re: #443 kirkspencer

Yes, the bombing - an act of mass murder - may have been a thrill kill.

See the cases of the batman movie killer, or the boys at columbine. For that matter any of several serial or mass murderers.

The key thing that turns mass murders into terrorism is whether they’re intended to sway political opinion. Are they intended to persuade, through fear or vicarious support, a change in law or political behavior?

Abortion bombers are terrorists because they intend to overturn the existing law, if not de jure then de facto, making abortions unavailable. ELF bombs and attacks are intended to force people to not harvest natural resources - lumber, fishing, etc. Major Nisal was a terrorist because his attacks were in specific furtherance of the al Qaeda aim of destruction of our nation through fear.

Adam Lanza was not a terrorist. Neither were James Holmes or Scott Dekraai.

But, until the facts are known about the Boston Bombers- how can you say there was no political “intent”? By what information do you claim this as a mass murder/thrill kill?