varnell is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce. If convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Oklahoma City today (14 Aug 2017) at 3:00 pm.

This arrest is the culmination of a long-term domestic terrorism investigation involving an undercover operation, during which Varnell had been monitored closely for months as the alleged bomb plot developed. The device was actually inert, and the public was not in danger. "There was never a concern that our community’s safety or security was at risk during this investigation," said Kathryn Peterson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oklahoma. "I can assure the public, without hesitation, that we had Varnell’s actions monitored every step of the way."

U.S. Attorney Yancey said: "I commend the devoted work of the FBI and our state law enforcement partners in ensuring that violent plots of this kind never succeed."

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, including members from the Oklahoma City FBI; Homeland Security Investigations, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the Oklahoma City Police Department; the Edmond Police Department; the Oklahoma Highway Patrol; the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs; and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The FBI worked in conjunction with BancFirst during the investigation. Oklahoma District Attorney Angela Marsee, of District 2, also provided assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Dillon, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Counterterrorism Section.

Reference is made to court records for further information. The public is reminded that this complaint is only an allegation and that Varnell is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
More here (FOX News), here (Breitbart), here (Toronto Sun), here (PDF of criminal complaint filed via scribd.com) and here (Google News "Jerry Varnell FBI").
 
I hope he doesn't see the sun and sky outside of an jail exercise yard for many, many decades.
 
milnews.ca said:
Only just spotted this from the NJ Department of Homeland Security & Prearedness - also attached if link doesn't work for you...
Anarchist Extremists: Antifa

Anti-fascist groups, or “Antifa,” are a subset of the anarchist movement and focus on issues involving racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism, as well as other perceived injustices ...
And now, for the other side of the coin, also from NJ DHS - copy also attached in case link doesn't work for you ...
The Face of White Supremacy in 2017
Traditional White Supremacist Organizations Attempt to “Rebrand”

To appeal to new audiences susceptible to its radical messaging, the national white supremacist movement has tried to deemphasize hate symbols and attacks against non-white communities. These organizations have “rebranded” since at least last year, when they took a more high-profile role with conferences and rallies, official statements, and recruitment efforts ...

- mod edit to fix link -
 

Attachments

QC keeping an eye on right-wing militias.  original in French - Google Translation below:
Coiteux says watch closely armed militias of extreme right
Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press, MONTREAL, 12 Sept 2017

The Minister of Public Security, Martin Coiteux, is very aware of the emergence of armed militias of far right in Quebec.

Recent reports have highlighted the presence of these groups, including the organization of the "Three Percenters", an overtly Islamophobic and anti-state group that is particularly active in Alberta and whose members are heavily armed.

This organization is beginning to manifest itself in Quebec as well, a situation that "challenges" the Government of Quebec, according to the Minister of Public Security.

Coiteux said Tuesday at a press conference announcing new flood relief measures last spring that these groups are under police surveillance, as "any group that could potentially pose a risk to the safety of citizens ".

The minister added that, beyond this police reality, his government would be "always intolerant" against these groups "who advocate the exclusion of certain people and who have messages of hatred towards groups ".

According to him, these groups are a direct threat to democracy, diversity and inclusion.

Mr. Coiteux warned that the state will not hesitate to "use the police" if illegal actions are taken, but that besides security issues, its government will defend the common values ​​of Quebec society.
 
milnews.ca said:
The Face of White Supremacy in 2017
Traditional White Supremacist Organizations Attempt to “Rebrand”

This summer, in Toronto, white supremacists were allowed to congregate at a public library.

In an email to the library, Auschwitz survivor Nathan Leipciger, whose entire family was killed by the Nazis, wrote "it is unimaginable that the Toronto Public Library should provide a platform for hatred and bigotry in our wonderful multicultural city."

Mayor John Tory and city councillors also called for the event to be cancelled.

The media showed up. CP24 gave a Holocaust denier more than 5 unbroken minutes of live airtime.

There was no violence, but it was much reported in the news,
https://www.google.ca/search?rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-CA%3AIE-Address&rlz=1I7GGHP_en-GBCA592&dcr=0&biw=1280&bih=603&q=toronto+library+%22white+supremacist%22&oq=toronto+library+%22white+supremacist%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...4280.4280.0.4601.1.1.0.0.0.0.108.108.0j1.1.0.foo%2Cersl%3D1%2Cfett%3D1%2Cewh%3D0%2Cnso-enksa%3D0%2Cnso-enfk%3D1%2Cnso-usnt%3D1%2Cnso-qnt-npqp%3D0-1%2Cnso-qnt-npdq%3D0-45%2Cnso-qnt-npt%3D0-09%2Cnso-qnt-ndc%3D300%2Ccspa-dspm-nm-mnp%3D0-045%2Ccspa-dspm-nm-mxp%3D0-1125%2Cnso-unt-npqp%3D0-15%2Cnso-unt-npdq%3D0-25%2Cnso-unt-npt%3D0-06%2Cnso-unt-ndc%3D300%2Ccspa-uipm-nm-mnp%3D0-0075%2Ccspa-uipm-nm-mxp%3D0-0525.1..0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0.vxqgXS7VXaM

Also,

Signs in Toronto urge white people to join ‘alt-right’
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/11/14/signs-in-toronto-urge-white-people-to-join-alt-right.html




 
milnews.ca said:

[url=https://www.stripes.com/news/us/transcripts-detail-plot-to-bomb-somali-refugees-in-kansas-1.490555#.WdI_DLjwmi5]Some of the latest on this one via AP
...
Three men accused of conspiring to bomb a Kansas mosque and an apartment complex housing Somali refugees also allegedly discussed killing the refugees' white landlord because he rented to Muslims, a move prosecutors say was meant to ensure the attack fully conveyed their anti-Muslim message.

Details of the alleged plot emerged in government filings in advance of an upcoming detention hearing Wednesday for Gavin Wright. His attorney has argued that Wright was unaware his co-defendants intended to actually carry out the attack, portraying him as a lonely man desperate to find friends after moving to Liberal, a city along southwestern Kansas' border with the Oklahoma Panhandle.

But prosecutors countered Wednesday with court filings that include transcripts of profanity-laced recordings that paint a more damning picture of Wright and a splinter group of the militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as "the Crusaders" — based on the name "Crusaders 2.0" that they gave to themselves on a phone messaging app.

Prosecutors say the defense mischaracterizes the danger Wright presents if freed before trial. They allege that he manufactured and tested the homemade explosives and hosted group meetings at his business, G&G Mobile Home Center, where authorities later found explosives ...
 
milnews.ca said:
Guilty (highlights mine) ...1 -- These are the federal charges he's been found guilty of - there could be more:More on this guy here (usual Wikipedia GIGO caveats apply).
The federal jury1 of 10 women and two men who found Dylann Roof guilty of federal hate crimes Thursday in the killings of nine African-Americans at a historic Charleston church now must wait more than two weeks for the trial’s next phase.

Jurors on Jan. 3 will begin to hear evidence about whether to give the death penalty or life without parole to the 22-year-old self-avowed white supremacist from Columbia ...
jollyjacktar said:
Death is what he deserves.
:nod: ...
Charleston church shooter sentenced to death
Roof was convicted last month on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes
The Associated Press Posted: Jan 10, 2017 4:50 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 10, 2017 4:55 PM ET


Dylann Roof has been sentenced to death for killing nine black church members in Charleston, S.C.

He is the first person to get the death penalty for federal hate crimes.

The jury reached a decision after about three hours of deliberations.

Earlier Tuesday, Roof threw away a chance to plead for his life, telling jurors: "I still feel like I had to do it."

Roof walked to the podium less than three metres from the jury box with a yellow sheet of paper. He put it down and looked past jurors for about 30 seconds before beginning to read off the page ...
 
Adding to the Newsroom.

If interested in the article, click on the link.

QUOTE

Jan. 27, 2018

Prosecutors say a terror suspect was ‘brainwashed’ by far-right voices online. Can you blame the people he read?
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/analysis/2018/01/27/prosecutors-say-a-terror-suspect-was-brainwashed-by-far-right-voices-online-can-you-blame-the-people-he-read.html
A series of recent criminal cases are again raising the question of how the spread of hateful or radical views can lead to violence. If the debate sounds familiar, it is.

U.K. prosecutors on Tuesday said a London terror suspect was “brainwashed” by right-wing personalities and online material — including from a Canadian outlet — in the weeks before he allegedly drove a van into Muslim worshippers, killing one.

Earlier this month, a man threatened to shoot CNN employees to fight the network his president mercilessly targets — “Fake news. I’m coming to gun you all down,” a male voice said in a telephone call, according to documents unsealed this week.

And in Canada, a country will on Monday mark the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six — an attack in which the suspect was reportedly a fan of French Front National leader Marine Le Pen’s xenophobic views.

END QUOTE


 
I guess these times will be known as the time of "echo chambers and ignorance", even though we have access to all the information we could ever want.

Brainwashing? In today's age that takes work imo with so much info and counter arguments available to become that hateful it takes dedication.

Heartbreaking
 
I wonder if it is coincidental that, while information seems to be unlimited today, knowledge and wisdom also seem to be in the shortest supply in human history.

Is there an inverse relationship, I wonder?
 
UK dodged a bullet (or car?) by banning this Canadian Christian right wing extremist terrorist from entering the UK.

Good catch gentlemen.

Lauren Southern Breaks Silence On Her Arrest" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/9Kzkgd-GLrk




 
Markuz ul-Islam recieved hate message from a fringe group.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/hate-mail-sent-edmonton-mosque-183308597.html
 

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Pretty nice of them to put the UCP logo on their anonymous threatening letter, just to narrow down the suspect pool.
 
Kat Stevens said:
Pretty nice of them to put the UCP logo on their anonymous threatening letter, just to narrow down the suspect pool.

I was more intrigued by "The Clann"

https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2019/01/31/whats-in-a-name-albertas-extremist-groups-splinter-over-how-they-should-spread-their-message.html

Their Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/odinsheathens/

Jarnhamar said:
Did they happen to rip a girls hajib off and cut her hair as well?

Had to look up the Hijab thing, just because one person cries wolf does not mean an issue does not exist. Anecdotally I can tell you and swear to the truth of it, because it happened to me, that things such as this letter happen in Canada.

Unless I missed a different reference for the hijab comment? I was and am alarmed by this alleged offence and before posting it I did some small due diligence to see if any legitimacy could be found for it. Now maybe it hit closer to home because not more then three months ago I had someone direct comments to me about "how my kind are not welcome here and I should leave".

So maybe it is me, but it feels legitimate to me. If it isn't, then it is a serious problem of another kind. But ignoring radicalization and extremism in certain communities, simply because some members of targeted communities cry wolf is not wise.

Abdullah
 
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