Lone Wolves in the USA (new title)

[davidbfpo]

Bill,

The beheadings in Syria of three victims gained massive, global publicity and no doubt the worst imagery will remain online for a long time.

As a Pakistani writer remindes us beheadings are not new:

While IS sparked global outrage following the release of the recorded beheading of Foley, last year the TTP had released an even gorier video of militants playing football with decapitated heads of Pakistani police officers.

I will post her commentary elsewhere in a moment as it relates to another topic:http://strifeblog.org/2014/09/26/the...the-caliphate/

How many other murder victims in the USA have been beheaded, say in the last year?

About a month ago a mentally deranged man beheaded an old lady in north London. No-one has commented since on his motive. First link is to her funeral:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29343759 and an earlier report:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29068391

Leaving media hype aside I think it best to wait today before deciding what the man's motivation.

[Bill Moore]

Bill,

The beheadings in Syria of three victims gained massive, global publicity and no doubt the worst imagery will remain online for a long time.

As a Pakistani writer remindes us beheadings are not new:

I will post her commentary elsewhere in a moment as it relates to another topic:http://strifeblog.org/2014/09/26/the...the-caliphate/

How many other murder victims in the USA have been beheaded, say in the last year?

About a month ago a mentally deranged man beheaded an old lady in north London. No-one has commented since on his motive. First link is to her funeral:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29343759 and an earlier report:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29068391

Leaving media hype aside I think it best to wait today before deciding what the man's motivation.

I'm relaying what was written, so it may or may not become major news. I suspect Fox News will blow it out of proportion scale wise. I suspect since he was trying to convert people at work it is fair to make an initial assumption extremist views had something to with it. The Europeans for the most part have moved past their state of denial and accept that the threat is very real.

For these lone actors I think it has more to do with psychology than religion. People are searching for meaning in their lives, which is why some of these kids (and some aren't kids) are buying books like "Islam for Dummies," and then convert and commit a crime supposedly in support of a higher cause.

I read some of Sayyid Qutb's writing, and his comments about our society being morally bankrupt has a touch of truth to it, and if someone is at angry at the world they can identify with the message, and of course the messages of the more current radicals who are basically insane. It only needs to sound rational to the person who wants to believe it.

We don't need people telling us to relax, we need people to tell Americans to remain vigilant, to look for signs of radicalization (and hopefully intervene), and to keep it in perspective. You're still much more likely to get shot going to 7/11 at night by a robber than killed by a lone wolf in America, and damn it we want to keep it that way.

Controlling social media is insufficient, the fact is that the conflict is playing on the T.V. media 24/7 is enough to inspire some of these people seeking something more in their meaningless lives to do something idiotic, and just like other crimes such as school shootings there is the risk of it going viral.

[slapout9]

It is worth noting that the only reason more women were not beheaded is because the business owner had a gun and shoot the bast#$%$# while he was in the act with his second women victim!

[AmericanPride]

The crime, while sensational, is not important. The motive is important for the reasons Bill stated. Apparently the perpetrator's firing from his job was the trigger. So is this a case of Islamic extremism or another case of workplace violence?

[slapout9]

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/po...homa-workplace

Police: Woman beheaded at Oklahoma workplace





I'm sure there will be much to follow about this apparent lone wolf attack. There is an element of psychology that we seem to be missing, and one you have one attack, just a like a school shooting, there will likely be others.

It's already happened. This is the second radical Muslim attack in about a month or so. It only received limited media coverage. I think this is the first actual beheading and it is getting some widespread media attention.

[AdamG]

He's a big mamma's boy.

(CNN)For months, 20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell had been on the FBI's radar. Authorities said he left alarming posts on social media, talking about violent jihad.

On Wednesday, agents arrested the Cincinnati, Ohio, man before he could put his alleged plot into action.
Authorities say Cornell, who ostensibly tweeted under the name Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, hatched a simple scheme. It was similar to the Paris attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, but at a key location -- the U.S. Capitol, said a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/15/us/capitol-attack-plot/

[davidbfpo]

A rather sad account of the suspect, which appears based on his parents explanation to AP, hence the title 'Parents of terror defendant say they saw a change in him':http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6ff9d...kill-officials

[davidbfpo]

Raffaello Pantucci's latest commentary (which is posted here and on the similar US thread), which is sub-titled:

Recent attacks perpetrated by extreme right wing terrorists in the US are undoubtedly linked to the upcoming mid-term elections, reflecting the reality that the country’s charged political scene may be pushing would-be terrorists into action.

Link:https://raffaellopantucci.com/2018/1...wing-violence/

[davidbfpo]

This post covers several topics so in a moment it will be copied to other threads on CT, lone wolves (inside the USA and beyond).

Bruce Hoffman has two articles on the rise of the extreme right as a threat.

The first is quite short and the second via WoTR is longer.

So No.1:https://www.cfr.org/article/how-seri...list-terrorism and No.2:https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/ba...f-lone-wolves/

Paul Gill, a UK-based academic writes on lone wolves after Christchurch:https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/p...oural-analysis

Raffaello Pantucci (RUSI) adds his commentary, which mainly applies to the UK:https://raffaellopantucci.com/2019/0...-not-any-more/

Then Steve Metz on why lone wolves and a somewhat pessimistic viewpoint IMHO:https://www.theamericanconservative....olf-terrorist/

A NYT graphic on the links between white extremists:https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...istchurch.html