Terrorist Incidents

• Moscow Theater Attack (Russia, March 2024)
  • Moscow attack: Russian court charges four men with act of terrorism (BBC, March 25, 2024)
  • France raises terror alert warning to highest level (Reuters, March 24, 2024)
• Washington Power Grid Attack (United States, December, 2022)
  • Four power substations vandalized in Washington, knocking out power for at least 14,000 (CBS, December 26, 2022)
• North Carolina Power Grid Attack (United States, December 4, 2022)
  • Tens of thousands still in the dark after ‘targeted’ attacks on North Carolina power substations (CNN, December 5, 2022)
  • Attack on North Carolina power substations leaves 45,000 without electricity (Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2022)
• Istanbul Bombing (Turkey, November)
  • Istanbul: Six dead, dozens wounded in Turkey explosion (BBC, November 14, 2022)
• Hyland Park Massacre (USA, July 2022)
  • Suspect in Highland Park massacre pleads not guilty to 117 charges. Parents say they ‘deeply regret the actions’ of their son (Chicago Sun Tribute, August 3, 2022)
• Shooting at Norway Bar (July 2022)
  • Oslo shooting near gay bar investigated as terrorism, as Pride parade is canceled (CNN, July 25, 2022)
• Hostage Taking in Texas (January 2022)
  • U.K. police arrest two men over Texas synagogue hostage-taking (NBC, January 20, 2022)
• Bow and Arrow Attack in Norway (October 2021)
  • Suspect charged after 5 killed in bow and arrow attack in Norway, police say (CNN.Com, October 14, 2021)
• January 6th Insurrection, Washington DC
  • FBI Website on Capitol Violence
  • ‘Planned in plain sight’: Senate report finds intel agencies failed in the lead-up to Jan. 6 (NBC, June 27, 2023)
  • 1,000 people have been charged for the Capitol riot. Here’s where their cases stand (NPR, March 25, 2023)
  • Was the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol an Act of ‘Terrorism’? (New York Times, January 7, 2022)
  • Assessing the right-wing terror threat in the United States a year after the January 6 insurrection (Brookings, January 5, 2022)
  • Why DOJ is avoiding domestic terrorism sentences for Jan. 6 defendants (Politico, January 4, 2022)
  • Officers label Jan. 6 rioters ‘terrorists’ in select committee hearing (Politico, July 27, 2021): This article explains how Capitol Police officers, in their Congressional testimony, labelled the participants in the January 6th storming of the US Capitol as “Terrorists”, bringing into question the manner in which these events will be Characterized and, subsequently, reconciled. One of the officers is seen here citing the US Code that justifies their characterization of the events as such. The language of the US code cited is here.
• December 25, 2020 Nashville Bombing
  • Investigators are Looking at ‘Any and All Possible Motives’ After Identifying Nashville Bomber (CNN, December 28, 2020)
  • Nashville Bomb: What To Know (New York Times, December 28, 2020)
• Boston Marathon Bombing
  • Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Over Death Penalty for Boston Marathon Bomber (CBS, March 22, 2021)

The Terrorist Threat

• FBI fears ‘coordinated attack’ on US homeland (VOA, April 11, 2024)
• ‘Stay Vigilant:’ Agencies Issue Warnings, Take New Steps to Combat Wave of Threats Against Feds (Government Executive, August 23, 2022): “The threats, issued largely through social media, appeared to ramp up following rhetoric from conservative officials after a search for documents at President Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago and the passage of a recent Democratic measure that will provide new staff and authorities to several agencies. “
• Multiple Judges Sound The Alarm That 1/6 Terrorist Attack Threat Is Ongoing (Politico, December 18, 2021): “The Judges, nearly a year later, as cases get more and more serious that go to sentencing, are taking this moment to underscore the significance of January 6th, 2021 – to make sure America recognizes the significance of what happened that day and that January 6th was, and is, a threat to our country.”
• Generals warn that military needs to prepare for second insurrection (MSNBC, December 18, 2021)
• Terror Groups in Afghanistan Could Attack US Next Year, Pentagon Policy Chief Says (Defense One, October 26, 2021): ISIS-K might be able to strike in less than 12 months; AQ in one to two years.”
• Taliban Takeover Of Afghanistan Is Inspiring Americans Online, FBI Says (Defense One, October 12, 2021): “There’s a lot of talk about it, and I think that’s the first thing you see. Where there’s talk, there’s more interest,” Spencer said at the Soufan Center’s Global Security Forum in Doha. “That’s where people who are people on the fringes. [who are] potentially not mentally stable, [and] not even affiliated with them, I think that’s where they see this rallying cry and their opportunity. Now ‘it’s time to buy a gun, run people over with a car,’ do whatever they’re going to do.” 
• FBI director: Domestic terrorism cases have surged since 2020 (September 22, 2021):” ISIS-K might be able to strike in less than 12 months; AQ in one to two years.
• The War on Terror—in Afghanistan and Elsewhere—Is Far from Over, Biden Says (Defense One, August 31, 2021): ” Even though the war in Afghanistan formally ended on Monday, President Joe Biden committed to continue counterterrorism operations inside the country using capabilities based beyond its borders. “
• Extremism Has Spread Into the Mainstream (Defense One, June 19, 2021): “In the two decades since September 11, the U.S. has fought terrorism and extremism by concentrating on law-enforcement and intelligence readiness, with experts focused on disrupting fringe groups before they carry out violence. This Band-Aid approach is ill-suited to combatting modern far-right extremism, which has spread well beyond fringe groups and into the mainstream.”
• US Department of State “State Sponsors of Terrorism” Designations (State Department Website)
• DHS Issues a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin (DHS Press Release, May 14, 2021): ” The NTAS Bulletin advises that the United States is facing threats that have evolved significantly and become increasingly complex and volatile.  Specifically, the Bulletin details the threats posed by domestic terrorists, individuals, and groups engaged in grievance-based violence, and those inspired or influenced by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences.”
• White Supremacy a ‘Transnational Threat’, U.N. Chief Warns (Reuters, February 22, 2021)
• Domestic Terrorism Threat is Metastasizing in the US, FBI Director Says (New York Times, March 2, 2021)
• US Intelligence Agencies Warn of Heightened Domestic Extremism Threat (NPR, March 18, 2021)

Forms of Terrorism

• Stochastic terrorism appears to be on the rise globally. Extremism experts explain how this form of violence has gone mainstream (Insider, November 8, 2022)

Terrorist Groups

• How ISIS-K killed Americans, beat the Taliban, and massacred 140 people in Moscow (USA Today, April 2, 2024)
• Neo-Nazi leader among 2 arrested in plot to attack Baltimore’s power grid, feds say (NBC News, February 6, 2023)
• Police say men linked to a White supremacist group planned to riot. Here’s what we know about Patriot Front, its young leader and how it’s different (CNN, June 13, 2022): “”It is clear to us based on the gear that the individuals had with them, the stuff they had in their possession, the U-Haul with them along with paperwork that was seized from them, that they came to riot downtown,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said.”
• Police in Idaho are getting death threats after arresting Patriot Front members (NPR, June 13, 2022): “Following the arrest of members of a white nationalist group called the Patriot Front this weekend, members of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department are getting death threats.”
• Who Is ISIS-K? (Defense One, August 26, 2021): “The Islamic State Khorasan Province, which is also known by the acronyms ISIS-K, ISKP and ISK, is the official affiliate of the Islamic State movement operating in Afghanistan, as recognized by Islamic State core leadership in Iraq and Syria.”
• What is ISIS-K? Here’s what the Taliban takeover means for al-Qaeda and the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate. (Washington Post, August 26, 2021): ” ISIS-K has never successfully captured territory in Afghanistan. Instead, its strategy has centered on attacking civilian targets such as mosques, schools and weddings. “

Risk Assessment

Counterterrorism Incidents

• Newly released White House photos capture the day bin Laden was killed (Washington Post, April 28, 2023)
• Zawahiri appeared on his balcony. The CIA was ready to kill him. (Washington Post, August 2, 2022)
• Al Qaeda Leader Killed In US Drone Strike, Biden Says (Defense One, August 1, 2022)

September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack

• America remembers 9/11, more than two decades later (Axios, September 11, 2023)