VICTIMS OF TERRORIST

ATTACKS INSIDE

THE UNITED STATES

WHO IS KEEPING TRACK AND

WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?

The FBI used to issue annual reports but these official counts were discontinued after 2008. Since then, independent groups and news organizations have been monitoring domestic terrorism.

A report by a civil rights organization that keeps track of domestic terrorist attacks can be viewed here.

A liberal think tank has compiled a graph that permits the viewer to get the details about  specific attacks here.

A news organization assembled the database available here.

VICTIMS OF TERRORIST ATTACKS PERPETRATED BY RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS OUTNUMBER VICTIMS OF TERRORIST ATTACKS CARRIED OUT BY ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS IN THE U.S. SINCE 9/11

Provides details of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11, as discussed on pages 406-409 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition, and pages 458-461 in Chapter 11 of the Tenth Edition.

During 2018, nearly all the casualties of terrorist attacks in the United States were injured or murdered by right wing American extremists, not Islamic extremists, according to an analysis of the data presented here.  This largely overlooked problem – of the danger posed by white men holding twisted supremacist views – is put into context here. The article argues that when a member of a religious or ethnic minority commits a terrorist act, he is not viewed as an isolated individual, but as a representative of the entire group; that leads to the stigmatization of the entire group as being dangerous and deserving of being kept under surveillance.

Funds for programs to counter violent extremism, which may help to prevent such attacks, have been cut back by the Trump administration, as explained here.

A leaked document from 2017 shows that the FBI and DHS had concluded that the threat posed by white men holding extremist right wing beliefs was the biggest part of the terrorism problem. A breakdown of the victims (other whites, members of minority groups, Jews, and law enforcement officers) they murdered is presented in this government report  (read it here), and is analyzed here.

This article makes the same point: that the body count resulting from attacks by right-wing extremists acting as lone wolves exceeds the death toll from bombings and shootings by Islamic extremists. Local police departments are aware of this threat to their officers’ well-being, according to a recent survey, as cited here. But the federal government is reducing its monitoring and surveillance of these homegrown violent extremists, as reported here.

Using different criteria for classifying violent incidents (which otherwise might be counted as hate crimes), this study also comes to the conclusion that home-grown right wing extremists have killed more Americans (including police officers) than the attacks inspired by jihadist beliefs, as listed here.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has he raised the threat level of violent, homegrown extremists, especially white supremacists, to the top category (Red) to “High.” It has lowered the threat level within the U.S. posed by Muslim extremists, such as followers of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda to green, “Low,” or level three, as explained here.

There is a double standard in the way the media and the criminal justice system reacts to domestic terrorism as opposed to internationally-oriented jihadists, according to the analysis presented here.

As of the end of 2019, one monitoring system reported that “No jihadist foreign terrorist organization has directed a deadly attack inside the United States since 9/11, and no deadly jihadist attacker has received training or support from groups abroad. In the almost 18 years after 9/11, jihadists have killed 107 people inside the United States. This death toll is virtually the same as that from far-right terrorism (consisting of anti-government, white supremacist, and anti-abortion violence), which has killed 109 people,” as summed up here. The report noted that a few attacks were carried out by woman-hating ‘Incels” (involuntary celibates) and black separatists. The report did not point out that not one terrorist attack in recent decades was undertaken by a left wing (socialist, communist, or anarchist) group or a far left extremist lone wolf.

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WOMAN MURDERED, 19 OTHERS INJURED BY AN “ALT-RIGHT” DOMESTIC TERRORIST IN VIRGINIA

Another example of violence unleashed by right wing extremists within the U.S., as emphasized in Ch. 11.

As a white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally was winding down in Charlottesville, Virginia, a participant used his car as a weapon and plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-demonstrators, as documented here. Read about the paralegal activist who died from her injuries here and watch videos about her based on an interview with her parents  and a close friend here and  here.

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THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OFFERS HELP TO VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM AND OTHER FORMS OF MASS VIOLENCE

The Office For Victims Of Crime of The U.S. Dep’t. Of Justice provides some forms of immediate assistance (crisis counseling) and financial support (compensation), according to this webpage.

The FBI offers advice to people who have been wounded in this pamphlet.

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SPECTATORS MURDERED AND WOUNDED IN THE BOSTON BOMBING ARE THE FIRST “OFFICIAL” CASUALTIES OF TERRORISM WITHIN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 9/11

BOSTON BOMBING CLAIMS THREE LIVES

Expands on issues raised on pages 362-366 in Ch. 11.Fills in details about issues of assistance and recovery in the aftermath of a terrorist attack which appear on pp. 362-366 in the Eighth Edition and pp. 411-413 in Ch. 11 of the Ninth Edition

Over 170 spectators were congregating at the wrong place at the wrong time- the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Patriots Day, April 15, 2013 – when two homemade bombs went off. One of the three victims who perished was a 29 year old manager of a restaurant, whose memorial service can be viewed here. Another casualty was a graduate student from China. The explosion also snuffed out the life of an 8 year old boy. A campus police officer was murdered by gunshots to the head at point blank range a few days later as the two bombers tried to evade capture, as described here. Read about all four of their lives here. Many of those who were wounded by the blast lost limbs and suffered hearing losses, as described here.

One victim who considers herself lucky because only her arm was broken, is interviewed here.

An extensive collection of articles and videos about the casualties and about efforts to cover their medical costs is readily accessible here.

At the trial of the younger brother, the prosecution began by putting some of the victims on the stand to testify about how they were wounded. Find out how some of these courageous casualties have been coping since the attack in summaries of their testimony here and here.

In their failed attempt to escape, the two bombers carjacked a driver to use his vehicle as a getaway car. Find out how he escaped their clutches,  called the police, and became a hero by listening to an interview here and viewing a video here. His testimony at the trial of the younger brother that details how he was carjacked and how he bolted from the car at a gas station is reviewed here.

Boston Bombing Victims Accentuate The Positive

See an interview with a young man seriously injured by the explosion set off by two terrorists at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 here.

Then watch an interview with a teacher being released from the hospital who is eager to find the woman who saved her life here, and to return to her students here.

A mother writes about the loss of her son but also about the encouraging progress her young daughter is making after losing a leg here.

Military veterans who have suffered amputations help Boston bombing victims who have lost their limbs, as portrayed in this video here.

A young woman faced a terrible choice: live in chronic pain or give doctors permission to amputate her leg. Now, fitted with a prosthetic device, she can kayak, do exercises, dance, and even wear high heals, as described here.

A young woman faced a terrible choice: live in chronic pain or give doctors permission to amputate her leg. Now, fitted with a prosthetic device, she can kayak, do exercises, dance, and even wear high heals, as described here.

Two brothers – each lost a leg – describe the plans they have to starting a roofing business, after a year of hospitalizations, surgeries, and physical therapy in this interview.

A young woman and a young man, who each lost a leg in the explosion, recover sufficiently to successfully cross the finish line in the 2016 Boston Marathon, as described here. Then watch a candid interview with the man, who married a survivor who suffered a double amputation here.

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FEDERAL VICTIM COMPENSATION FUND WON’T BE ABLE TO COVER ALL THE EXPENSES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE BOSTON BOMBING

Addresses issues raised on pages 366-369 in Ch. 11 in the 8th edition, and pp. 412-413 in Ch. 11 in the 9th edition.

Ever since the 1960s, a debate between conservatives and liberals has simmered, over whether the government ought to repay the out-of-pocket expenses of crime victims, and if so, from what sources, taxpayers’ money or fines levied against offenders. But the losses and costs from the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing carried out by 2 brothers will be so expensive that the discussion has focused on raising money from private sources. The overseer of the federal compensation fund warns that the money will dry up before all the victims bills are covered, especially those suffering long term medical expenses for rehabilitation and physical therapy. So private and corporate donations are being solicited. Read an interview with the administrator here and view an interview here.

One of the victims has undertaken a campaign herself to raise money for the others, as noted here. And a few crooks have filed false claims by dishonestly claiming to be injured victims, as described here.

There is a functioning September 11 Compensation Fund, but most of the recipients of this source of reimbursement for health costs are first responders – police officers and firefighters – who were injured or developed serious illnesses from sifting through the rubble after the 9/11 attacks, as described here.

People who hear an incessant and maddening ringing in their ears after the Boston Marathon bombing face difficulties in getting the medical attention that they deserve, as explained here.

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FORT HOOD SHOOTING CLASSIFIED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS “WORKPLACE VIOLENCE” AND NOT AS A TERRORIST ACT

Updates a real life case that was originally perceived by some to be an act of lone-wolf domestic terrorism, appearing on p. 366 in Ch. 11 in the 8th edition and pp. 409-410 in Ch. 11 in the 9th edition.

This decision means that the dead and injured won’t be accorded some of the privileges that victims of terrorism are entitled to. Therefore, the survivors and the families of the deceased are suing the federal government. As the trial of the major who went berserk and shot fellow soldiers begins, read about the victims’ plight here. The plight of a survivor of the Fort Hood massacre explains how the designation of “nonpolitical workplace violence” means that certain federal health and disability benefits accorded to victims of “combat-related” wounds will be denied to him. Read this reservist’s essay here.

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FIVE SERVICEMEN WERE SLAIN BY A TERRORIST IN CHATTANOOGA

Updates the disturbing post 9/11 body count of terrorist attacks, as tallied on pp. 406-409 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition.

An attack on a Navy center in Tennessee by a lone wolf was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, according to an FBI investigation. Therefore, the five victims he gunned down will be awarded purple hearts, as described here and here.

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TWO TERRORISTS MOW DOWN PEOPLE AT A CHRISTMAS PARTY IN SAN BERNADINO

Another post 9/11 terrorist attack has claimed more lives, as tallied on pp. 406-409 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition.

A husband/wife team of ISIS inspired terrorists opened fire at a holiday party in a government office in southern California, murdering 14 people and wounding 21 others. Learn about the casualties of this attack here. Some of the victims’ kin and survivors supported a controversial plan to unlock the dead terrorists’ cell phone, as explained here.

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ATTACK AT A MALL IN ST. CLOUD MINNESOTA INJURES NINE SHOPPERS

A 20 year old immigrant from Africa who had recently flunked out of college dressed in  a security guard uniform started slashing people at a mall.  When he refused to drop 2 steak knives, he was shot to death by an off-duty police officer.The FBI concluded that the recently radicalized young Muslim man indeed may have been inspired by ISIS, as he claimed. Therefore, this lone wolf committed an act of domestic terrorism, against the 9 randomly-chosen  victims he slashed. See an interview with a young man who was attacked here.

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SLAUGHTER AT GAY NIGHTCLUB IS THE BLOODIEST MASS SHOOTING IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Adds another terrible incident to the list of terrorist attacks on pages 406-409 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition.

A man apparently inspired by ISIS opened fire inside a crowded nightclub patronized mostly by gay Hispanic men in Orlando, Florida. This lone wolf murdered 49 patrons and wounded at least 50 others in what is classified as an act of domestic terrorism.

View a brief biography of each of the 49 persons who were murdered by the self-proclaimed terrorist here.

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50 YEARS HAVE PASSED BUT A VICTIM OF A TERRORIST BOMBING STILL HAS NOT RECEIVED ANY COMPENSATION

In 1963, a Ku Klux Klan racist set off a bomb in a Black church, murdering four little girls and wounding another. See a video interview with this survivor of a terrorist attack and hate crime who never received the social support and financial compensation that is now available, and read the transcript here.

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