Select a homegrown violent extremist from North America that we have not discussed in class and write a research paper by developing a case study that addresses the four subject areas below:
Develop an HVE or DVE case study of a group or individual of sound mind* not covered by our lessons. Some examples may include: Patrick Crusius (2019 Walmart Shooting), Robert Bowers (2018 Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting), Omar Mateen (2016 Orlando nightclub shooting), Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik (San Bernardino 2015), Muhammad Abdulazeez (Chattanooga 2015), Martin Couture-Rouleau or Michael Zehaf-Bibeau both in Canada 2014, Faisal Shahzad (Times Square in 2010), Carlos Bledsoe (Little Rock 2009), Eric Rudolph (Atlanta Olympics bomber 1996), Henry Hayes and James Knowles (1981 Alabama KKK) or left wing extremists like The Weather Underground (in the 1970s), the 2019 firebombing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Tacoma, Washington by a left-wing anarchist, or the killing of Aaron Danielson by a far-left anti-fascist activist Michael Reinoehl in 2020.
- What was the individual or groups grievance or cause?
- How was the individual or most group members recruited or draw to the cause?
- What was the process of radicalization? Which model discussed in this course most closely followed your case?
- What was the result of the extremism and how did the case end?
If you choose a person, make sure you do not select someone who has a significant psychological disorder. For example, many mass shootings were undertaken by individuals who professed to have a political cause, but they turned out to be just exposing those beliefs without full comprehension or mental faculties. In other words, if the murderer was found unfit to stand trial (not mentally competent), then that is not an appropriate extremist for this paper. For these reasons do not select individuals such as Robert Dear, Dylann Roof, Wade Michael Page and the like, or someone with no cause at all (like most crazed mass shooters).
While you can choose any North American homegrown violent extremist of sound mind that you want for this case study, I would highly recommend you select one who survived their attack and the trial is complete. Since you have to focus on why they did what they did, this is often impossible to assess if they were killed in the act (unless a manifesto was left behind). Additionally, if a case has yet to be tried in court, the defense often works hard to counter arguments of extremism before court and true motives become difficult to discern. If you pick someone killed in the act of terrorism, like at San Bernardino or Chattanooga then it is much more difficult to answer the questions assigned for this paper. In fact, in some cases it is impossible to do so if they did not leave behind any clear clues.
Technical Requirements
- Paper must be at a minimum of 4 but no more than 6 pages (the Title and Reference pages do not count towards the minimum limit).
Paper must be in APA formatting.