Domestic Terrorism refers to criminal acts, like violence or threats, committed within the country to coerce a civilian population or influence the government. It's often motivated by political or social agendas and can take various forms, from lone-wolf attacks to organized groups.
In fact, Title 18 of the United States Code sec. 2331 states:
(5) the term domestic terrorism” means activities that—So, what are we talking about when it comes to Domestic Terrorism?
- The 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, where 168 people were killed
- The 2022 racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, resulting in 10 deaths
- The 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, a nail-laden pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park on July 27. The bombing killed a mother and injured more than 100 attendees at the park.
- At his company’s Christmas party at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernadino, California, Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire on his co-workers on Dec. 2, 2015. The shooting left 14 people dead and 22 others injured.
- In 2017, Stephen Paddock, 64, killed 59 people and wounded more than 500 others on October 1 when he opened fire from the Las Vegas Mandalay Hotel on a country music festival.
- In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 23 others on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus on April 16, 2007.
- On January 8, 2011, Jared Lee Loughner shot U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen others during a supermarket parking lot meeting called “Congress on Your Corner” in Tucson, AZ.
- Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr. attacked a Jewish community center and retirement community on April 13, 2014, killing three people.
As noted in the figure below it is important to note here is that Domestic Terrorism targets groups - not specifically individuals (though it is the individuals who are harmed).
Another thing to note is that while similar, domestic violence does not include Hate Crimes though both terms seem to have cross-overs. Where domestic Terrorism focuses on groups, Hate Crimes targets individuals.
Anyway, the reason I'm even bringing this up is because the other day, I had a couple of teenagers challenge me to a fight.
Yeah, I know - I couldn't believe it myself!
In my younger days I would have not hesitated to pummel these punks into putty. My older self had to laugh.
The problem is that these particular youths had a history of assailing young ladies in the area and getting off with a "good talking to." Guess they thought that if they could get away with attacking young ladies with just a talking to, that an old guy shouldn't be much of an issue.
Yeah, not so much. Old guys have resources (and years of pent-up anger) that most young ladies do not.
This all reminds me of Maxwell's silver hammer or Johnny from Oingo Boingo's Only a Lad.
While not immediately obvious, these above two songs are but examples of social injustice opening the way for another group of domestic terrorists.
A stretch? Maybe. But they're just teenagers, right? There's no cause of concern. Well, maybe not. I mean the Menendez brothers essentially killed their parents for the money and look where that got them.
Remember Ted Kaczynski? "Too smart" to get caught as a kid, Ted was a bright child as was often regarded "different" due to his intelligence. A domestic terrorist, Kaczynski murdered three people and injured 23 others between 1978 and 1995.
So much for that intelligence and while "only a lad," maybe he was just a little too unhinged for his own good.
Other domestic terrorists who were unhinged as kids include:
- Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold (Columbine shooters in 1999)
- Dylan Room (Charleston Church shooter in 2025)
- Nikolas Crus (Parkland shooter in 2018)
and I'm sure there are a whole lot of others out there who were either not reported, were a mere statistic, or just didn't make the evening news.
The point, though, is that just because s/he is a kid doesn't mean they can't flip out later. Best to keep a weathered eye out.
Just in case.
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