Characteristics Of Domestic Terrorism

Great Essays
The United States was forced to deal with a greater amount of terrorism as time passed and as it become an imperialistic power and threatened the security of several countries with its dominance. The most recent and most memorable act of terrorism in the United States occurred on September 11, 2001 when the twin towers were destroyed and more than 3,000 Americans were killed. Terrorism has also occurred on a smaller scale in the United States under the guise of domestic terrorism. Despite the United States’ history of terrorism, terrorism has not come under scrutiny until within the last decade. The United States’ response to terrorism has also varied from case to case but in cases of international terrorism has typically been more dramatic than in cases of domestic terrorism.
Domestic Terrorism The majority of the terrorism that has occurred in the United States has been considered domestic terrorism. Domestic terrorism is more prevalent than international terrorism because numerous people believe that the best way to settle their grievances against the United States is to turn to violence. The United States also responds to domestic terrorism in a very different way than how they respond to international terrorism. Domestic terrorism
…show more content…
The first characteristic is that it must include life threatening actions which violate either a federal or state law. The second criteria of international terrorism is that it must seem to intend to scare a civilian population or attempt to change the actions of a government through violence. The third criteria is that it must occur mainly beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the United States or go beyond national boundaries in order to be accomplished. International terrorism typically occurs when groups of people oppose the government of the United States and rarely occurs as lone-wolf terrorism unlike domestic

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Division of between the terrorism in the to type of terrorism one of them talks exactly about foreign power and who have them Authority for the nation 's boundaries against people or properties in the government who also has the power to do things. Domestics mainly focus on the United States of terrorism without phone directions are elements with the US government so basically any type of terrorism whether you are from the United States are outside of the United States. 5. The four different types of terrorism nationalist terrorism, religious terrorism, state-sponsored terrorism, right and left-wing terrorism. 6.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although terrorism has been around for millennia in different forms, today terrorism is becoming more and more prevalent with the ability to reach across the globe. Terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government and/or the civilian population to advance ideological objective” (Schwab, p.115). These attacks can be performed by individuals or by groups. They may also be either overt or covert attacks. An example of an overt attack is when planes were hijacked on September 11, 2001, destroying the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York and hitting the Pentagon in Washington D.C.…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vladimir Putin once said, “Terrorism has no nationality or religion.” However, many Americans feel otherwise. A countless amount believe terrorism is affiliated with certain religions, especially Islam, as well as Middle Eastern countries. Whenever an attack on the U.S. occurs, people are quick to accuse the Muslims. Most never question who actually is the real culprit.…

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Many comparable definitions of what constitutes as “terrorism” exist today, but Bruce Hoffman provides one of the most complete definitions in his book Inside Terrorism. He affirms that terrorism is (1) violence, or the threat of violence, (2) with political goals, (3) that is carried out by a group (4) or organization, (5) that has widespread ramifications and consequences (Hoffman, 2-3). Although there are a host of potential causes of Islamic terrorism, only one can adequately explain its dissension with the United States: the perpetual class struggle that goes on between the United States and the Middle East. Possible causes of Islamic terrorism include religious beliefs, ideological beliefs, oppressive political regime, etc. The goal of…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    9/11 Types Of Terrorism

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The most memorable terrorist attack from 2001 to 2015 was on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (Paul, Dorin, Bugnar, and Mester 6). About three-thousand innocent people lost their lives during this violent attack (“Department of Government and Justice Studies”). This important event in American History should be remembered to hopefully prevent it from ever happening again. As terrorism changed from the 1980s to today, so did the types of people who became terrorists (O’Connor). This paper will look at what terrorism is, the types of terrorism, who becomes terrorists, and what their motives may be.…

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Domestic Terrorism Report

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages

    5). Bjelopera (2013) noted that one of the biggest factors is it is hard to determine, even with a definition of domestic terrorism, which acts committed in the U.S. Territories are actually domestic terrorism (p.2). Bjelopera noted that trying to ascertain what the actual number of cases that have been tried as domestic terrorism is “a little unclear” (p. 5), and that the court records are generally available to the public in these matters (p. 5). Bjelopera (2013) also noted that the term “domestic terrorism” is somewhat broad and the definition needs to be narrowed because it is too broad (p. 5). For example, a husband who becomes upset with his wife and uses a firearm to kill his entire family has not yet committed an act of domestic terrorism by FBI (n.d.) definition.…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Timothy Mcveigh Essay

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Terrorism is the use of violence in the pursuit of political aims. Terrorism is not always just violence it can also be threats made against anyone that is involved in politics. The threats or violence is made to a certain group of people in an area to achieve a political goal. Terrorist do not always have to be someone from another country, but can be someone from the United States. The Oklahoma City Bombing was an act of terrorism.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Mass Shooting Essay

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages

    According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, terrorism is defined as “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal.” There are two types of terrorism, international and domestic terrorism. International terrorism is terrorist activities that are foreign-based and/or sponsored by organizations or groups outside the United States. Domestic terrorism is terrorist activities that focus on facilities or populations without foreign direction (“HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE: PROTECTING THE REGION AGAINST ALL HAZARDS”).…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 1995 Oklahoma bombing federal bombing by an anti government Timothy McVeigh, 2009 Fort Hood Shooting by Nidal Malik Hasan an Army Psychiatrist that killed 13 people and the recent Boston marathon bombing in 2013 caused by the Chechen brothers are only few domestic terrorism attacks in the United States history. According to Lewis, “Domestic Terrorism involves groups or individuals who operate without foreign direction entirely within the United States and target elements of U.S. government and citizen” (p. 209). In different countries they also have a form of domestic terrorism of what we can also refer as homegrown terrorism. What are the possible ties that the domestic terrorism in the United States and abroad are relatively close?…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Domestic terrorism is a major concern for every citizen of the United States as well as government offices. A domestic terrorist act is different from an international terrorism event due to those involved with making them happen (Dempsey & Forst, 2016). The acts carried out by individuals or groups, formed solely in the United States without international ties, are considered to be domestic. The Oklahoma City bombing orchestrated by Timothy McVeigh in 1995 is an event that stands out in my mind when I think of domestic terrorism. I was a sophomore in high school at the time, it was on that day I saw first hand how cruel an individual could actually be.…

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A majority of the terrorist attacks against the United States occurred internationally, or in other words out of 471 terrorist attacks against the United States 380 of them occurred somewhere besides the United States. This means that between 2001 and 2009 there was 91 homegrown terrorist attacks. Out of these attacks nearly 69% were bombings; and regardless of the attacks were domestic or international a large percentage of these attacks were against businesses.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The FBI identifies four categories of domestic terrorists: left-wing extremists, who promote revolutionary movements and the protection of people from capitalism and imperialism in the U.S.; right-wing extremists, who support racial supremacy and anti-government beliefs; single issue groups, who target their attacks against individuals or institutions linked with political issues, such as abortion, testing on animals, and environmental protection; and homegrown Islamic extremists, or U.S. citizens who have become Islamic…

    • 71 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The word terrorism means “the use of violence and intimidation to frighten people” (Terrorism, Merriam-Webster.com). Add domestic to the term and it means someone within your country terrorizing your own people. With that said, domestic terrorism can lead to the destruction of a country. For instance, look at the country of Mexico. The country of Mexico has been in an ongoing drug war against the cartel for decades.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    War On Terror Analysis

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Terrorism is defined as “an intentional act or acts of violence of sabotage targeting individuals or groups, especially civilians”. Terrorism nearly always has “political motives” and the primary targets almost always being civilians. Certain kinds of violence horrify the “modern sensibility, while others do not. “The modern sensibility sees most political violence as necessary to historical progress”. Looking back, the French Revolution brought terror, along with bringing a citizens’ army.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Evolution Of Terrorism

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Terrorism is a very serious and extremely common crime in the world today. The evolution of terrorism is very complex, however in the beginning of the twentieth century the most often used method was assasination. Since then, terrorists have displayed much more significant threats and acts of terrorism on different parts of the world. Terrorism is generally defined as the unlawful use of force against persons or property in order to intimidate the government, frighten the civilian population, or coerce a segment of the public to surrender to political and social demands. (Karmen, A.)…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays