5 ms·

> Why do you think it's 'terrorism'? Because it was a politically motivated attack on civilians, the standard the FBI uses to determine terrorism.

mordant 10y ago
Nothing that's been reported conclusively demonstrates this at all. For all we know, there was some prior history between the suspect and the victims.
- mozumder 10y ago
  > For all we know Then you should attempt to know more before commenting, such as reading the article, or any of the other articles about this incident, where the gunman literally stated what his motives were. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/kansas-city-shooting-investigated-hate-crime-170224063319878.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/kansas-city-shooting-i...
2muchcoffeeman 10y ago
My one google didn't find the definition on the FBI website. But there is a description from the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/fbi-definition-of-terrorism/418722/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/fbi-def... “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. If this is correct, then no, this was not terrorism. Edit:formatting
- hd4 10y ago
  >(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
- mozumder 10y ago
  what? - Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Check. - (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; Check. - Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. Check. Why are there so many people defending terrorism in this thread? White males are committing terrorist acts.. own it. From there we can figure out how to solve the problem of white-males committing terrorist acts.. how would you solve the problem of white males committing terrorist acts?
  - mikeash 10y ago
    Because a remarkable number of people are racist, even here.
    - breatheoften 10y ago
      I got into a argument with my German girlfriend last night that involved calling her a racist. We were discussing where to travel for our next holiday -- and it came to light that she would not go to France because she was afraid and said she would be uncomfortable there. She also told me that she is uncomfortable on the train when there are young muslim males on board. I tried to argue the statistics of risk with her and said that we should've also avoiding traveling to the US based on her risk assessment given the risk of being killed by mentally ill people with guns or white supremacist terrorists. Ultimately, in my opinion, she is just more comfortable with risk if it comes from white people than from brown -- I choose to call her a racist to try and demonstrate just how wrong I perceive her thinking to be. Its very depressing to watch the reasonableness and kindness of Germans that I used to perceive to be common and widespread so in decline... Racists really do seem like they are everywhere these days ...
      - nsxwolf 10y ago
        Sounds like you'll be looking for a new girlfriend soon one way or another.
      - cableshaft 10y ago
        I mean, France is an active target for terrorism due to their politics and has had multiple major incidents in recent memory. I'm a naturally paranoid person and I'll get nervous any time I'm on a train, a plane, or in a big city pretty much anywhere, because my brain starts inventing scenarios where this time, something goes wrong (not even terrorist related, like if I'm in the plane I'll just imagine it as one of the times something malfunctions and it crashes). It's not quite enough to completely deter myself from getting on the plane or going into the city, but I don't truly feel relaxed and comfortable, usually, until I'm no longer in that situation. Hell, thanks to that Aurora, Colorado theater massacre, I even feel that way in movies now (I actually had tickets to see Dark Knight Rises the day after that happened...that was a surreal experience). I should also state that, despite my obvious fear of terrorism, I do think governments have been using it as a bogeyman in order to get all sorts of draconian policies passed and do some horrible things in the guise of protecting their citizens from terrorism. I know you were calling her that to demonstrate a point, but it's not necessarily as deep as that. It can just be a fear that you understand is irrational but feel it anyway. I think as long as you acknowledge it's irrational and don't let it dictate your behavior too much (definitely not channel it towards feeling you have to attack someone), then it's not necessarily a bad thing and just a consequence of being a fragile human with survival instincts. Once we've uploaded our consciousnesses and disposed of our biological containers, maybe then we can stop feeling fear about these things.
- breatheoften 10y ago
  How is this act not intended to intimidate migrants from "Middle Eastern countries" to the US?
- homarp 10y ago
  https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005 https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-20... has the FBI definition

mordant 10y ago

Nothing that's been reported conclusively demonstrates this at all. For all we know, there was some prior history between the suspect and the victims.

mozumder 10y ago
> For all we know Then you should attempt to know more before commenting, such as reading the article, or any of the other articles about this incident, where the gunman literally stated what his motives were. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/kansas-city-shooting-investigated-hate-crime-170224063319878.html http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/kansas-city-shooting-i...

2muchcoffeeman 10y ago

My one google didn't find the definition on the FBI website. But there is a description from the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/fbi-definition-of-terrorism/418722/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/fbi-def... “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. If this is correct, then no, this was not terrorism. Edit:formatting

hd4 10y ago
>(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
mozumder 10y ago
what? - Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Check. - (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; Check. - Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. Check. Why are there so many people defending terrorism in this thread? White males are committing terrorist acts.. own it. From there we can figure out how to solve the problem of white-males committing terrorist acts.. how would you solve the problem of white males committing terrorist acts?
- mikeash 10y ago
  Because a remarkable number of people are racist, even here.
  - breatheoften 10y ago
    I got into a argument with my German girlfriend last night that involved calling her a racist. We were discussing where to travel for our next holiday -- and it came to light that she would not go to France because she was afraid and said she would be uncomfortable there. She also told me that she is uncomfortable on the train when there are young muslim males on board. I tried to argue the statistics of risk with her and said that we should've also avoiding traveling to the US based on her risk assessment given the risk of being killed by mentally ill people with guns or white supremacist terrorists. Ultimately, in my opinion, she is just more comfortable with risk if it comes from white people than from brown -- I choose to call her a racist to try and demonstrate just how wrong I perceive her thinking to be. Its very depressing to watch the reasonableness and kindness of Germans that I used to perceive to be common and widespread so in decline... Racists really do seem like they are everywhere these days ...
    - nsxwolf 10y ago
      Sounds like you'll be looking for a new girlfriend soon one way or another.
    - cableshaft 10y ago
      I mean, France is an active target for terrorism due to their politics and has had multiple major incidents in recent memory. I'm a naturally paranoid person and I'll get nervous any time I'm on a train, a plane, or in a big city pretty much anywhere, because my brain starts inventing scenarios where this time, something goes wrong (not even terrorist related, like if I'm in the plane I'll just imagine it as one of the times something malfunctions and it crashes). It's not quite enough to completely deter myself from getting on the plane or going into the city, but I don't truly feel relaxed and comfortable, usually, until I'm no longer in that situation. Hell, thanks to that Aurora, Colorado theater massacre, I even feel that way in movies now (I actually had tickets to see Dark Knight Rises the day after that happened...that was a surreal experience). I should also state that, despite my obvious fear of terrorism, I do think governments have been using it as a bogeyman in order to get all sorts of draconian policies passed and do some horrible things in the guise of protecting their citizens from terrorism. I know you were calling her that to demonstrate a point, but it's not necessarily as deep as that. It can just be a fear that you understand is irrational but feel it anyway. I think as long as you acknowledge it's irrational and don't let it dictate your behavior too much (definitely not channel it towards feeling you have to attack someone), then it's not necessarily a bad thing and just a consequence of being a fragile human with survival instincts. Once we've uploaded our consciousnesses and disposed of our biological containers, maybe then we can stop feeling fear about these things.
breatheoften 10y ago
How is this act not intended to intimidate migrants from "Middle Eastern countries" to the US?
homarp 10y ago
https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005 https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-20... has the FBI definition