The Rise of Domestic Terrorism in the United States

These acts of terrorism included lynching, bombing, rape, skinning and so forth. In the 1920’s the organization met a number of members around 4.5 million. The Ku Klux Klan had only white male citizens in this organization who believed in goals of “setting blacks in their place” and wanted to get rid of/ keep out  foreign-born people or in other words immigrants out of the US. Many members in the Klan were paid to round up new members into a world full of racial violence and

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the most prominent hate-based organization in American history. Founded in the aftermath of the Civil War as a whimsical social club, the Klan quickly transformed into a terrorist organization aimed at subjugating newly freed blacks and driving out moderate whites that attempted to improve the plight of

Although the threat posed by foreign terrorist organizations is often foremost in the public consciousness as a result of al-Qaeda's attack on September 11th, 2001, the threat from domestic terror groups remains a central concern of those responsible for homeland security. In fact, while the United States has not suffered from another foreign attack in the decade since 9/11, research by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, along with non-governmental organizations, has found that the number of domestic terror groups has increased, a trend only exacerbated by the economic recession (U.S. Department of Justice, 2009, Domestic Terrorism). While there are a wide variety of individual groups and ideologies, most domestic terror groups falls into one of three broad categories: religious extremism, white supremacy, and anti-government and separatists movements, including the militia movement. Examining these domestic terror groups in greater detail will aid in better understanding the full spectrum of threats considered by homeland security personnel.

In acquiring an accurate perspective of terrorist threats to the United States it is ease to forgo the concept of terrorist threats prior to September 11th, 2001, or that domestic terrorism exists. Prior to the current onslaught of religiously fanatical terrorist threats that the United States is facing a different form of terrorist threat existed in the form of political ideology. While some domestic terrorist groups are well known such as the KKK and the Black Panthers, other groups such as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and the Weather Underground Organization (WUO) terrorist organizations have faded with time. Due to the current turmoil and political divides facing the nation, a rejuvenated understanding of these less mainstream

It is nearly impossible to go an entire day in the United States without hearing of some act of terrorism. Whether it be a shooting in a public place or threats against a group of people, this violent form of conflict is prevalent in every American’s life. These ruthless acts of cold-blooded murder demonstrate evil in its purest form, and leave death and mourning in their wake. The article “Homegrown Terrorism: Is There an Islamic Wave?” gives an overview of the rise of domestic terrorism since the tragedy of 9/11. Though it was written in 2011, the core message is the same today: terrorism in the United States still continues to grow at a sickening pace, with each new attack seeming more barbaric than the last.

Traditionally the terrorist group was known to use brutal violence to murder as intimidation of the target population in the southern states. This lead to congressional legislation to pass enforcement acts and rigorously laws that have inhibited use of overwhelm force by the ku Klan Klux (Bjelopera, 2012). The members are famously known for their white wardrobe, burning of cross during their protests and rallies. They are majorly extremists who believe in the klanraft practice which incited that other American races are inferior to the Caucasian race.

Prior to the terror attacks of September 11th on the twin towers, life was far different than its current regime. The Unites States wasn’t officially involved in any wars, few Americans had ever heard of al-Qaeda or Osama bin Laden, and ISIS was inexistent. We deported half the number of people we do today. Our surveillance state was a fraction of its current size and, astonishingly, you didn’t have to take your shoes off at the airport. The terror attacks prompted new attitudes and concerns about vigilance and safety, bringing forth new policies that prioritized national security and defence like the USA Patriot Act. These new attitudes have shaped the American people into a different state of mind, one that is constantly suspicious of someone of the muslim origin, leaving openings for the unsuspected people, the ones from home.

Foreign and domestic policies are not linear, rather the policies are connected in a circle, with each policy reinforcing the values of another. Domestic American terrorism in the prison and detention systems and governmental reforms are influenced by the mobilization and ethnocentrism abroad. The militarization internationally is justified by the domestic handling of the same cultural issues within the United State borders. The United States has strangely used a near Catch-22 to handle dilemmas. The United States has allowed perspective to become reality, whether with oneself or regarding issues abroad, specifically in the Middle East. Terrorism is the use or threat of fear for political or economical gain. An internal characteristic of terrorism is how dependent it is of perspective, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. To understand “terrorism,” a focus must be applied to the history, what drove an organization to commit such acts. Respectively, the Middle East has been a hotbed for the key word “terrorism,” especially because of 9/11. Subsequently, Muslims have been stigmatized by the United States as terrorists. The consequences spawned because of 9/11 require a look to the past to understand the present.

Perhaps the most famous terrorist organization in the history of America, the Ku Klux Klan, better known as the “KKK”, was originated in 1866 by a group of six confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee. Although the Klan “had no malicious intentions” according to (Eyewitness to History). As we all know, that fact quickly changed. Throughout the next few years, this group spread to all southern states. It is followers included mayors, judges, police officers, and even convicted felons. This group of people began killing black people, black politicians, and white people who sided with the blacks. They were famous for burning large crosses in the homes and neighborhoods of blacks, and setting fire to churches in which they knew a large amount of blacks attended their masses each

Today, domestic terrorism is one of the major threats to the national security of the US. Since 9/11, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies viewed international terrorism as the major threat to the public security of the US but the threat of domestic terrorism has been underestimated. At any rate, American law enforcement agencies conduct active campaigns to prevent international terrorism but domestic terrorism become a serious threat to the national security of the US. In such a way, the US needs to develop effective strategies to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the US may face a threat of the consistent growth of domestic terrorism as do some European countries, such as the UK, for instance. Therefore, law enforcement agencies should focus their attention on the prevention of domestic terrorism because, even though domestic terrorism is unseen, it may be even more dangerous than international terrorism. Domestic terrorists undermine the country from within, while international terrorists attack the US from the outside and the US can raise barriers to protect Americans from the foreign threat, while domestic terrorism needs effective work of law enforcement agencies nationwide. Therefore, domestic terrorism is a serious threat to the national security of the US and American law enforcement agencies along legislators and the public have to unite their efforts in the struggle against domestic terrorism.

The sun rises to a deep spring-blue sky on Sunday the Fifth of May 2017; 51,000 people are converging on downtown Spokane for the 39th running of the Bloomsday road race. Thirty miles to the south, near the town of Fairfield, a small cluster of people watch from a distance as two men in protective coveralls and respirators pour fifty gallons of a clear fluid into the payload compartment of a Bell 300C helicopter. The crop duster, which was purchased for cash in Walla Walla, is a descendent of the Korean War era helicopters depicted on the television series MASH. After the liquid is loaded, and the outside of the helicopter is sanitized, the pilot runs

The United States has been in a national state of emergency fighting a war on terrorism since September 11, 2001. The intelligence communities have pursued and tracked down terrorist suspects who pose a direct threat to this country, yet one of the greatest threat to this country is the astronomical number of mass shootings and hate crimes that have occurred in this country post 9/11.

Domestic terrorism has been a major threat in the US since the catastrophic event that took place during attack on 9/11. Following the aftermath of the terrorist attack, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies emphasized heavily on combating terrorism on global scale as international terrorism was views as the major threat to the public security of the US which caused the issue of domestic terrorism to be overlooked. We have seen many terrorist attacks since the attack on 9/11 that were planned and executed by individuals and groups born and raised in America. Some of those attacks include the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston marathon bombing. There has also been increasing number of mass shooting by individuals that were identified as to be radicalized by terrorist groups abroad, the most recent mass shooting that was identified as a terrorist act was in Orlando where more than 50 people were killed (Alveraz, p.1). The cases mentioned above will be discussed in detail later in the essay. Although, American law enforcement agencies are actively conducting intelligence and operational missions to prevent international terrorism, however, the US needs to develop efficient tactics to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the United States may face a danger of the unfailing growth of domestic terrorism similar to some of the European countries; such as the United Kingdom. Consequently, law enforcement agencies should concentrate on the preclusion

The idea of terrorism is to incite terror of a government by intimidation or coercion. For example, the Weathermen, they used bombs to blow up symbols of the United States to instill terror into the government, to get Americans out of Vietnam War. However, the jihadist of al Qaeda crashed two planes into the World Trade Center to provoke fear into the US by showing weakness in our private transportation system and changing the lives of Americans. Nevertheless, the terror act of 9/11 has people preparing for more international terrorist attacks, but in the last 16 years the only terrorist attacks in the US have been domestic terrorism. This fear of international terrorism was a hot topic during the 2016 Presidential Election, where one party wanted to ban a religious group of people from entering the US. “Yet, domestic terror attacks are by far more many than international ones: in our data set, only about 14% of the almost 82,000 terror incidents were international terror events” (Liebert, Kokakos, & Schulze, 2011, p. 1). This shows that citizens do not know the different between international terrorism and domestic terrorism, because if they did, there would more focus on domestic terrorism even though terrorism is so rare compared to other crimes (Newman & Clark, 2008). I am going to discuss the difference between international terrorism and domestic terrorism.

Domestic terrorism has played a major part in shaping the societies of the United States. The ideologies of individuals can become radicalized. This can lead to a movement. This movement involves the infliction of fear upon the communities, in attempt to make it a better world. It is critical to examine the events created by one man’s extreme ideologies in effort to better understand.