Stochastic terrorism is the use of media such as television "to incite random actors to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable".[1] 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 escape culpability and the perpetrator is labeled a lone wolf by law enforcement.[1] The term originates in academic studies of international terrorism, but has also been applied by journalists to domestic American incidents of violence.[2]
The blogger who popularized the term accuses personalities such as Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity of inciting perpetrators such as Jim David Adkisson, Scott Roeder, and Byron Williams.[1] Rawstory said that the 2015 Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting was incited by far-right Christians.[3] 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".[2][4] Salon tied these comments to a history of encouragement of violence by O'Reilly and other right-wing media personalities.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Stochastic Terrorism: Part 1, triggering the shooters". Stochastic Terrorism. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ^ a b Cohen, David S. "Trump's Assassination Dog Whistle Was Even Scarier Than You Think". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ^ 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.
External links
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