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CSUSB professor included in debate on what classifies a terrorist attackThe Washington PostMarch 23, 2018

Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was one of the experts interviewed for an article about the continuing debate on what defines a terrorist attack. The article was written in the wake of the Austin, Texas, series of bombings in February that killed two people and injured several others. The suspected bomber killed himself when cornered by authorities.

Two strands of federal criminal law define violent crimes intended to terrorize or intimidate large groups of people.

Federal anti-terrorism laws focus on attacks inspired by foreign terrorist groups, arising out of an era when such groups hijacked or destroyed planes. Domestic civil rights and hate crimes statutes seek to punish those who try to harm people because of their race or group, arising in part out of cases of the 1950s and 1960s

“Violence now is not just a symbolic statement for the traditional terrorist,” said  Levin. It is unfortunate, he said, but “violence has currency in our society, and it’s not just for the traditional terrorist. It’s for anyone who thinks they have some kind of personal grievance.”

Levin also said that even without directly knowing the Austin bomber’s motivation, the explosions were different from a more traditional crime such as robbing someone.

“These attacks were symbolic in their own way,” he said. “There was a goal to kill, but also to disrupt the community.”

While people may have felt terrorized in Austin and Parkland, the crimes that caused their fear still might not meet the legal criteria for terrorism, he said.

“Just because something has a terroristic effect might not make it necessarily have the critical mass of ideology that is attached to the traditional terrorist definition,” Levin said. “If all violence is labeled as terrorism, then the definition fails as well.”

Read the complete article at “Austin bombing renew debate: What crimes do we label terrorism?”

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