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In the United States, acts of domestic terrorism are generally considered to be uncommon. According to the FBI, however, between the years of 1980 and 2000, 250 of the 335 incidents confirmed as or suspected to be terrorist acts in the United States were carried out by American citizens.

Definitions of Domestic Terrorism

The statutory definition of domestic terrorism in the United States has changed many times over the years; also, it can be argued that acts of domestic terrorism have been occurring since long before any legal definition was set forth.

According to a memo produced by the FBI's Terrorist Research and Analytical Center in 1994, domestic terrorism was defined as "the unlawful use of force or violence, committed by a group(s) of two or more individuals, against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

Under current United States law, set forth in the USA PATRIOT Act, acts of domestic terrorism are those which: "(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be 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 (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States."

History in the United States

Organizations Associated with Domestic Terrorism in the US

The Ku Klux Klan

From Reconstruction at the end of the civil war to the end of the civil rights movement, the Ku Klux Klan used threats, violence, arson, and murder to further its white-supremacist, anti-semitic, anti-Catholic agenda.

The Weathermen

The Weathermen were a U.S. radical left organization active from 1969 to 1975. Its members referred to themselves as a "revolutionary organization of communist women and men." Their goal was the revolutionary overthrow of the U.S. government. Toward this end, and to change U.S. policy in Vietnam, they bombed a number of police and military targets. The group collapsed shortly after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975.

Earth Liberation Front

Classified by the FBI in March 2001 as the top domestic terror group in the US, ELF is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous cells that, according to the now defunct Earth Liberation Front Press Office (ELFPO), use "direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment." Cells have been active in the United States, Canada, Greece, and the United Kingdom where the movement was founded. ELF sympathizers say that it is an eco-defense group dedicated to taking the profit motive out of environmental destruction by targeting and causing economic damage to businesses through the use of direct action. The ELF has committed more than 1,200 acts of vandalism and arson in the U.S., causing more than $200 million in damage.

Notable Acts of Domestic Terrorism

Draft Riots (1863)

The Civil War Draft Riots (1863) -- the worst riots in American history; by far outstripping anything in Oakland, Watts, Attica, etc., with hundreds dead, maimed and injured. Under the definition provided by Brian Jenkins ("Terrorism is the use or threatened use of force designed to bring about political change"), the Irish Draft Riots in NYC (1863) could be seen as qualifying as domestic terrorism given that, as per writer Pete Hamill: "...after the Riots the Irish ran Tammany Hall."

Bombing of Los Angeles Times building

(As per New York Daily News, October 2005): The bombing of the Los Angeles Times on October 1, 1910, which killed 21 people. The brains of this crime were The McNamara Brothers (James and John McNamara), two Irish-American brothers who wanted to "unionize" the paper, and who were only caught after a dogged, relentless search by a private investigator using his own funds (see Domestic terrorism in the United States).

UNABOMBER Attacks

From 1978 to 1995, anti-technology radical and former mathematics professor Theodore Kaczynski--known by the codename "UNABOMBER" until his identification and arrest by the FBI--carried out a campaign of sending letterbombs to academics and various individuals associated with computer technology. The attacks ceased with his capture.

Oklahoma City Bombing

This truck bomb attack by right-wing extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killed 168 people – the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in US history.

Centennial Olympic Park Bombing

The first of four bombings carried out by right-wing Christian fundamentalist Eric Robert Rudolph.

2001 Anthrax Attacks

Beginning on September 18, 2001, a number of media organizations and American politicians received, through the United States Postal Service, envelopes which contained weaponized anthrax. Although as of late 2005, no charges have been filed with regards to these attacks , the matter is widely believed to be an act of domestic terrorism.

See also

• American terrorism
• List of terrorist incidents in the U. S.

• Terrorism in the United States
• Anti-terrorism policy of the United States