Lone wolf terrorismâthe Boston Marathon bombing, the shooting of church folk in South Carolina, the massacre of innocent people in San Bernardino, the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando. Each of these events and others in recent years have dominated the news and sent an increasing shudder through the American public, raising a host of questions: Why is this happening now? How safe are we really? Is this the world we can expect to live in?
These tragic events were yet another reminder of how one or two individuals, working alone without any outside assistance, can wreak havoc on unsuspecting victims and create fear and anxiety throughout a nation. The threat of lone wolf terrorism has emerged as one of the most bewildering, frustrating, and dangerous forms of violence for our times. Bewildering because seemingly anyone can become a lone wolf, inspired by extremist ideology posted on the Internet, or through face-to-face contacts with supporters of various militant causes, or by even just deciding to commit a terrorist act for personal or other reasons. Frustrating because these types of terrorists often fly under the radar, making the job of law enforcement extremely difficult in terms of trying to prevent these violent acts. And dangerous because there are no constraints on their level of violence, as lone wolves only answer to themselves and can therefore act upon any scenario they dream up without worrying, as would some terrorist groups, about the reactions or repercussions of a particular type of attack.
The Boston Marathon bombing, which occurred in April 2013, was an example of lone wolves who perpetrate their violence in thename of Islamic extremism. Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother Dzhokhar set off pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. There have been many more incidents of Islamic lone wolf terrorism these past few years, including attacks in Canada, Australia, Britain, France, and other countries around the world. In the US, an Islamic militant opened fire on a military recruiting station and a Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 2015, killing four Marines and fatally wounding a navy sailor, while a husband and wife team, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who had a six-month-old baby girl, launched a shooting spree at a disability center in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015, killing fourteen people and injuring more than twenty others. Shortly after the attack began, a post on a Facebook page associated with the female terrorist, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Then, in June 2016, Omar Mateen burst into a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and massacred forty-nine people and injured more than fifty others. Mateen also pledged allegiance to ISIS during the attack. 1
The rise of ISIS has been one of the major recent developments in the world of terrorism. After capturing large areas of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, the group declared an Islamic âcaliphateâ and called upon Muslims everywhere to come join the fight. The group also used social media to encourage lone wolves to strike within their home countries. ISIS has indeed proven quite savvy in their Internet blogs, tweets, and other social media tools to attract various individuals to their cause. In one respect, it is the jihadist equivalent of sending spam messages to millions of people. You only need a small percentage to take the bait to be effective.
Yet it would be wrong to assume that lone wolf terrorism is the exclusive domain of Islamic extremists. A major theme in my book is that lone wolf terrorism is a diverse phenomenon that cuts across the political and religious spectrum. Events since publication ofthe hardcover in February 2013 have borne this out. In addition to lone wolf attacks by Islamic extremists, there was an attack by
These tragic events were yet another reminder of how one or two individuals, working alone without any outside assistance, can wreak havoc on unsuspecting victims and create fear and anxiety throughout a nation. The threat of lone wolf terrorism has emerged as one of the most bewildering, frustrating, and dangerous forms of violence for our times. Bewildering because seemingly anyone can become a lone wolf, inspired by extremist ideology posted on the Internet, or through face-to-face contacts with supporters of various militant causes, or by even just deciding to commit a terrorist act for personal or other reasons. Frustrating because these types of terrorists often fly under the radar, making the job of law enforcement extremely difficult in terms of trying to prevent these violent acts. And dangerous because there are no constraints on their level of violence, as lone wolves only answer to themselves and can therefore act upon any scenario they dream up without worrying, as would some terrorist groups, about the reactions or repercussions of a particular type of attack.
The Boston Marathon bombing, which occurred in April 2013, was an example of lone wolves who perpetrate their violence in thename of Islamic extremism. Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother Dzhokhar set off pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. There have been many more incidents of Islamic lone wolf terrorism these past few years, including attacks in Canada, Australia, Britain, France, and other countries around the world. In the US, an Islamic militant opened fire on a military recruiting station and a Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 2015, killing four Marines and fatally wounding a navy sailor, while a husband and wife team, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who had a six-month-old baby girl, launched a shooting spree at a disability center in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015, killing fourteen people and injuring more than twenty others. Shortly after the attack began, a post on a Facebook page associated with the female terrorist, Tashfeen Malik, pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Then, in June 2016, Omar Mateen burst into a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and massacred forty-nine people and injured more than fifty others. Mateen also pledged allegiance to ISIS during the attack. 1
The rise of ISIS has been one of the major recent developments in the world of terrorism. After capturing large areas of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, the group declared an Islamic âcaliphateâ and called upon Muslims everywhere to come join the fight. The group also used social media to encourage lone wolves to strike within their home countries. ISIS has indeed proven quite savvy in their Internet blogs, tweets, and other social media tools to attract various individuals to their cause. In one respect, it is the jihadist equivalent of sending spam messages to millions of people. You only need a small percentage to take the bait to be effective.
Yet it would be wrong to assume that lone wolf terrorism is the exclusive domain of Islamic extremists. A major theme in my book is that lone wolf terrorism is a diverse phenomenon that cuts across the political and religious spectrum. Events since publication ofthe hardcover in February 2013 have borne this out. In addition to lone wolf attacks by Islamic extremists, there was an attack by
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