Terrorist Misconceptions: Mentally Ill or Innately Evil

Terrorism can be defined as the use of violence or threat of violence in the pursuit of political, religious, ideological or social objectives. When people hear the word terrorist, often, the first image that comes to mind is a dark, hooded Middle Eastern man- a foreigner, a member of al-Qaeda- not an American citizen. Since 9/11, global fears of terrorism have focused on Islam as a motivator for violence. However, since 9/11 more Americans have died from mass shootings carried out by citizens than by Islamic terrorism. With the rapidly increasing rate of gun violence, school shootings have become more and more common in the US. As the perpetrators of these crimes are increasingly profiled, their past history has revealed patterns of mental illness, alienation, and violence. The burgeoning of school shootings really began with the Columbine High School massacre that occurred on April 20, 1999. The media also influences the way that people are radicalized on the internet. This essay will focus on the idea on who is considered to be a terrorist.

On September 1, 2001, Al-Qaeda initiated an attack on the Twin Towers, which resulted in 3,000 deaths and over 6,000 injured. The organization states that it wants to fix the wrongs that Christians and Jews have committed against the Muslim people throughout history and to reform the Islamic religion. However, the organization believes this can only be achieved by purifying sacred Islamic areas of non-Muslims, specifically, Americans. Unfortunately, these radical actions, fueled by misguided religious views, have gained prominence throughout the media. As a result, people have begun to associate all Islam with acts of terror, evil, and injustice. This fear has culminated in prejudice against Muslims, who are assumed to share the same radical views and characteristics as Al-Qaeda and other terrorist regimes. The idea that every Muslim is a terrorist or a threat to other people’s safety, has been engraved in American belief. Due to this, Muslims in the US currently face severe discrimination in their everyday lives. A Muslim woman can barely walk down the streets in a burka without being verbally abused or threatened. This prejudiced mindset even exists within the national government, with past and current presidents implementing new ideas and laws against Islamic people. President Trump has often identified individuals as terrorists based solely on their background, without knowing the whole story. For example, Donald Trump placed an immigration ban on foreign Muslims entering the US. Of course, this has raised multiple issues, because the ban implies the false generalization of all Muslims as terrorists. His explanation for prohibiting all Muslims from entering the United States was that, “Muslims have a great hatred towards Americans,” and are therefore a threat to his country.

President Donald Trump seems to truly believe that terrorism only comes from migration into the US. After the terrorist incident in San Bernadino, he stated that for “our” country to be safe, all non-American citizens must be prohibited from entering the US, until a solution to terrorism is found. Two years ago, a Muslim man killed 14 lives in a shooting spree. Ironically, the man, raised by Pakistani parents, was born in America. Even though the man was Muslim, he was raised in California, thus contradicting President Trump’s theory that no American could be capable of committing such horrendous acts. Nationalism and pride are not the only reasons for acts that are coacts of terror. This is where the idea of isolated, alienated young men come in. No matter the religion, beliefs, or background, all these perpetrators of violence have one thing in common: they have been alienated from society. The problem of violence in the US doesn't come from Islam, but rather the frustration of a male. Statistics show that 98% of mass killings are perpetrated by men of all races (The Guardian, 2017). Furthermore, an article in the Huffington Post highlights the discrepancies in terrorist stereotypes by pointing out how acts of violence are only considered terrorism when committed by a brown person. The 2017 shooting of a Baptist Church in Texas led to 26 deaths and 20 injuries; yet, when the shooter Devin Kelley was identified to be a white male, the media portrayed Kelley as a poor man battling depression and mental illness. However, if the circumstances were different, and the man was ethnic, the shooting would have been considered an act of terrorism. Why has our society changed the norms on whether it is terrorism based on what you look like when at the end of the day, all these actions lead to one outcome: chaos, and death.

White privilege consequently plays a significant role in whether a violent act is deemed an act of terror or the unfortunate result of mental illness. With the recent Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, classified to be one of the world’s deadliest school massacres in history and leading to 17 deaths and 17 injuries, 19 year old Nikolas Cruz managed to accomplish his dream of becoming the most successful shooter. Born and raised in South Florida, Nikolas was adopted at a very young age by an American couple. His father died when Nikolas was young, leaving him to be raised by a single mother. Three months before the shooting, his mother died of cancer. Psychologists claim that the death of his mother pushed Nikolas to the edge. But even before his mother died, Nikolas had moved schools six times in a three-year time frame due to academic discipline and behavioral issues. Previous psychologists that worked with him report that he suffered from depression, very slight autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. One thing that all psychologists concluded in their report was that Nikolas Cruz was at “low risk of harming himself or others." However, students from all of his previous schools allegedly reported that he would continuously make threats to other students about harming them. Multiple people have claimed that he wanted to “kill all gay people and... keep black people in chains.” While it is valid for the media to assert that Cruz was mentally unstable, one cannot help but wonder why his criminal actions were not counted as terrorism when he was clearly using violence to instill fear in his peers. The problem began to escalate when Nikolas would brag about how he would kill animals. He was very keen on hunting. However, he would say that he enjoyed seeing the animals die too. Social media played a prominent role in Nikolas’s case. His social media accounts would contain graphic content about hating people of colour and Muslims. Chats were found proving his hatred towards homosexuals, Judaism, and immigrants. All of these incredibly violent thoughts led to him legally being able to purchase an AR -15 semi-automatic rifle from a gun store. A year later, he used that exact gun to conduct the shooting.

Yes, all articles and news reports say he is mentally unstable and facts do indicate that this is a valid point. However, the bigger question is why no articles or news reports say he is a terrorist for his charge of 17 counts of first - degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first - degree murder? Nikolas Cruz, Devin Kelley, and Marwan al-Shehhi (Hijacker-pilot) all have one thing in common; they are alienated young men who have created chaos. These three men fit the same profile: they are around the same age, male, and have been to a psychologist who claimed they had anger issues and mental health problems. Nonetheless, not all three men were considered to be terrorists, although all executed the same outcome and panic, with the only difference being in the color of their skin. This is where the idea that if you’re a white American citizen, all blame goes to being mentally ill comes in. Terrorism is something only brown people do. But, that is not the case.

Islam or non-Islam, everyone is capable of doing bad things. It is how we, as a society, try to do our best to prevent it from happening that matters. One of the first steps towards improvement is increasing awareness and unbiased information. People who have a low education level, or are just not aware of the current political situation, are more prone to believe what the media and government tell them to believe. A global way to address and spread the word can be by contacting the World’s Health Organization. This organization could be helped to diminish unhappiness and increase alertness to warning signs having social reintegration activities. A form of social engineering could be done to aid these men by creating social events for “lonely” people. Studies show that men who find a woman and get married usually settle down and learn to love and join a community. The main idea is to reintegrate them back into their society. If they learn to love the people around them and feel welcomed the rate of alienated unstable men could decrease. There are so many signs that indicate that something terrible will happen. For example, Cruz’s case had 23 reported phone calls to the authorities from other locals being concerned about him harming others. Sadly, all were ignored. There is not enough being done for these people before they turn to violence and terrorism to express their anger. A global way to address and spread the word that people need to be included is by contacting the World’s Health Organization. This organization could be able to diminish unhappiness and be more alert for the warnings.

Another factor to angry men is women. Even though women can help the problem, they can also be a great cause of anger and anxiety. There is a significant number of raging young men that feel hatred towards women. A possibility to restore this issue could be by having single-gender schools. Same-sex schooling could allow a brotherly bond to form and not having women break this bond by getting in between them.

Overall, the definition of terrorism is ambiguous. It is misguided to classify terrorists or extremists solely based on their ethnicity. Everyone needs to be treated as an equal, and this can be done by educating the public and destroying stereotypes. While there is no solution to solve the problem immediately, if everyone joins together to promote community and care, the world would become a better and safer place.