Acts of Terrorism megathread

[Sheilbh]

Aren't most of the Muslim suicide attackers frustrated loners as well? If they do this it's terrorism, if a non-Muslim white guy its domestic violence.

Yeah - but I still don't think this is terrorism. I've mentioned before but I think I've seen a lot of attacks classified as terrorism that seem more, to me, like school shootings - an individual making random attacks. And a troubled individual shouting "Allahu akbar" or having extreme opinions doesn't transform that into terrorism.

I feel like this matter in terms of policy because if it's terrorism - mongers suggestions are right. You look at whether there's a network, who else is involved etc. With attacks like this I feel like the more appropriate policy response would be spending money on mental health and making sure it's actually available for people because from what I've seen this guy clearly had problems and was going through a crisis. And mental health appears a far bigger issue in this guy's case.

From the Guardian - and I slightly disagree with the headline which I think is more of a terrorist framing and doesn't seem to gel with his actual comments or actions (I can't think of any terrorist attack that isn't trying to maximise attention or destruction - your family's home in a suburb followed by what seems possibly like suicide by cop is sort of different):

Plymouth gunman: a hate-filled misogynist and 'incel'
Videos Jake Davison posted online portray him as a man in despair who raged against success of others
Matthew Weaver and Steven Morris
Fri 13 Aug 2021 16.53 BST

Jake Davison, the Plymouth attacker, expressed misogynistic and homophobic views and portrayed himself as a man in despair who raged against his mother and his failure to find a girlfriend.

In what the 22-year-old described as an "unscripted rant" posted just over two weeks ago, he said "for the most part it's just been me against the world".

He also shared hate-filled views on Reddit forums used by "incels" – men who express online hostility and resentment towards those who are sexually active, particularly women. Earlier this year, authorities in the US warned that attacks linked to the incel movement were on the increase as authorities around the world have begun to treat the ideology as a more serious terrorism threat.

Davison used incel forums to express hatred for his mother and a view that mass shootings had no connection to gun control.

It is believed Davison's first victim was his mother, Maxine, 51, after police confirmed there was a "familial relationship" with one of the victims.

Davison's Reddit posts are filled with hatred for his mother, whom he described as "my vile dysfunctional chaotic mother". He also rants in general against single mothers.

He also alludes to a financial dispute with his mother over benefit money that he felt he was owed because he claimed he had autism. A month ago, he wrote: "Luckly i got PIP money because i legit have autism which i should have taken from my mother at 18 years old really but like an idiot she manipulated and guilt tripped me in lettering her have it until at 22 i decided enough is enough and i took it from her."

Police said they were keeping an open mind on the motive but a neighbour and friend of the family said Davison had fallen out with his mother and they argued over his misogynist views. The neighbour said: "Maxine and Jake used to be close. You'd always see him helping her with the shopping at Lidl but they started to clash a lot. Jake was very quiet growing up. He was a troubled soul. He got into guns and he knew everything there was to know about them."

Two days ago, he liked a brief video on YouTube of men in the US loading and firing powerful rifles at a target. Social media posts from about 2018 also suggest he was a fan of the former US president Donald Trump and a supporter of the UK Libertarian party.

He shared a quote of Trump saying: "In America we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to want." In 2016, he posted an image of a statue of Capt John Parker holding a rifle, an iconic figure in the US of the right to bear arms.

Davison shot himself after killing five others including a three-year-old girl. Police have confirmed he held a gun licence.

Last month on Reddit, he wrote: "Mass shootings are new phenomena that cannot be directly blamed on guns." He mentioned the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987 in the UK when 18 people were killed.

Davison's Facebook profile listed him as working for the defence and security company Babcock International, which is based in Plymouth. His profile also claimed he was from Phoenix, Arizona.

In two videos posted late last month he comes across as a man struggling with his mental health and full of loathing for himself and others.

In the most recent, he said: "It's just been me fighting an uphill battle with a big fucking rock on my back, seeing motherfuckers that don't deserve half of anything now. They're getting a free ride to the top."

He compared life to a Terminator movie where "everything is rigged against you – there's no hope for humanity".

Davison twice likened himself to an "incel" and complained that he lacked friends and a support network.

"Maybe the business owner might go bankrupt twice ... but guess what – he had a wife and kids to support him. Does incel or virgin get that? No. Imagine failing at everything in life and having absolutely no support whatsoever."

In a video filmed in a room with weightlifting equipment visible, Davison spoke of his lack of motivation to continue working out. He said: "You don't have any willpower to do anything any more ... how many years have I been working out? How many years have I been wanting and dealing with all these frustrations?"

He then pinched his stomach and asked: "Do I look any better?" He added: "Now I'm so beaten down, and defeated by fucking life. That drive that I once had has gone, mine has gone."

He suggested he had been happy working in his late teens as a scaffolder, but had declined since then. "I worked there for a year and a half and then I injured my ankle when I took a couple weeks off and then after that I was just never the same," he said.

He also compared himself to a retired boxer. "What happens to these pro-fighters when they lose? They lose all motivation, they're fucked they're never the same again."

Speaking with a West Country accent, Davison added: "You get old, you're ground down." He added: "I'm still in the same house, same situation, same position ... I'm still a virgin, fat, ugly, whatever you want to call it."

At one point he expressed surprise that he had made it this far in life: "Most people would have been completely broken if they had lived my fucking life."

In another video, he voiced regret at missing out on teenage love. "I have a feeling like I missed that boat and it's never coming back." He added: "There's nothing really to look forward to as an adult, other than getting rich."

At one point he described himself as "autistic or whatever" and complained that his workplace was a "male environment".

He said: "I'm not very social and naturally quite asocial so I don't have big social circles where I know I can meet girls."

[Valmy]

Aren't most of the Muslim suicide attackers frustrated loners as well? If they do this it's terrorism, if a non-Muslim white guy its domestic violence.

I mean shouldn't terrorism have, you know, a political objective? That is what makes it terrorism? If it really is just Muslim guy then is every single murder carried out by Muslims called terrorism? I don't think so. I don't know how many Muslims who shot their own mothers were classified as terrorists but maybe you can enlighten me.

Why even have the word "murder" if killing people automatically makes you a terrorist?

[Tamas]

Aren't most of the Muslim suicide attackers frustrated loners as well? If they do this it's terrorism, if a non-Muslim white guy its domestic violence.

I mean shouldn't terrorism have, you know, a political objective? That is what makes it terrorism? If it really is just Muslim guy then is every single murder carried out by Muslims called terrorism? I don't think so. I don't know how many Muslims who shot their own mothers were classified as terrorists but maybe you can enlighten me.

Why even have the word "murder" if killing people automatically makes you a terrorist?

My point is that indeed, a lone fucker going on a random killing spree should not be automatically terrorism, but it seems like it is if the ethnicity/religion matches.

[Valmy]

My point is that indeed, a lone fucker going on a random killing spree should not be automatically terrorism, but it seems like it is if the ethnicity/religion matches.

Yeah that is bullshit. Somebody shooting their mother is obviously domestic violence no matter what your religion is.

Walking around blowing away randos for no reason at all was pretty dark though.

He also compared himself to a retired boxer. "What happens to these pro-fighters when they lose? They lose all motivation, they're fucked they're never the same again."

Yeah I am sure this kid really talked to a lot of former fighters. A real expert on the human condition.

[grumbler]

My point is that indeed, a lone fucker going on a random killing spree should not be automatically terrorism, but it seems like it is if the ethnicity/religion matches.

It is motive that distinguishes terrorism from other forms of violence.

Terrorism is targeting to victimize people other than the targets if the violence.  If you are just killing random people because society sucks, then that isn't terrorism, that's just homicidal rage.

Terrorists don't kill in a fit of rage or depression.  They kill because they've carefully planned out an attack designed to terrorize a broader audience.

Confusing the two makes both types of violence harder to combat.

[viper37]

Aren't most of the Muslim suicide attackers frustrated loners as well? If they do this it's terrorism, if a non-Muslim white guy its domestic violence.

terrorism requires political intent and a network of support, either to simply encourage one's actions or to provide material support, like bomb making, or getting accross borders.

Psychologically speaking, there ain't much difference between a suicide-terrorist and a loner gunman who shoots himself after.

[Syt]

https://apnews.com/article/courts-library-of-congress-171ea9c45873a98f0edb3b9a22997daf

Standoff as man in pickup near Capitol claims he has a bomb

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man sitting in a black pickup truck parked on the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress told police he had a bomb Thursday, triggering a standoff in the heart of the nation's capital.

Officials evacuated a number of buildings around the Capitol and sent snipers to the area after officers saw the man holding what looked like a detonator inside the pickup, which had no license plates. Congress is in recess this week, but staffers were seen calmly walking out of the area at the direction of authorities.

Police negotiators were communicating with him as he wrote notes and showed them to authorities from inside the truck, according to three people who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. They were trying to determine whether it was an operable bomb, the officials said.

"My negotiators are hard at work trying to have a peaceful resolution to this incident," U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said. "We're trying to get as much information as we can to find a way to peacefully resolve this."

The episode began about 9:15 a.m. when the truck drove up the sidewalk outside the library, Manger said. The driver told the responding officer that he had a bomb, and was holding what the officer believed to be a detonator, The truck had no license plates.

The nation's capital has been tense since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

Fencing that had been installed around the Capitol grounds had been up for months but was taken down this summer. A day before thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, pipe bombs were left at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington. No one has been arrested yet for placing the bombs.

The RNC, not far away from where the truck was parked Thursday, was also evacuated over the threat.

The area was blocked off by police cars and barricades, and multiple fire trucks and ambulances were staged nearby. Also responding were the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The White House said it was monitoring the situation and was being briefed by law enforcement.

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-bomber-manifesto-ray-roseberry/

'The revolution starts today, Joe Biden': Bomb suspect rants 'I'm one of five' in video driving to the US Capitol
Sarah K. Burris

Floyd Ray Roseberry, who appears to be the suspect sitting in his pickup truck outside the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. with an alleged explosive device, posted several videos of his drive to the building Thursday on social media.

In the videos, he began by talking about how his health insurance wouldn't pay for anything anymore. He said he'd been getting injections in his knees to help him walk, but when he went to the doctor he said that the insurance didn't cover him. He went on to say that his wife had skin cancer but that the insurance wouldn't cover it either because they considered it "cosmetic." He said that his wife had to have her nose practically removed.

"I cleared my conscious with God," he said, noting that he told his wife he'd be "home" on Sunday, "whichever home it is."

"I have no fear. None," he continued. "That crack in my voice is from the passion for the land I love. Somebody needs to tell Joe Biden we here. F*cking revolution starts today, Joe Biden and before you go crackin' any pops on me you better get your military experts out and ask them what a seven-pound keg of gunpowder would do with two-and-a-half proud of [unintelligible] will do, mother f*cker! You know what else? I'm not going to light it. I'm going to give Joe Biden the option to."

He went on to claim that "he is one of five," but didn't clarify what that meant. "Them little roadblocks settin' up comin' on down here, those roadblocks ain't gonna scare f*ckin nobody. You wastin' your time. Southern boys are here. You can take me out but you know what's gonna happen, Joe Biden, there's gonna be a chain reaction. And that chain reaction is going to be on your hands when you crack a bullet through my windows."

Facebook has removed Roseberry's page and the videos along with them, but Raw Story was able to capture them before they were deleted.

[Neil]

Wouldn't it make more sense to take his car bomb to the headquarters of an insurance company?

[The Brain]

One of Five is no Seven of Nine. Pass.

[Valmy]

Wouldn't it make more sense to take his car bomb to the headquarters of an insurance company?

Maybe he wants socialized medicine or something. I don't know.

[Josquius]

So... This is a thing that happened. Quite unexpected. Almost feels like a protest from a gun nut.

BBC News - Kongsberg: Several killed in Norway bow and arrow attack
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58906165

[viper37]

Machette, knives, bows&arrows... Why can't Europeans kill one another like civilized people with a modified AR-15??

It's sad to hear that.  It does seem more like a terrorist attack than some random nut who flipped.

[Duque de Bragança]

Machette, knives, bows&arrows... Why can't Europeans kill one another like civilized people with a modified AR-15??

It's sad to hear that.  It does seem more like a terrorist attack than some random nut who flipped.

Norwegian police are not usually armed and after the attack the police directorate ordered all officers nationwide to carry firearms as an extra precaution.

Norway... 

L'Immonde reports that the perpetrator was a Danish citizen, convert to the ™religion of eternal peace™.

Il s'agit d'un Danois de 37 ans converti à l'islam, a déclaré la police. La chaîne TV2 avait dans un premier temps évoqué un suspect de nationalité norvégienne.

https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/10/13/norvege-plusieurs-personnes-tuees-dans-la-ville-de-kongsberg-un-homme-arme-d-un-arc-arrete-par-la-police_6098269_3210.html

Tout en restant prudente sur les possibles mobiles de ce nouvel épisode sanglant, la police n'excluait pas un acte terroriste mercredi soir.

The hypothesis of a terrorist attack is not discarded.

[Liep]

L'Immonde reports that the perpetrator was a Danish citizen

A Danish comedy called "Wildman" about a Danish citizen settling in the Norwegian woods hunting with bow and arrow has just been postponed indefinitely.

convert to the ™religion of eternal peace™.

The convert part seems less important as it looks like he's just a nutter who should've been helped or detained earlier.

[grumbler]

L'Immonde reports that the perpetrator was a Danish citizen

A Danish comedy called "Wildman" about a Danish citizen settling in the Norwegian woods hunting with bow and arrow has just been postponed indefinitely.

convert to the ™religion of eternal peace™.

The convert part seems less important as it looks like he's just a nutter who should've been helped or detained earlier.

He's probably been a Christian, but there are many Christians who don't commit murder, so that doesn't explain why he acted this way.