Stochastic terrorism
Stochastic terrorism is an "obscure and non-legal"[1] term describing speech that can be expected to incite terrorism as an act of stochastic terrorism, with the word "stochastic" describing the random nature of the targets.[2] The "stochastic terrorist" does not direct the actions of members of a group, rather, he is an ideologue speaking over mass media to individuals with who he is not affiliated as part of any form of organization.[2] Instead, he depends on "the use of mass media to provoke random acts of ideologically motivated violence that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable".[2] According to an anonymous blogger posting on the Daily Kos, the speaker, whether intentionally or not, incites those with a combination of personality traits that leads them to violence. Since the speaker only focuses animus towards the victim instead of directly participating, they may escape culpability and the perpetrator may be labeled a lone wolf by law enforcement.[3][unreliable source?] The term has mostly been applied to domestic American incidents of violence.[2][1]
In their 2017 book, Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism,[2] criminologist Mark S. Hamm and sociologist Ramón Spaaij discuss stochastic terrorism as a form of "indirect enabling" of terrorists. They write that "stochastic terrorism is the method of international recruitment used by ISIS", and they refer to Anwar al-Awlaki and Alex Jones as stochastic terrorists.[2]:157 They note that:[2]
What often matters most in stochastic terrorism is the emotional intensity of the messaging and the way it is socially constructed or interpreted by the consumer, not the intentions of the messenger. In other words, the messenger does not have to actively promote violence for it to occur.
Hamm and Spaaij discuss two instances of violence that "shine a light on the phenomenon of stochastic terrorism in the post-9/11 era."[2] In the 2010 Oakland freeway shootout, Byron Williams was said to be en route to offices of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Tides Foundation, planning to commit mass murder, "indirectly enabled by the conspiracy theories"[2] of Glenn Beck and Alex Jones. As a left-wing example, they cite the 2012 shooting incident at the headquarters of the Family Research Council. Hamm and Spaaij say the shooter's radicalization was indirectly enabled by his reading a report in an online magazine of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which "featured a 'Hate Map' giving the exact location of FRC headquarters."
Note that the phrase "stochastic terrorism model" typically does not refer to this concept of stochastic terrorism as a form of incitement. That is, a stochastic terrorism model is usually a stochastic, that is, random, model of terror attacks intended by the random nature of their timing and targets to excite a generalized fear.[4]
Usage to describe incitement[edit]
After the 2011 Tucson shooting, the Daily Kos' "diarist" (blogger) G2geek posted "Stochastic Terrorism: Triggering the shooters." While saying it wasn't immediately clear that the murderer Jared Lee Loughner was triggered, G2geek accused Osama Bin Laden and personalities such as Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity of inciting perpetrators such as Jim David Adkisson, Scott Roeder, and Byron Williams.[3][unreliable source?] Rawstory said that the 2015 Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting was incited by far-right Christians.[5] An op-ed in Rolling Stone referred to then presidential-candidate Donald Trump's comment during one of his 2016 campaign rallies as stochastic terrorism. Trump said of his opponent Hillary Clinton: "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know".[1][6] Salon tied these comments to a history of encouragement of violence by O'Reilly and other right-wing media personalities.[7]
Concerns about usage[edit]
CNN's legal analyst Danny Cevallos opinion piece said Trump's comment was likely protected speech, even against a presidential candidate, because it wasn't directed to inciting imminent unlawful action. And with respect to it being stochastic terrorism added, "It's scary, and probably true.... It's hard to predict or measure the effect with any certainty."[8]
The phase "Scripted Violence" has been used in social science since at least 2010. As Darrell Y. Hamamoto argues, the concept of "scripted violence" provides "a sorely-needed corrective to the under-theorization of race and racism in understanding acts of scripted violence within hyper-militarized society." Hamamoto also suggests that "serial killing and mass murder are examples of civilian "blowback" that originates with heightened US military adventurism in the postwar period. [9]
Use in a sentence[edit]
A stochastic terrorist is a demagogue who uses the rhetoric of scripted violence (such as demonization or scapegoating) to portray a target group as involved in a malevolent conspiracy to undermine the society or nation, and thus prompt most acts of stochastic terrorism. See, for example, the work on demonization and scapegoating of scholars Hannah Arendt and Gordon Allport.
See also[edit]
- Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?
- Agent provocateur
- Dog-whistle politics
- Radicalization
- Sleeper cell
- Hate speech
- Psychohistory (fictional)
- Mens rea
- Pizzagate conspiracy theory
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cohen, David S. "Trump's Assassination Dog Whistle Was Even Scarier Than You Think". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Hamm, Mark S.; Spaaij, Ramón (2017). The Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 84–89. ISBN 978-0-231-54377-4. LCCN 2016050672. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Stochastic Terrorism: Triggering the shooters". Daily Kos. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
- ↑ Woo, Gordon (2002). "Quantitative terrorism risk assessment". Journal of Risk Finance. 4 (1): 7–14. doi:10.1108/eb022949.
- ↑ Tarico, Valerie. "Here's how far-right Christians incited stochastic terrorism at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood". Raw Story. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ↑ Crockett, Emily. "Trump's 2nd Amendment comment wasn't a joke. It was 'stochastic terrorism.'". Vox. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ↑ Devega, Chauncey. "Conservatism in the Age of Obama: Trump's violent rhetoric against Hillary has been festering for years within the GOP". Salon. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
What is known as 'stochastic terrorism' resulted in the murder of Dr. George Tiller — a man who Bill O'Reilly repeatedly targeted...
- ↑ Cevallos, Danny. "Did Trump comments break the law?". CNN. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
Some legal scholars have observed that Trump has engaged in 'stochastic terrorism,' using language and other forms of communication 'to incite random actors to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable.'
- ↑ Hamamoto, Darrell Y. (2002). "Empire of Death: Militarized Society and the Rise of Serial Killing and Mass Murder". New Political Science. 24 (1): 105–120.
External links[edit]
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