Homeland Hysteria

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Domestic terrorism is not a new phenomenon in the United States. Veterans of the Confederate army formed the first chapter of the KKK in 1865 following the Civil War. The group intimidated, terrorized and murdered blacks and their supporters for nearly a century in an effort to deny their rights. During the Tulsa race riot of 1921, whites used airplanes to drop bombs on the predominantly black Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, burning a large section of the neighborhood to the ground. The rioting was sparked when a white elevator operator was believed to have been assaulted by a young black man. Ultimately, 35 people died, as many as 800 were injured and 10,000 lost their homes.

The bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple by the Confederate Underground on October 12, 1958 was an admitted act of racism. The groups' leader, General Gordon, warned, "We bombed a temple in Atlanta. This is the last empty building in Atlanta we will bomb. All nightclubs refusing to fire their Negro employees will also be blown up. We are going to blow up all Communist organizations. Negroes and Jews are hereby declared aliens." The famous anthrax attacks which followed the World Trade Center bombing in 2001 were the work of Bruce Edwards Ivins. He believed, "By blood and faith, Jews are God's chosen, and have no need for 'dialogue' with any gentile."

On March 21, Lovelle Mixon shot five Oakland police officers, killing four, during an attempted arrest. At a march held after his death, Bakari Olatunji: of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement said, "We're here today to do no different than what you saw yesterday as they paid their respects for their slain comrades. We pay respect for a young brother who we felt symbolized the resistance of African people who are terrorized daily by the police force, which are an occupying army in the African community.” The Uhuru website states, “The police are not social workers; they are a military force with the assignment to carry out a violent containment policy against a whole community. The purpose of the police is to maintain power for the status quo and uphold the relations of poverty and wealth in the city.” The absence of the suffix American after the word African in Olatunji’s statement exposes the group’s black separatist beliefs. Abdulhakim Muhammad, a Muslim convert who had changed his name from Carlos Bledsoe, was charged with capital murder in the shooting of Pvt. William Andrew Long and Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula. Long died in the attack. According to the police report, Muhammad was “mad at the military because of what it had done to Muslims.”

Terror is defined as “the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear” as well as “a policy or ideology of violence intended to intimidate or cause terror for the purpose of "exerting pressure on decision making by state bodies.” Terrorism can be carried out by individuals or groups against individuals or groups. It can be argued that murdering police officers is an act of terrorism because they represent the state and maintain the security of the state. The murder of Dr. George Tiller was an act of terrorism in that is was “in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature” when anti-choice groups’ efforts “through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear” failed to accomplish their goals of repealing the 14th Amendment.
http://www.capitolcrime.com/viewpoint.html