Homegrown Terrorism
In the past, terrorists often travelled abroad to train and prepare for an attack. Today, we are dealing with a much more invasive method of radicalization and terrorism, known as homegrown terrorism. This term refers to an individual (or group) that is a U.S. citizen/resident who engages in terrorism activity and is inspired by a foreign terrorist organization. A key aspect to homegrown terrorism is that the person or group is not directly instructed by a foreign organization to plan, coordinate or conduct an attack.
One example of homegrown terrorism is the San Bernardino attack carried out by Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Farook was a United States citizen and Malik was a lawful permanent resident. The couple was radicalized online through social media and terrorist propaganda and were never directly approached by a foreign terror organization to carry
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Agents of radicalization are factors and motives that lead a person to engage in terrorist activity. These can include anything from strong religious identities to internal conflicts within their own particular culture – the possibilities are endless. When analyzing the background of a terrorist suspect, identifying the factors that lead to their radicalized behavior is one of the most difficult aspects to solidify.
Like the agents of radicalization, the steps of radicalization vary from individual to individual; however, experts in the field have created generalized models to depict the process. One of these models was created by the NYPD and attempts to break down homegrown radicalization into four categories: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination, and jihad . While this model is extremely broad, it encompasses the general processes that most terrorists go through on their path toward radicalization.
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