Terrorism -- the Lone Extremist

Terrorism -- the Lone Extremist Threat What influence does the group with which the "Lone Extremist" is affiliated, or has been in the past, have on the individual actor? Traditionally, lone extremists either operated largely in isolation and seclusion, but to the extent they were influenced by extremist groups, they typically maintained direct connections to those groups. For example, Tim McVeigh maintained loose connections with domestic radicals but operated in isolation with only a single accomplice (Schmalleger, 2009). Meanwhile, Buford Furrow Jr.

who attacked a Jewish community center with an automatic assault rifle in 1999 was a member of the Aryan Nation. On one hand, he acted alone in his attack; on the other hand, there is absolutely no doubt that his association with the group encouraged and intensified his anti-Semitism and emboldened him with respect to carrying out the attack (Schmalleger, 2009). Perhaps the best example of a genuinely lone terrorist was Ted Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber who perpetrated attacks on individuals and organizations over the course of two decades.

E worked entirely alone and lived in complete isolation without any contact with others until he demanded that his Manifesto be published in the New York Times and the Washington Post (Schmalleger, 2009). Today, the availability of the Internet medium means that lone extremists can operate in even greater isolation an anonymity until they strike because they can maintain a more remote connection as well as preserving their anonymity in the process if they choose to do so (Schmalleger, 2009).

The cyber medium is likely to play an increasingly important role in that regard, particularly in connection with radical Islamic extremism and anti-American terrorism (Dyer, McCoy, Rodriguez, et al., 2007). Is he or she persuaded by the group or by a particular individual in the group? Generally, the profile of the lone terrorist is that even if they ultimately perpetrate their attacks alone, they participate in and communicate with like-minded extremists for an extensive period of time beforehand (Schmalleger, 2009).

In many cases, organized extremist groups and their published literature and propaganda play a crucial role in the initial process of radicalization of the individual (Dyer, McCoy, Rodriguez, et al., 2007). The principal difference between contemporary radicalization of this nature and traditional radicalization prior to the Internet age is that it is no longer necessary for the individual to have direct contact with extremist groups to be heavily influenced by them.

Today, extremist groups have fully embraced the cyber environment that allows them to disseminate extremist views globally and to recruit prospective members from even the most remote locations (Dyer, McCoy, Rodriguez, et al., 2007). In general, individuals who participate actively and in person in extremist groups typically do communicate their intentions to some degree and they also receive support and encouragement from those groups (Schmalleger, 2009) Can we expect to see this form of terrorist attack in the United States again? It would probably be.