This article was downloaded by: [University of Hong Kong Libraries]On: 27 April 2013, At: 10:04Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number:1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street,London W1T 3JH, UK

Terrorism and PoliticalViolencePublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ftpv20

Patterns of Americanterrorism 1955–1998: Anhistorical perspective onterrorism‐related fatalitiesChristopher Hewitt aa Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland,Baltimore CountyVersion of record first published: 21 Dec 2007.

To cite this article: Christopher Hewitt (2000): Patterns of American terrorism1955–1998: An historical perspective on terrorism‐related fatalities, Terrorismand Political Violence, 12:1, 1-14

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546550008427546

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private studypurposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or makeany representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or

up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug dosesshould be independently verified with primary sources. The publishershall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, orcosts or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

Patterns of American Terrorism 1955-1998:An Historical Perspective on Terrorism-

Related Fatalities

CHRISTOPHER HEWITT

Although the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995 which killed 168 people was the mostdevastating terrorist attack on American soil, terrorism-related deaths have occurredalmost every year since 1955. A distinctive feature of American terrorism is theideological diversity of perpetrators. White racists are responsible for over a third ofthe deaths, and black militants have claimed almost as many. Almost all of theremaining deaths are attributable to Puerto Rican nationalists, Islamic extremists,revolutionary leftists and emigre groups. Most victims were killed because of theirrace, religion or sexual orientation, or just simply because they were in the wrongplace at the wrong time when a bomb went off.

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the even more deadlyOklahoma City bombing of 1995, terrorism within the United States hasbecome a matter of concern for policy-makers. In 1996 Congress passed,the Anti-terrorism Bill, which granted the federal government new powersto deny entry to suspected terrorists, deport aliens suspected of havingterrorist ties, and prosecute those who raised funds for terrorist groups. TheClinton administration had proposed expanded wiretapping powers, amilitary role in domestic terrorism cases involving biological and chemicalweapons, and the tagging of materials that might be used to build anexplosive device, but these were excluded. An extra billion dollars wasallocated to law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism over a four-yearspan, and the guidelines for FBI action have been relaxed (Heymann,1998).It is currently being proposed that in response to anti-abortion terrorism,$4.5m of public money should be given to the abortion clinics to buyimproved security systems.1

The amount of media attention directed to the issue of domesticterrorism has increased dramatically, and a whole cottage industry hasgrown up devoted to exposing the dangers of 'Far-Right' extremism. Yetmuch of the discussion has lacked any historical perspective. Each time anatrocity occurs within America, it is seen as a new phenomenon. After the1993 World Trade Center bombing, Newsweek declared that the explosionhad 'rattled the country's confidence, dispelling the smug illusion that

Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol.12, No.l (Spring 2000), pp.1-14PUBLISHED BY FRANK CASS, LONDON

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

2 TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Americans were immune, somehow, to the plague of terrorism that tormentsso many foreign countries.' Only two years later, Newsweek appearedequally surprised by the Oklahoma City bombing. The headline was 'Thisdoesn't Happen Here', and the first paragraph read: 'It looked like Beirut.But the devastated building was deep in America's heartland, endingforever the illusion that here at home we are safe'.2

This paper examines terrorism-related fatalities from 1955 to the end of1998, using the FBI's definition of terrorism: 'the unlawful use of force orviolence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government,the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political orsocial objectives'. The information on terrorism-related fatalities is drawnfrom a chronology of over 2,700 terrorist incidents, that have occurred inthe United States and Puerto Rico since the early 1950s. The chronologywas compiled from published sources. In addition to the 670 victims ofterrorism, the list includes 58 fatalities where terrorists and others werekilled by law enforcement officers, as well as ten cases of politicalextremists who blew themselves up. Although the great majority of thosekilled by police were guilty of violent acts, there were some incidents wherepolice or FBI agents engaged in questionable behavior, resulting in thedeaths of innocent bystanders.3 The first fatality included in the chronologyis the murder of the Reverend George Lee on May 7 1955, by MississippiKlansmen, for organizing a voter registration drive. The most recent is theOctober 23 1998 shooting by an unknown sniper of Barnett Slepian, anabortionist.

This paper examines the number, trends, and geographical distributionof terrorism-related fatalities, identifies those responsible for the killings,and classifies the victims of terrorism.

Numbers, Trends and Geographical Distribution of Fatalities.

The bombing of the Murrah Federal building on April 19 1995 with a lossof 168 lives was the most devastating attack on American soil, but terrorist-related deaths have taken place in almost every year since 1955." As figure1 shows, deaths caused by terrorists begin to increase in the 1960s, peak in1973, and then decline erratically after that. If we consider the number ofdeaths caused, terrorism is certainly not a major problem for Americans.The risk of becoming a terrorist victim averages out, over a 44 year period,to an annual rate of less than one in ten million - or somewhat less than thechance of being stung to death by a bee. Does the Oklahoma bombing,however, signal that a new situation has arisen - or was it an isolated event?

Only 11 states had no terrorism-related fatalities. The view that certainstates have a disproportionate number of bigots, crazies, and political

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

AMERICAN TERRORISM 1995-1998

FIGURE 1

TERRORISM-RELATED FATALITIES BY YEAR: 1955-98(The 169 fatalities from the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995 are not included)

60

50 —

40 —

30 —

20 —

10 --

l l l l l l l l . l1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996

extremists - and will therefore have more terrorism - does not seem to betrue if we consider the whole period. After a deadly rampage in which twoCapitol Hill policemen were shot dead by a schizophrenic from Montana,the Washington Post ran an article, which pointed out that:

... in just a little over three years, Montana has been in the nationalspotlight for its bellicose militia movement, the Freeman standoffwith the FBI, the arrest of unabomber Ted Kaczynski ... To much ofthe country, Montanans complain, their state must seem like somealien breeding ground for criminals, lunatics, and fringe politicalmovements with a taste for guns and violence.5

Yet Montana is one of the 11 states which has had no deaths from terrorism.As figure 2 shows, most states had very low rates of terrorism-related

fatalities, with about as many terrorist deaths as would be expected on thebasis of their population. The highest rates, expressed per millionpopulation, are found in South Dakota (55.7), the District of Columbia(20.0), Mississippi (9.6), and Puerto Rico (6.6). In those states that did havemore than the expected number of deaths, the violence was usuallyconcentrated over certain periods and so did not appear chronic. During thecivil rights period, the South was the most violent region, but from 1967 to1974 terrorist violence was concentrated in the large cities of New York,Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Newark, and Philadelphia. Theviolence between members of the American Indian Movement andsupporters of the tribal leaders on the Pine Ridge reservation in SouthDakota was so intense that it gave that state the highest rate of terrorism-

3

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

FIGURE 2

TERRORISM RELATED FATALITIES BY STATE

o 6+

related deaths, though the violence was comparatively short-lived(1973-1976). Miami was the scene of Cuban emigre violence in the mid1970s, and of killings by the black separatist Yahweh cult in the 1980s.

A Typology of Terrorist Killers

There is a remarkable ideological diversity among American terrorists.Attacks have been carried out by white and black racists, black nationalists,Islamic fundamentalists, Black Muslims, revolutionary communists, neo-nazis, Puerto Rican 'independistas', Chicano nationalists, militant Jews,anti-abortionists and a variety of emigre groups. These ideologicalgroupings are themselves divided into numerous organizations and factions.Indeed a large number of attacks are attributed to lone individuals, or moreoften to individuals who are members of extremist but non-terrorist groups.Table 1 classifies those responsible for the killings and whether or not theywere foreign or domestic terrorists. It then classifies domestic terrorists byideology, and finally shows the number of terrorist victims killed by eachcategory of terrorists.

Foreign terrorism is defined as terrorism carried out by non-Americanindividuals and groups.6 The distinction between American and non-

4

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

AMERICAN TERRORISM 1995-1998

TABLE 1

NUMBER OF TERRORIST KILLINGS BY ORGANIZATION/IDEOLOGYOF THOSE RESPONSIBLE1

ForeignEmigrePuerto RicanIslamic

Domestic2

White RacistBlack NationalistBlack Separatist CultRevolutionary LeftistAnti-abortionist ExtremismJewish Defense LeagueAmerican Indian3

Other / Miscellaneous4

Total

(1955-1998)

382911

17684821565

3421

%

7.65.82.2

35.116.816.43.01.21.06.84.2

(501)

1 Excludes those killed by law enforcement personnel.2 The 168 victims of the Oklahoma bombing are not included.3 Thirty-one of those killed were AIM militants, three were killed by AIM militants.4 Ten were killed in a feud between two Mormon cults.

American is sometimes ambiguous. We assume that foreign-bornindividuals (even if naturalized) are non-American, as are American-bornmercenaries carrying out terrorist acts on behalf of foreign groups orgovernments. Puerto Rican nationalist terrorists, although legally UScitizens, do not consider themselves as such and so are defined as non-American. Foreign terrorism falls into two types depending on whether ornot the intended target is American or foreign:

Emigre terrorism, in which a foreign victim is killed by a foreignterrorist group, essentially involves issues which lie outside Americansociety and politics. To take an extreme example, the Armenian who shottwo Turkish diplomats on 27 January 1973 in California was taking revengefor events which occurred during World War I in the Ottoman empire.Within large and well-established emigre communities, such as the Cubans,political divisions such as that between 'dialogueros\ calling for talks withCuba, and ultras led to several killings. 'To be agnostic on the question ofFidel Castro, let alone to call for a renewed dialogue or an end to the UStrade embargo, could be dangerous ... people had been killed for espousingsuch views.'7 Emigre killings were carried out by the following foreigngroups: Cubans (10), Armenians (4), Haitians (4), Sikhs (4), Taiwanese (3),Vietnamese (3), Croatians (3), Chileans (2), and one each by Iranians,

5

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

6 TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Libyans, Nicaraguans, Palestinians and Venezuelans. Agents of the foreigngovernments were involved in several instances.8

International terrorism, in which foreign terrorists attack Americantargets has been carried out by Puerto Rican 'independistas' and Islamicextremists. Puerto Rican terrorists have killed at least 18 persons, with themost active groups being the Macheteros (7), and the Fuerzas ArmadasLiberacion Nacional (5). The Puerto Rican Armed Resistance, theVolunteers for the Puerto Rican Revolution (OVRP) and the MIRA eachclaimed one killing, and it is likely that the La Guardia airport bombing onDecember 29, 1975, in which 11 people died was also carried out by PuertoRican terrorists. Islamic extremists were responsible for 11 deaths, six ofthem in the World Trade Center bombing.

The great majority of terrorist killings, however, are caused by Americans,with most of them resulting from racial tensions. At least 176 people havebeen killed by white racists in two waves. The first wave was in response tothe civil rights campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s, and occurred mainly in theSouth with the killings usually carried out by a Klan organization. This waveended in the early 1970s. The second wave, which began in late 1978 and isstill continuing, differs from the first wave in two important respects. First,while the earlier killings were largely confined to the South, with 82 per centof the deaths occurring in that region, the later killings were found throughoutthe country, with the majority (64 per cent) outside the South. Second,although there is an undoubted continuity between the Klan andcontemporary white racism, the Klan itself has played a comparatively minorrole. Some themes, such as white supremacy and hostility to the federalgovernment, have carried over into the new 'Aryan' ideology, and ex-Klansmen, like Louis Beam and Glenn Miller, have played a significant role.However, the most noticeable feature of the second wave of white racistterrorism is its organizational fragmentation. The organizations involvedinclude The Order (four killings), the White People's Party (three killings),and the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord and the National SocialistWhite Peoples Party (two killings each), while six organizations each claimedone killing. Skinhead violence has claimed 25 victims, and Gordon Kahl, amember of Posse Comitatus, killed three persons. It is hard to know whetherto classify the skinheads and Posse Comitatus as organizations, and a numberof killers appear to have no organizational affiliations at all. A striking featureof the post-1978 violence is the role played by lone serial killers, such as JohnPaul Franklin, Joseph Christopher, Frank Spisak, and Neal Long.9

Unaffiliated white racist killers are responsible for at least 40 deaths (39 percent of the total during the second wave, as opposed to six deaths, or 12 percent during the first wave). Contemporary white racist terrorism does indeedappear as the 'leaderless resistance' advocated by Louis Beam.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

AMERICAN TERRORISM 1995-1998 7

Terrorist killings by black groups and individuals are for the most part aresult of the racial situation in America, but they are not all inspired by aracist ideology. Of the 166 killings attributed to black extremists, 82 werecarried out by members of black racist cults and individuals, including theNation of Islam (25 killings), the Death Angels (17 killings), theYahweh/Black Hebrews (15 killings), and the Mau Mau (9 killings).Another 16 murders were carried out by the Hanafis, Sunnis, MOVE, andindividual black racists. The claim made by Morris Dees, the head of theSouthern Poverty Law Center, that until recently 'it was extremely rare tofind cases that even hinted of blacks attacking whites in hate-crime-typesituations',10 is obviously wrong.

Just over half of the killings, however, were by black nationalists, whoseideology was anti-racist, and not hostile to whites per se. They sawthemselves as revolutionaries fighting against capitalism and racism, andwere willing to enter into tactical alliances with white radicals. The blacknationalists include the Black Panthers, and their splinter group, theNational Campaign to Combat Fascism, (30 killings), the Black LiberationArmy (9), the Republic of New Africa (9), United Slaves (4), and the BlackNationalists of New Libya (4). A further 28 killings by unknown blacksresemble those by black nationalists, and are included, therefore, in thiscategory.

American Indians. The supporters of the tribal government (the so-called 'goons') in the Pine Ridge reservation killed at least 31 AmericanIndian Movement (AIM) supporters, as compared with only three killingsattributed to AIM violence." Revolutionary leftists, although responsiblefor a large number of terrorist incidents, were guilty of only a handful ofdeaths. This is explained by the nature of their campaign. They bombedsymbolic targets, and carefully avoided those that would endanger innocentbystanders. The sole victim of hundreds of explosions was RobertFassnacht, a graduate student working late at night in a physics laboratoryat the University of Wisconsin, on the floor above the Army MathBuilding.12

Although anti-abortion terrorism has received extensive mediacoverage, only six people have been killed in four separate shootings,carried out by individual extremists acting on their own. Bombings by theJewish Defense League killed five people, while the ideological passionsbehind the remaining deaths are so varied that they are grouped togetherunder a residual 'miscellaneous' category. In addition to ten personsmurdered in a feud between two Mormon cults, these remaining deaths canbe attributed to the Unabomber (3), a deranged individual who blew upthree people in the name of 'Aliens of America', the Chicano LiberationFront (2), Puerto Rican rightists (2), and Hawaii for the Hawaiians (1).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

8 TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Terrorist Victims

One view of terrorism emphasizes its random quality. The essence ofterrorism is defined by the fact that terrorists ignore the conventionaldistinction between legitimate military targets and civilian targets. Forexample, Secretary of State Madeline Albright, in a speech denouncingOsama bin Laden, talked of 'terrorists who go around killing innocentpeople'. In fact, such random killings make up only a small proportion ofterrorist victims, and most of those killed were selected in some sense.However, the degree of selectivity and the nature of the selection variesbetween terrorist groups, as is shown by table 2.

TABLE 2

TERRORIST VICTIMS CLASSIFIED BY TYPE ANDBY TERRORISTS RESPONSIBLE (%)

Victim TypePoliticians/OfficialsPolice/MilitaryFactionalEnemy ActivistsHate crimes/RandomInformersRobberyAccidental

(Total)

Total

1.418.811.624.037.3

3.02.81.2

100.1(501)

WhiteWave]

-_

1.844.650.0

3.6--

100.0(56)

Racist[Wave II

1.77.52.58.3

70.85.82.50.8

100.1(120)

BlackNat

1.268.916.73.63.63.62.41.2

100.0(84)

BlackCult

-7.3

36.6_

51.21.23.7

-

100.0(82)

Emigre

-2.6_

97.4___-

100.0(38)

Internt

7.525.0_2.5

40.0—5.0-

100.0(40)

Left

6.746.7___

13.326.7

6.7

100.1(15)

Other

-6.1

15.266.77.6__4.5

100.1(66)

The victims were classified into seven categories: politicians andgovernment officials, police and soldiers, informers, factional enemies,enemy activists, ideological enemies, and accidental/unintended victims.The distinctions are sometimes blurred, and the evidence to decide whethera particular killing falls into a particular category is sometimes missing, butmost cases can be placed in one of these categories.13

1. Politicians and Government Officials

Whereas members of the political and government elite were often thetargets of European and Latin-American terrorists, this has not been the casein the United States. Excluding the assassination of President Kennedy,which does not appear to have been politically motivated, seven victimswere selected because of their official position.14 These include RobertKennedy and two school officials. The school officials were Marcus Foster,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

AMERICAN TERRORISM 1995-1998 9

a popular black school superintendant, assassinated by the SymbioneseLiberation Army after he agreed to an ID system in the Oakland schools,and Charles Glatt, the official in charge of desegregating Cleveland'sschools, who was shot and killed by a white racist. Two judges have beenkilled, one during an attempted courthouse escape by black militants, andone as a result of a mail bomb, sent by a white racist. Two CIA employeeswere assassinated by an Islamic militant.

2. Law Enforcement/Military

Unlike Northern Ireland and the Basque region of Spain, where the securityforces were primary targets of IRA and ETA terrorists, many policefatalities in America were incidental to a terrorist robbery, or attemptedapprehension of a terrorist suspect. All policemen killed by leftists or whiteracists were shot under such circumstances. Only two terrorist groups, thePuerto Rican nationalists and the black nationalists, deliberately targetedpolice and/or soldiers. On two occasions in San Juan, Puerto Rico, theMacheteros gunned down American sailors returning to their ships, andthere were scores of ambushes and sniper attacks on police in blackneighborhoods in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

3. Factional Disputes

Disputes between different factions account for a significant proportion ofkillings by black nationalist and black separatist groups. This is presumablya reflection of the importance of ideology and leadership disputes withinsuch groups. For example, Malcolm X was assassinated after he left theNation of Islam and denounced Elijah Muhammad as a 'religious faker.'Seven Hanafi Muslims, including five young children, were massacred aftertheir leader wrote to the ministers of all Black Muslim mosques urging themto quit the sect, and denouncing Muhammad as 'a lying deceiver.' Severaldeaths apparently resulted from the FBI's strategy of provoking conflictswithin and between black militant groups.

4. Enemy Activists

Some individuals are killed because of what they do. The Klan, forexample, targeted civil rights workers in the South, and almost half of theirvictims were, in some sense, activists. These include such well-known casesas Medger Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner,Vernon Dahmer, and Dr. Martin Luther King. It is noticeable that the currentwave of white racist terrorism, although inspired by a more elaborateideology than the Klan in the 1960s, has shown far less selectivity and amuch smaller proportion of their victims have been killed because of whatthey do. Alan Berg, a Jewish talk-show host assassinated by The Order, is

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

10 TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

one of the few exceptions. The 37 victims of emigre terrorists were allindividuals selected because of their official positions, political activities, orbecause of who they were related to. Those killed in the Pine Ridgereservation violence were likewise identified as either AIM militants orsupporters of the tribal leaders.

5. Hate Crimes

For some groups the 'enemy' category is defined so broadly that terroristattacks become mere hate crimes. A large number of victims were selectedsimply on account of their race, or ethnic identity, or because they werehomosexual. White racists killed 56 blacks, eight gays, two Hispanics, twoAsians, and three Jews. Three white women were killed because they were'race-mixers.' However, racists can be found in all colors. The Death Angels,the Yahweh cult, and others who thought of whites as 'devils', claimed atleast 46 victims, and their atrocities were akin to those of the Klan.15

6. Random Civilians

From the point of view of a Puerto Rican nationalist, or an Islamicextremist, all Americans are enemies, so the bombing of public places in adeliberate attempt to cause civilian deaths is a legitimate act of war.16 Froma moral and social point of view, these deaths can be considered asequivalent to the hate crime deaths. The victims are ordinary people, whohappened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

7. Informers

All terrorist organizations are threatened by informers and several murderswere of actual or suspected informers, and witnesses to terrorist crimes.17

8. Killed During Robberies

Almost all terrorists engage in armed robbery, and, in addition to police andbank guards, a handful of customers, and employees have been killed.Civilians killed as a result of other fund-raising activities are included in thiscategory.

9. Accidental and Unintended

Some deaths were clearly not intended. In addition to the previously citedcase of Robert Fassnacht, this category includes the two receptionists blownup in separate incidents by the Jewish Defense League, and the Chicanoemployee blown up by the Chicano Liberation Front. The death of a railwayemployee killed when a train was derailed by sabotage is also tentativelyclassified as unintended. (The act was claimed by the 'Sons of theGestapo.')

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

AMERICAN TERRORISM 1995-1998 11

Discussion

Having described the characteristics of American terrorism, in this finalsection an attempt will be made to explain these patterns, to makepredictions about what is likely to occur, and to discuss the appropriatepolicy response. No attempt, however, will be made to explain emigreterrorism, the causes of which lie outside American society and politics.Such terrorism is in a sense a result of our liberal immigration policy. Apartfrom tightening immigration controls, it is difficult to see what US policy-makers can do to prevent these kinds of attacks. Although carried out by afew individuals, terrorism should not be dismissed as merely a topic forabnormal psychology. Terrorism is almost always linked to a wider socialmovement. Klan terrorism in the South was part of a broader pattern ofwhite resistance to the civil rights struggle. Black terrorism was associatedwith the rise of the black power movement. Leftist terrorism emerged in thecontext of widespread student opposition to the Vietnam War. Therefore, tounderstand the current wave of white racist terrorism, it must be locatedwithin its political and social context.

Although a great deal has been written on contemporary right-wingextremism, there is little agreement on its nature and how it is linked toterrorism. Different writers emphasize different themes, and label themovement in different ways. Thus some writers see the danger as comingfrom the militia with its anti-government rhetoric,18 while others blame'survivalists',19 'hate groups',20 or the Christian Identity sect.21 Estimates ofthe number of extremists vary considerably. The militia, for example, isvariously estimated to have 15,000 members (by the ADL), 20,000 activevolunteers (by The Nation), 10,000 to 40,000 members (by TheProgressive), a total of 30,000 to 40,000 members (by the Southern PovertyLaw Center), and up to 50,000 members (by USA Today), while George andWilcox suggest that the number is under 5,000.22 Yet whatever definition orestimate is used, it would appear that contemporary right-wing extremismenjoys at least as much support as previous movements did. One danger isthat anti-abortion militants will increasingly turn to terrorism, since thepolitical option has proven so ineffective for them. Every political victorywon by the pro-life movement has been negated by the courts.Demonstrations have been restricted. Those engaging in direct actionprotests have been brutally treated and consequently radicalized.23 Becausetheir theological beliefs, the evangelical activists in the anti-abortionmovement have been immune to anti-Semitism of the Aryan Nationsvariety. If white racist groups are able to persuade anti-abortion militantsthat they have a common enemy, the threat of violence would significantly

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

12 TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

What lessons can be learnt from the past about how to deal withterrorism? Broadly speaking there are two ways that governments deal withterrorism. They can try and defuse the issues that inspire the terrorists, orthey can repress the terrorists. In the United States, repression has been thepreferred option. Terrorists have been killed, arrested, sentenced, andsubjected to various forms of harassment. Both the Klan and the blackextremists were essentially crushed by harsh law-enforcement tactics. TheFBI developed the notorious Counter Intelligence Program(COINTELPRO), which involved using a variety of 'dirty tricks' againstboth the Klan and the Black Panthers.25

The government is clearly pursuing a similar repressive strategy indealing with contemporary terrorism. At least six white racist terrorists havebeen killed in shootouts with law enforcement officers, and large numbershave been arrested and sentenced, usually severely. According to my data(which is certainly an undercount) 223 individuals, connected to whiteracist/militia groups have been arrested. Yet unlike previous successfulcounter-terrorism efforts against the Klan and the Black radicals, whiteracist terrorism remains a chronic, albeit low-level, problem. For each groupor individual killed or arrested, another seems to appear. While the Klan andthe Black Panther Party were easy to infiltrate, the new white racist groupsare so amorphous, so hydra-headed, that they are much harder to penetrate.The FBI and local police departments have unearthed several plots, andarrested several groups before they were able to carry out their plans.According to their statistics, 35 percent of the 223 individuals arrested bythe FBI and other law enforcement agencies had not yet committed anyterrorist act. Often the conspiracy charges were later dropped or thrown outof court, and there is an undeniable agent-provocateur aspect in many ofthese cases.26

In evaluating the success of law enforcement against terrorism, it shouldbe noted also that several suspects are still at large, despite massivemanhunts. Eric Rudolph, charged with the bombings of the 1996 Olympicsin Atlanta, and an abortion clinic in Birmingham, has eluded a team of upto 200 agents equipped with bloodhounds, helicopters, and heat-seekingsensors, for over a year. Despite a $lm reward, no one has come forwardwith information, and the local population has become alienated by thebehavior of the federal agents.27 Given the size of the various extremist rightmovements, there are probably many more potential Rudolphs andMcVeighs, who will carry out terrorist attacks over the next few years.28

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

AMERICAN TERRORISM 1995-1998 13

NOTES

1. See Washington Post, 2 January 1999.2. See Newsweek, 8 March 1993 and Newsweek, 1 May 1995.3. The most recent example was the killing, during the Ruby Ridge siege in August 1992, of

Vicki Weaver by an FBI sniper, while she was holding her baby daughter. Her 14-year oldson, Sam, had been shot two days earlier. Her husband, Randy Weaver was awarded $3mafter winning a wrongful death suit against the Justice Department.

4. In both figure 1 and figure 2, the Oklahoma deaths are not included in the calculations.5. 'Land of the Loony Loners?' Washington Post, 28 July 1998: A6.6. Edward Mickolus, Terrorism, 1988-1991: A Chronology of Events (Westport, CT:

Greenwood 1993), in that it does not include attacks carried out by American terrorists onforeign targets. The only important example of such terrorism in the United States were theattacks on Soviet and Arab targets by the Jewish Defense League.

7. David Rieff, The Exile: Cuba in the Heart of Miami (New York: Simon and Schuster 1993)p.85.

8. The Chilean regime of Pinochet organized the 1976 car bombing that killed Orlando Letelierand Ronni Moffit in Washington DC. A Chilean court convicted Manuel Contreras, theformer chief of the Chilean secret police, of being involved in the murder plot. The Libyangovernment has been accused of being behind the assassination of Libyan dissidents.

9. Franklin killed at least 15 people in 10 separate attacks in the 1980s; Christopher shot andstabbed 13 blacks and Hispanics in Buffalo and New York City during a 100 day rampage in1980; Spisak killed three blacks in separate incidents in Cleveland, and Long killed sevenpeople in Dayton over a seven year period in the early 1970s.

10. See New York Times, 13 December 1993.11. Political violence involving native Americans is a largely neglected topic. Because of the

paucity of data, and the relatively isolated quality of AIM violence, little can be said aboutit.

12. In addition, the chronology in the Kerner Commission Task Force on Disorders andTerrorism (Washington DC: 1976) lists one fatality from the bombing, presumably by anti-war radicals, of a military base in Nevada on 6 May 1971, but no details could be found.

13. Bank guards are classified as police, and a ROTC cadet killed by Puerto Rican nationalistswas classified as military. A black national guard colonel and a black deputy sheriff killed byKlansmen are not included in the law enforcement/military category since they were targetedbecause of their race rather than their occupations.

14. Leon Jordan, a black congressman was shot from a passing car in Kansas City, Missouri,under mysterious circumstances, with some claiming it was racially-motivated.

15. Both white and black racists killed women and children, as well as torturing and mutilatingseveral of their victims. The theology of the Nation of Islam held that whites were createdby the evil scientist Yakub.

16. The January 1975 bombing of the Fraunces Tavern in New York City was in retaliation forthe bombing of a pro-independence rally in Puerto Rico two weeks earlier, which killed twopeople. The FALN communique stated that we 'warned the North American government thatto terrorize and kill our people would mean retaliation by us.'

17. The murder of an alleged informer, Wilbert Jackson, and his girlfriend was originallyclaimed by the New World Liberation Front in a telephone call, but subsequently denied bythem. Despite the uncertainty surrounding this incident, it is included in table 2.

18. Morris Dees, Gathering Storm: America's Militia Threat (New York: Harper Collins 1996);Kenneth Stern, A Force Upon the Plain: the American Militia Movement (New York: HarperCollins 1996)

19. James Coates, Armed and Dangerous: The rise of the Survivalist Right (New York: Hill andWang 1995).

20. Anti-Defamation League, Hate Groups in America (New York 1982).21. James Aho, The Politics of Righteousness (Seattle: University of Washington Press 1990);

Michael Barkun, The Rise of the Racist Right (Chapel Hill: University of North CarolinaPress 1994).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013

14 TERRORISM AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE

22. See John George and Laird Wilcox, American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen,Communists and Others on the Fringe (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books 1996) for asceptical review of the previously cited estimates.

23. Jeffrey Kaplan 'Absolute Rescue: Absolutism, Defensive Action and the Resort to Force',Terrorism and Political Violence 7/3 (Autumn 1995) pp.128-55.

24. For a description of attempts by white racists to do this, see Tricia Andryszewski, The MilitiaMovement in America (Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press 1997).

25. See Wyn Wade The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America (New York: Simon andSchusterl987); John George and Laird Wilcox, Nazis Communists Klansmen and Others onthe Fringe (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books 1996); Philip Heymann, Terrorism and America(Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press 1998).

26. In the case of Randy Weaver, FBI agents solicited Weaver to procure a sawn-off shot gun —a criminal act; then used this in an attempt to get him to become an informer.

27. USA Today, 16 December 1998.28. This article was submitted in January 1999. In the summer of 1999, a white racist in Chicago

went on a shooting spree against blacks, Jews and Asians, killing two and wounding nine.Two gays were murdered in California by a pair of brothers belonging to Identity. A lonegunman wounded five in an attack on a Jewish community center and then killed an Asianmailman.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

10:

04 2

7 A

pril

2013