Lone Wolf Terrorism Analysis

Words: 492
Pages: 2
Open Document
Preventing terrorism is now the number one priority of both the Department of Justice and the FBI, and a top priority for state and local law enforcement agencies. In the past decade, as military and diplomatic efforts have contained the threat of international terrorism, attention has shifted to headline-grabbing "homegrown" terrorism. In the area of criminal law, this has resulted in the increased use of "material support" prosecutions, pretextual arrests for crimes unrelated to terrorism, conspiracy liability for inchoate terror plots, informants infiltrating Arab and Muslim communities, sting operations, and heightened physical and electronic surveillance. These tactics, while controversial, have been effective in disrupting numerous terror plots. But in recent years, and in large part because of law enforcement's …show more content…
The relatively novel threat of lone wolf terrorism presents a challenge for traditional law enforcement and prosecutorial approaches. Indeed, the threat is likely to increase in prevalence. Security experts note that the threat of lone wolf terrorism is one of the main vulnerabilities today. President Obama stated in 2011 that "the most likely scenario that we have toguard against right now ends up being more of a lone wolf operation than a large, well-coordinated terrorist attack." Events of the past few years corroborate this statement. Pimentel, RezwanFerdaus (a U.S. citizen arrested in Massachusetts for plotting to bomb the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol), Army Major NidalHasan (an Army doctor who killed thirteen individuals and wounded thirty-two others at Fort Hood, Texas), Arid Uka (a Kosovar Islamist who killed two U.S. service members in Germany), and Naser Jason Abdo (an enlisted soldier arrested for attempting to detonate a bomb near Fort Hood) are but a few of the many examples of this type of terrorism. Because of the relatively recent emergence of the lone wolf threat, legal scholarship has not fully addressed this specific type of
Show More

Related Documents: Lone Wolf Terrorism Analysis

Domestic Terrorism

Domestic terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to national security, with its tactics and reach constantly changing as a result of numerous social, political, and technological factors. Globalization, the explosive development of digital technology, and changing social dynamics are reshaping the character of domestic terrorism, which has historically been driven by a variety of factors. The risk environment is being drastically changed by several factors, including the increase in lone-wolf attacks…

Words 1037 - Pages 5

TERRORISM INCORPORATED Essay

Richard Heubach 4314751 INTRODUCTION Since the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, the U.S. government has taken considerable steps to ensure a similar attack cannot happen again. In guarding its citizens against the threat of terrorism from abroad and within, a prominent question of concern should be, ‘which organization could have the means and capabilities to pose a serious threat to the U.S’ current and future homeland security posture’? The organization would undoubtedly have…

Words 2506 - Pages 11

Stadiums Increase Budgets, Heighten Security Measures To Protect Fans

budgets, heighten security measures to protect fans - ESPN The Magazine - ESPN Subscribe Photo Illustration by CJ Burton for ESPN The MagazineThe Department of Homeland Security ranks stadium attack as one of the 12 most devastating possible acts of terrorism. This story appears in the Sept. 19 issue of ESPN The Magazine. THE SNIPER WORE a baseball cap. He found a secluded spot on a grandstand near the 20-yard line at the south side of Oklahoma State's Boone Pickens Stadium. He lay flat and planted his…

Words 3632 - Pages 15