Domestic Terrorism: An Examination of the Boston Marathon Attack

Established in 1897 and traditionally held on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday in April, the Boston Marathon is the oldest and one of the most popular annual marathon events in the world today. The annual celebration of the Boston Marathon was disrupted on April 15, 2013, though, when two lone wolf terrorists, Chechen Kyrgyzstani-American brothers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, detonated two homemade bombs which killed three people and injured hundreds of others, including at least 14 limb amputations. This grisly chapter in the Boston’s Marathon’s history underscores the potential for terrorist groups to recruit and radicalize new aspirants. The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion concerning the recruitment and radicalization process of lone wolf terrorists and an explanation why terrorists focus on soft targets. In addition, an analysis of the sociological and psychological impacts that these attacks have had on society is followed by a discussion of strategies that can be used to further strengthen the Internet and social media platforms from being used to recruit members, promote propaganda, and radicalize terrorists. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the lone wolf Boston Marathon terrorist attack are presented in the paper’s conclusion.
Recruitment and radicalization process of lone wolf terrorists in the domestic United States and abroad using the Internet and social media platforms
In this context and despite a strict interpretation, the term “lone wolf” refers to “the use or threat of violence by up to three people” (Feldman, 2013, p. 52), making the Boston Marathon perpetrators so-called “lone wolf” terrorists (Becker, 2016). The ubiquity of the Internet and social media platforms combined with their growing popularity among consumers of all ages around the world make these resources especially powerful tools in the hands of terrorist organizations that seek to recruit and radicalize new members. Indeed, the anonymity of Internet-mediated forums, their global reach and their tolerance for even the most extreme speech and religious views make these platforms veritable breeding grounds for new terrorists that may have previously been undecided about joining such an organization (Miller, 2019) which have historically favored soft targets for the reasons discussed below.
Why terrorists focus on soft targets
Terrorists are fanatics, of course, but they are also pragmatists. Given the asymmetrical nature of their respective military capabilities, it just makes good sense for terrorists to focus on high-profile targets that offer the greatest chance of causing the most damage possible, including large body counts regardless of whether they are civilians or belligerents (Yosuf, 2019). This also explains why terrorists use inexpensive and readily available cars and trucks in their attacks rather than sophisticated cruise missiles or Bradley fighting vehicles, but the bloody outcomes can be virtually identical irrespective of the weaponry that was employed given the enormous challenges that are involved in protecting against suicide bombing attacks. In sum, when people are willing and even eager to die for a cause, soft targets provide the most “bang for the suicide buck.”
Analyze the sociological and psychological impacts that these attacks have had on society
One of the most well known lone wolf terrorist attacks on American soil took place in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 when Timothy McVeigh destroyed the Alfred E. Murrah Federal Building with a rental truck full of explosives (Feldman, 2013). Americans were shocked, of course, but life generally went on as normal. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, though, many observers were heard to observe that, “Nothing would ever be the same again,” and in many ways these predictions have been right. Indeed, given the incident’s chilling effect on civil liberties, and the corresponding sociological and psychological impacts that it and other terrorist attacks have caused, it is reasonable to suggest that the multiple perpetrators of the September 11 attacks succeeded in harming America beyond their wildest expectations. An exhaustive investigation of the lapses in security that facilitated these attacks resulted in a number of changes in American society, including most especially enhanced security procedures in the nation’s airports, a bewildering color-coded “threat” meter, and the USA PATRIOT Act, all of which have harmed the nation’s consciousness to some degree and in some fashion.
Some salient examples of other terrorist attacks that have had an adverse effect on the country’s collective psyche include one of the first such terrorist attacks by a lone wolf which occurred on September 16, 1920 when a terrorist used a car bomb to attack New York’s Wall Street. This attack left 33 dead and hundreds of others injured but the perpetrator was never apprehended (Feldman, 2013). Likewise, yet another lone wolf terrorist attacks occurred beginning on September 18, 2001 following the plane crashes into the World Trade Centers and Pentagon when the U.S. mails were used to send anthrax to a number of high profile recipients, including Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy and Tom Daschle (Feldman, 2013). Following each of these historic events, counterterrorism analysts conducted careful investigations to identify precipitating factors, but the harsh reality that has emerged from these analyses is the fact that it is virtually impossible to completely defend the country against lone wolf attacks that are carried out by individuals that have been radicalized and believe God is on their side.
Strategies that can be used to further strengthen the Internet and social media platforms from being used to recruit members, promote propaganda, and radicalize terrorists
Despite increasingly aggressive efforts on the part of the counterterrorism community, terrorist organizations around the world continue to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to disseminate their propaganda in an effort to radicalize potential new terrorists (Meleagrou-Hitchens et al., 2017). Nevertheless, efforts continue to be made in an attempt to persuade social media platform operators to more closely scrutinize their user-generated content to prevent their use by terrorist organizations for recruiting and radicalization purposes. Yet another harsh reality facing the counterterrorism community, however, is the need to maintain free speech on the Internet where even views that run contrary to the nation’s basic interests can be discussed and debated openly and freely (Chidiac & Chidiac, 2019). Perhaps the best opportunity to further strengthen the Internet and social media platforms from exploitation by terrorist organizations is to partner with their top executive teams to develop algorithmic strategies that can identify the source of radicalizing propaganda for follow-up by intelligence operatives.
Conclusion
The research was consistent in showing that it does not require a well organized, well funded, international terrorist organization to carry out extremely deadly attacks on United States’ interests at home and abroad. The research also showed that the Boston Marathon terrorist attack on April 15, 2013 was characterized as a lone wolf incident because there were three or fewer perpetrators involved, a definition that may be misleading but which nevertheless underscores the fact that it does not take many people to engage in a terrorism conspiracy that can have a profoundly adverse impact on the nation’s already fragile psyche. Finally, and most troubling of all, the review of the relevant literature indicated that defending against lone wolf terrorist attacks is especially difficult and even impossible depending on the circumstances, so it is reasonable to conclude that more papers will be written about lone wolves in the future without ever really solving the underlying problems that fuel these attacks in the first place.
References
Becker, M. (2016). A response to ‘key Issues and research agendas in lone wolf terrorism. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 39(5), 472–476.
Chidiac, M. & Chidiac, E. H. (2019, June). Digital media and freedom of expression: Experiences, challenges, resolutions. Global Media Journal, 17(32), 1.
Feldman, M. (2013, May). Lone wolf terrorism: Understanding the growing threat. Times Higher Education, 2099, 52-55.
Meleagrou-Hitchens, A., Alexander, A., & Kaderbhai, N. (2017). The impact of digital communications technology on radicalization and recruitment. International Affairs, 93(5), 1233–1249.
Miller, G. D. (2019). Blurred lines: The new ‘domestic’ terrorism. Perspectives on Terrorism, 13(3), 63–75.
Yusuf, I. U. (2019, June). Countering Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism: Assessment of media campaigns. Global Media Journal, 17(32), 1.