Terrorist attack in South Carolina

[Oberon]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33179019

My prayers go out to the families of the victims and to the survivors of this terrible attack.

[Harvs]

Pretty sad but it does not say anything about a terrorist, just another sick individual with a gun.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Harvs

Pretty sad but it does not say anything about a terrorist, just another sick individual with a gun.

That's the definition of a terrorist, isn't it?

[ikalugin]

I smell a gun control thread.

[Oberon]

We already have a thread for that. This is a thread about the terrible attack on innocent civilians by a terrorist in South Carolina.

[Betonov]

Killing people with a different ideology/rase/religion for no other reason than hate and bigotry is an act of terrorism and I do not care if he had mental issues. A murderer is a murderer and should have a drone jammed up his rectum like al qaida

[Harvs]

Originally Posted by Oberon

That's the definition of a terrorist, isn't it?

not in my book, is he doing it for a cause ? has he posted his views and reasons on some radical website ? posted a video of his crime ? threatened to cause more deaths in the name of some god ? i would believe him to be a racist or a hatist with mental problems but not a terrorist.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Harvs

not in my book, is he doing it for a cause ? has he posted his views and reasons on some radical website ? posted a video of his crime ? threatened to cause more deaths in the name of some god ? i would believe him to be a racist or a hatist with mental problems but not a terrorist.

He must be doing it for some cause or he wouldn't have done it, right?
In regards to the views and reasons, I dare say the media will find that in due time.
The definition of a terrorist is:

A person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims

And terrorism is defined as:

The unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims

Now, we don't know his motives just yet, but we will soon, but his targetting indicates either an anti-religious or anti-black motive, and as such, it is terrorism. He was a civilian, he used a gun against unarmed civilians for a particular reason, he is a terrorist.

[Harvs]

From the same source

Quote

In the international community, terrorism has no legally binding, criminal-law definition.

I have my definition, you have yours.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Harvs

From the same source

Quote

In the international community, terrorism has no legally binding, criminal-law definition.

This is true, but the domestic definition still stands. Otherwise then what were the Charlie Hebdo shooters charged with? Or Anders Brevik, or Timothy McVeigh? Domestic terrorism.

[Harvs]

This is getting away from the original post and that should not happen with something so tragic, i will say no more.

[ikalugin]

It is indeed tragic, but all men must die.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Harvs

This is getting away from the original post and that should not happen with something so tragic, i will say no more.

Appreciated.

Terribly tragic incident.

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Oberon

That's the definition of a terrorist, isn't it?

NO IT IS NOT THE DEFINITION.

Terrorism here in the U.S. is ALREADY defined. How pathetic, turning a tragedy into a personal quest for political correctness.

Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code

18 U.S.C. § 2331 defines "international terrorism" and "domestic terrorism" for purposes of Chapter 113B of the Code, entitled "Terrorism”:

"International terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
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
Occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.*


"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
Appear 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 Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.

18 U.S.C. § 2332b defines the term "federal crime of terrorism" as an offense that:

Is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct; and
Is a violation of one of several listed statutes, including § 930(c) (relating to killing or attempted killing during an attack on a federal facility with a dangerous weapon); and § 1114 (relating to killing or attempted killing of officers and employees of the U.S.).
* FISA defines "international terrorism" in a nearly identical way, replacing "primarily" outside the U.S. with "totally" outside the U.S. 50 U.S.C. § 1801(c).

-----------------

Hate crime.

Defining a Hate Crime
A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.” Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties.


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[Wolferz]

We don't know what to label this heinous act just yet, other than premeditated mass murder. There are plenty of laws governing the prosecution and punishment of this crime. The article linked in the OP didn't mention anything about terrorism, though I'm sure those folks were plenty terrified.