Cut the Media Noise— The FBI Terrorism Definition
Is it? Or isn’t it? That becomes the question in a 24th of a second. Let alone 24 hours. The rush to say is powerful among pundits and candidates. it’s also highly speculative, counterproductive, disruptive and just peachy for clicks and views.
18 U.S.C. § 2331 defines “international terrorism” and “domestic terrorism” for purposes of Chapter 113B of the Code, entitled “Terrorism”As information develops on the San Bernardino shooters I thought this worth Paging. Not because it’s hard to find or under discussed. I put it here as a deliberate objective source to test the evidence against. Because so many in the media or running for President seem to narrow or broaden this term as they see fit incident to incident. Enough. This is not the only definition of course but it serves as the gold standard so to speak.
Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code
“International terrorism” means activities with the following three characteristics:
- Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
- Appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
- Occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.*
“Domestic terrorism” means activities with the following three characteristics:
- Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
- Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
- Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.