In the days since the Colorado shootings, commentators and politicians have started to liken James Holmes, the suspected killer, to a terrorist. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper did so twice yesterday morning — on NBC’s Meet the Press, and again on CNN’s State of the Union.
"In a funny way, this guy was a terrorist," said Hickenlooper on CNN. "He wasn't a terrorist in the sense of politics, but for whatever twisted reasons that we can barely even imagine, he wanted to create terror. He wanted to put fear into peoples' lives."
Whether or not a murderer is a terrorist is an issue often debated and left undecided. Anders Breivik, the far-right Norwegian accused of murdering 77 people one year ago yesterday, is often called a terrorist, even though he acted alone and killed his own countrymen. Joe Stack, the man who flew a plane into a Texas IRS building in 2010, is also sometimes remembered as a domestic terrorist, as is Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing that killed 168.
So is James Holmes a terrorist?
Anthony Lemieux is a social scientist who studies terrorism. He’s a professor at Emory University and at Georgia State University, and an investigator with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. While Lemieux says that certain aspects of the Aurora shooting fit the profile of a terrorist attack, he thinks that more information needs to surface to make anything definite.
"I think until we know more about the underlying motivation, to see if it really fits a more classic definition of the term, I think we still need to understand a little more that will fall out from these investigations," he says.
That Holmes appears to have been working alone, and not trying to further the cause of some ideology, does not disqualify him as a terrorist. "There's definitely the lone-wolf aspect of terrorism that we need to be concerned with," Lemieux says. "One of the challenges there is when people are operating individually, as [may be the case here], people are doing things that may not get the attention of authorities or law enforcement in a way that might if more people were involved."
For Lemieux, it's too early to state assertively that Holmes is a terrorist. "One of the things that really is important in understanding terrorism is getting at some of those underlying motivations — what is this violence purported to be about," he says. "Then we break it down further from there."
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Comments [14]
Look up the definition of "Terrorist" and you will understand that he is one. You will also see a picture of George Bush.
I would think this person was mentally ill and I worry that our country does not treat the mentally ill well. There is a stigma and lack of access to treatment that make it very difficult in our culture. Perhaps we can learn from this somehow. So horrible. I just can't imagine the despair of the families.
the only terrorists in this story are the pharmaceutical companies that market the mind altering-antidepressant drugs EVERY mass shooter was taking at the time of his shooting. Why talk about possible death sentence for these people who are, in fact, victims of companies that make HUGE profit from drugs they KNOW push people to commit either suicide or murder (read their own brochures and lists of side effects). This tragedy is the opportunity to finally bring THESE mass murdered to trial
Reading about this in the NY Times while on the plane on Saturday made me tear up. It brought so many awful memories back of Columbine HS. I taught 7 miles away from Columbine High School and we had teachers at our school who had children who went to Columbine.
What I can't fathom is how Colorado passed a concealed weapon's law after an event like Columbine - they have short memories of how tragic concealed weapons can be. The state Universities do not want guns on their campuses but have to allow them because of the new STATE LAW! The NRA funds many of the Colorado legislatures election campaigns and lines their pockets (including a FORMER Governor) and now they are all wearing the blood of so many victims.
As I listen to your program this morning I was wondering, why do we go through this level of analyst for certain types of KILLERS? No one did this for the guy that shot up the playground in Philadelphia, the gang banger drive-by KILLERS (located in any major America city), 9/11 attackers. No one asked what was the Drive-By Killers grades were in school, what type of music he was listing to, was he depressed, did he grow up in two parent household, and on and on. Who cares about his background, what his childhood friend, classmates, or the guy at the local store cares or thinks about him. This guy planned out a mass killing. Who cares he is was in Med school and dropped out does that make it better than if he dropped out in 8th grade and sold drugs with a rap sheet a mile long? The end result is all the same. I will go out on a limb and say if his name was Mohammad or Gomez the conversation would be different. Lets talk about that for 15 mins.
The ban of high capacity clips, automatic weapons, etc serves no purpose other than to create the illusion of safety. People who want to inflict harm on other people will always find a way, whether it is through the use of guns with automatic cops or explosives made from household cleaners.
In this tragic event we are looking white supremacy in the media in the face. When the story first broke this station stressed that the shooter was an "American" why? Because the society teaches us to assume that crimes of this sort are done by "terrorists"
Had the shooter been Arab we would hear endlessly of the Muslim brotherhood.
Had the shooter been a Negro we would hear about thug culture and crime
But because the shooter is a white male we hear of mental illness and how reserved he was.
Nothing but white supremacy. The actions of the one do not reflect badly on the group. But in other cases the actions of the one represent the entire group past present and future.
Hockenberry asks of Coloumbine book author 'what mistakes can we (presumably he means the MSM) avoid in reporting this story?' Maybe not reporting a connection to the Tea Party for a start? Of course there was no Tea Party when Columbine happened so thats one mistake that wasn't made. Also, what about avoiding facile movie/culture violence explanations? I thought that the Matrix analysis had been de-bunked alone with the loner theory...what movie was Anders Breivek watching? Or the members of Aum Shin Rykio? Or the guy in the texas tower back in the 60's? And if it IS the movies and hollywood, then why not as many calls for regulation there as for more gun regs? Both may be needed if we want to cut down on both frequency and high kill rate...but liberals won't go there...thats censorship and opens the door to all sorts of other cultural critiques that sound too conservative...
The only one to be blamed for 12 deads is James Holmes. He had free will and this is how he put it to use.
Folks are listing numerous social issues to spread the blame but these are not to blame. Only Holmes is to blame. One has to wonder if all our systems have these loopholes deliberately put in to allow the introduction of free agents to wreak havoc on society from time to time. Do we leave the side door open because we looking to shake-up our "dull" lives?
The caller's complaint about the de facto glorification of these types, by examining and reporting their past etc., is well taken. We should not indulge their sick egos. Still, some examination of their background and mindsets is needed if we are ever to address/prevent this phenomenon...Perhaps we should consider not naming these people in public discourse. Rather, instead of their names, we could employ a descriptive term/acronym when referring to them -- something like "sick mass predator" or "SMP", followed by a sequential number. This latest fella would be SMP23 (or whatever number weak sicko he is). Seriously.
If this person was any other race, there would be be question-he is a terrorist because he has created a permanent fear
The founding fathers of this country were called Terrorists by the British.
The Jews who went to Palestine in the hopes of creating Israel were called Terrorists... (by the British). I'm sure the Rebels in Syria are called Terrorists...
Calling this guy a Terrorist is giving him too much credit and is an easy way for us as a nation to deal with a very painful situation. If we allow people to buy as many guns as they want... Well, let's call it "American Roulette."
American Roulette - Selling so many guns freely that eventually you are selling it to a nut who is going to use it on innocent people.
Right on about the violence in movies and television. To watch good acting, we almost have to watch horrible shows. In our society one very popular show is Breaking Bad, so how can one expect non-violence in society? (It's not just violence, it's wilfull turning to evil.)
But why do we have murder mysteries every night on many channels? Could it be that we sense that there's a lot of killing going on (abortion), and we're trying to investigate the emtional ramifications? And to try to understand the situation?
It sounds like he was a psychiatrically ill person who didn't get any help, in spite of indications.
With abortion in this country, is it any wonder that violence erupts once in a while that everyone can see?
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