Gnadenhutten massacre – Pennsylvania militia round up and execute 96 unarmed pacifist Christian Delaware (Lenape) Indians, including 69 women and children, as revenge for raids against settlers (carried out by other Indians) as well as in expression of general animosity towards all Native Americans. They then plundered and burned their village.
Pigeon Roost massacre – Near the onset of the war of 1812, a war party of Shawnee Indians made a surprise attack on Pigeon Roost village, slaughtering 24 settlers.
Hillabee massacre – A day after the Hillabee Creeks had sued for peace, which was then granted by General Andrew Jackson, General William Cocke attacked and destroyed the Creek villages of Little Oakfusky and Genalga and then the main town of Hillabee. Thinking they were at peace, the Indians were unprepared and gave little resistance.
Chehaw Affair – During the First Seminole War, Captain Obed Wright and a band of volunteer Georgia militiamen, angered by recent attacks from the Phelemmes and the Hoppones, took out their anger on the friendly village of Chehaw, despite the insistence of the local fort commander that the people were peaceful. Wright and his militia burned the village to the ground and claimed to have killed 40–50 warriors without suffering any casualties, though other accounts placed number of Chehaw residents killed at 5–10.
Skull Creek massacre – After Coco Indians killed two colonists under unclear circumstances, the colonists got together twenty-five men and found a Karankawa village on Skull Creek. They killed at least nineteen inhabitants of the village before the rest could flee, then stole their possessions and burned their homes to the ground.
Dressing Point massacre – After a reported attack on two settler families, a band of White settlers went out looking for Indians and found a group of Coco Indians pinned against a river mouth. When the Indians attempted to escape by swimming across the river, the settlers shot them as they swam, killing men, women, and children.
Klamath Lake massacre – Frémont expeditioners led by Kit Carson destroyed a village of Klamath peoples on the shores of Klamath Lake, killing at least 14 Klamath Indians.
Kern and Sutter massacres – White American settlers and U.S. Army personnel make a series of three attacks on local California Indians in an attempt to dissuade them from future raids.
Asbill massacre – Six Missouri explorers led by Pierce Asbill, upon learning that the newly discovered Round Valley which they coveted was populated by Indians, proceeded to kill approximately 40 of the Yuki with guns from horseback.
Mountain Meadows massacre – During the Utah War, Mormon militiamen fueled by paranoia attacked the Baker–Fancher party wagon train, killing everyone older than 7. The party's 17 surviving children were kidnapped into Mormon families and the victims' property was auctioned off to the local community. Historical records vary widely regarding the involvement of the local Paiutes.
Pottawatomie massacre – In response to the sacking of Lawrence, John Brown led a group of abolitionists to murder five Kansas settlers from Tennessee, whom he presumed to be pro-slavery.
Mendocino War – Anti-Indian band of mercenaries known as the "Eel River Rangers" kill 283 Indians, as well as capturing 292, in 23 separate engagements meant to drive Indians out of Round Valley. Overall casualties may have been in excess of 600.
1860 Wiyot massacre – Motivated by anger at cattle-stealing and the aim of terrorizing and eliminating all Indians in the region, around 50–100 white settlers coordinated 12 attacks on women, children, and elder men in Wiyot villages in the Humboldt Bay area from February 26–28. The reported number of Indians killed in some of the attacks are 80-150+ (Indian Island), 40 (Eel River), 58 (South Beach), 35 (Eagle Prairie), while the death tolls from several attacks are unknown.[1]
Lawrence massacre – Pro-Confederate guerrillas destroy Lawrence, Kansas due to its support of abolition and reputation as a holdout for pro-union militias.
Chesapeake Affair – Pro-Confederate British subjects from the Maritime Provinces hijacked the American steamer Chesapeake off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, killing a crew member and wounding three others in the ensuing gunfight. The intent of this hijacking was to use the ship as a blockade runner for the Confederacy under belief that they had an official Confederate letter of marque. The perpetrators had planned to re-coal at Saint John, New Brunswick, and head south to Wilmington, North Carolina.[2] Instead, the captors had difficulties at Saint John; so they sailed further east and re-coaled in Halifax, Nova Scotia. U.S. forces responded to the attack by trying to arrest the captors in Nova Scotian waters. All of the Chesapeake hijackers were able to escape extradition through the assistance of William Johnston Almon, a prominent Nova Scotian and Confederate sympathizer.
On October 19, 1864, non-properly uniformed Confederate soldiers led by Bennett H. Youngraided the border town of St. Albans, Vermont from Canada, robbing $208,000 from three banks, holding hostages, killing a civilian, attempting to burn the entire town with Greek fire, then escaping back to Canada;[3] the raiders were then arrested by British authorities under an extradition request from the U.S. government, but were later freed by a Canadian court on the grounds that they were considered combatants rather than criminals.[4][5]
Abraham Lincoln assassination – Part of a conspiracy by Confederate supporters John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Powell and George Atzerodt to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward in Washington, D.C. to create chaos for the purpose of overthrowing the Federal Government. Booth succeeded in assassinating Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, Seward suffered numerous stab wounds by Powell who stabbed others as he was chased out of Seward's home, and Atzerodt failed to carry out the planned murder of Johnson. Booth was killed by soldiers when he failed to surrender. Eight conspirators were tried and convicted for their role in the conspiracy by a military tribunal, including Powell and Atzerodt. Four defendants were executed for their roles including Powell, Azterodt and Mary Surratt, whom many historians conclude was probably innocent. Surratt was the first woman ever to be executed by the U.S. government.
Meridian Race Riot of 1871 – A highly contentious trial regarding the persecution of Black freedmen by the Ku Klux Klan and subsequent retaliation by the freedmen led to a gunfight in the courtroom and the death of the presiding judge. The local Klansmen looked for the Black suspects they thought responsible, and when unable to find them began killing all freedmen of note in the town, some on the streets and others while in custody. At least one home and a church that was being used as a school were also burned down. Approximately thirty Black men were killed over three days before federal troops arrived to stop the killings.
Colfax massacre – Black freedmen defending a courthouse were massacred by 300 armed White Southern Democrats and Ku Klux Klan members who wanted to take political control of the town in what they referred to as a "struggle for White supremacy". Casualty reports varied from 62 to 153, with a military report at the time stating 81 Black men by name who had been killed with several dozen more secretly buried or disposed of in the river, along with three White men, for a total of "at least" 105 casualties.[6]
Assassination of James A. Garfield – United States President James A. Garfield was shot by a disgruntled office seeker named Charles J. Guiteau. He was turned down by Garfield for the French Ambassadorship. Angry at this rejection, he shot Garfield. Garfield died on September 19, 1881, of blood poisoning caused by unclean medical treatment. Guiteau was tried, convicted and hanged.
Haymarket affair – An unknown person or persons at Haymarket Square in Chicago detonated a bomb during a labor rally, killing a police officer and prompting the police to open fire. In the mayhem, an undetermined number of civilians and seven more police officers were killed, mostly by the police shooting in response.[7] Eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy, and four of them hanged the next year. One killed himself, and the remaining three were later pardoned.
Patrick Eugene Joseph Prendergast was upset that the Mayor of Chicago, Carter Harrison, Sr., advocated for the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, seeing it as an action against the citizenry and acting under the influence of England, the Rothschild bankers of Europe, and Wall St. Prendergast imagined this as part of a larger conspiracy that betrayed the will of Jesus Christ. As a delusional newspaper man, he found himself unable to influence policy in Washington or Chicago and ultimately took it upon himself to change the course of history by assassinating the powerful mayor. He felt that his inevitable acquittal would establish a precedent wherein Christian law would be established throughout the city. Prendergast was found sane by a jury and hanged on July 14, 1894.[8]
Former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg is killed by a bomb in front of his Caldwell, Idaho home. The assassin, Harry Orchard, turned state's evidence and accused the Western Federation of Miners of having hired him to assassinate Steunenberg in retaliation for breaking up miners' strikes. However, the labor leaders put on trial due to his accusations were acquitted as defense attorneys Clarence Darrow and Edmund F. Richardson successfully discredited Orchard's testimony.[10]
Los Angeles Times bombing – The Los Angeles Times building in Los Angeles was destroyed by dynamite, killing 21 workers. The bomb was apparently placed due to the paper's opposition to unionization in the city;[11] two labor organizers, the McNamara brothers, then pled guilty to escape a death sentence, receiving fifteen years and life in prison respectively.
Frank Holt (also known as Eric Muenter), a German professor who wanted to stop American support of the Allies in World War I, exploded a bomb in the reception room of the U.S. Senate. The next morning he tried to assassinate J. P. Morgan, Jr., the son of the financier whose company served as Britain's principal purchasing agent for munitions and other war supplies in the United States. Muenter was overpowered by Morgan in Morgan's Long Island home before killing himself in prison on July 7.[13][14]
Preparedness Day Bombing – Ten people killed and 40 injured by an explosion during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco. Two radical labor leaders, Warren K. Billings and Thomas Mooney, were convicted of the crime and sentenced to hang, but with little evidence of their guilt both sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. They were both eventually pardoned, and the actual bombers' identities remain unknown.
Black Tom explosion – in Jersey City, New Jersey was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I.
Anthony Crawford, a prominent black landowner and businessman, was attacked, arrested for his own protection, abducted from jail, hung and shot. He managed to hit one of his attackers (McKinny Cann) in the head with a hammer.
1919 United States anarchist bombings: A series of package bombs were mailed to prominent business and government leaders around the country. Most were intercepted and did not go off, with only one person killed (a bomber whose bomb went off accidentally). Italian Galleanist anarchists were suspected, but not convicted.
Wall Street bombing: A horse-drawn wagon filled with explosives was detonated in front of the J. P. Morgan bank on Wall Street, killing 38 and wounding 143. Galleanist anarchists were again suspected, but the perpetrators were never caught.[17]
Tulsa race massacre: White mobs of approximately 500–1000 people, instigated by the rumor of an assault of a white woman and subsequent minor riot, armed themselves and attacked a black neighborhood in Tulsa known as the Black Wall Street. The riot killed 75–300 people and destroyed more than 1,100 homes and hundreds of businesses, leaving over 9,000 people homeless.[18] Airplanes were reported to have dropped incendiary devices on the city, contributing to a firestorm.[19]
Bath School disaster: 55-year-old school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe, angered by his property taxes being raised and having been defeated in a campaign for township clerk, detonated a cache of dynamite he placed in the Bath Consolidated School as revenge, destroying the north wing. In the explosion 36 school children and two teachers were killed. As rescuers arrived to help, Kehoe drove up in his truck and detonated another cache of dynamite stored there, which killed himself, the school superintendent, and several others, while injuring bystanders as well. Afterward, 500 more pounds of dynamite with a timing device were found in the south wing which Kehoe apparently set to go off at the same time but failed, and would have succeeded in destroying the entire school. Prior to the bombings, Kehoe murdered his wife and also destroyed his farm buildings with dynamite. The worst mass murder at a school in US history, it may also be the first suicidetruck bombing. A sign Kehoe placed on his property was found afterward reading "Criminals are made, not born".[20]
Two New York City policemen were killed and two critically wounded while examining a bomb they had found at the British Pavilion at the World's Fair.[citation needed]
George Metesky, the "Mad Bomber", placed over 30 bombs in New York City in public places such as Grand Central Station and the Paramount Theatre, injuring 10, in protest of the high rates of a local electric utility. He also sent many threatening letters to various high-profile individuals.
Private Felix Hall was strangled to death on base after an argument with his white boss and walking through a white neighborhood. His murder by a number of assailants was poorly investigated by the army, which kept insisting that he strangled himself despite the evidence.
A wave of hate-related terrorist attacks occurred in Florida. African-Americans were dragged and beaten to death, with 11 race-related bombings, the dynamiting of synagogues, and a Jewish School in Miami and explosives found outside of Catholic Churches in Miami.[21][22]
Capitol Hill shooting incident – An attack carried out by Puerto Rican nationalists, they shot 30 rounds from semi-automatic pistols from the Ladies' Gallery (a balcony for visitors) of the House of Representatives chamber in the United States Capitol.
Before school day started on September 10, the day after the first African American student started attending Hattie Cotton Elementary School a bomb exploded, destroying part of the building and causing $71,000 damage.
The most active perpetrators of terrorism in New York City were Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), a Puerto Rican separatist group, responsible for 40 NYC attacks in this decade. The Jewish Defense League (JDL), which engaged in attacks against targets it perceived to be anti-Semitic, launched 27 attacks during this period, none deadly. Both the Independent Armed Revolutionary Commandos (CRIA), another Puerto Rican separatist group, and Omega 7, an anti-Castro Cuban organization, were also each responsible for 16 attacks during this period.[27]
Bombing of the City Hall of Portland, Oregon in an attempt to destroy the state's bronze Liberty Bell replica. The late night explosion destroyed the display foyer, blew out the building doors, damaged the council hall, and blew out windows more than a block away. The night janitor was injured in the blast. The crime remains unsolved, though a number of local anti-war and radical leftist groups of the era remain the primary suspects.
The Jewish Defense League was linked to a detonation outside of Soviet cultural offices in Washington, D.C. and rifle fire into the Soviet mission to the United Nations.
Yosef Alon, the Israeli Air Force attache in Washington, D.C., was shot and killed outside his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The Palestinian militant group Black September was suspected, though the case remains unsolved.[28]
The UpStairs Lounge arson attack occurred on June 24, 1973, at a gay bar called the UpStairs (or Up Stairs) Lounge located on the second floor of the three-story building at 141 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States.[29] Thirty-two people died as a result of fire or smoke inhalation. The official cause is still listed as "undetermined origin".[30] The most likely suspect, a man named Roger Nunez who had been ejected from the bar earlier in the day, was never charged and took his own life in November 1974.[31][32][33] No evidence has ever been found that the arson was motivated by hatred or overt homophobia.[33]
The 29th floor of the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was bombed with dynamite at 9:41 pm resulting in no injuries. The radical leftist group Weatherman took credit, but no suspects have ever been identified.[34]
"Alphabet Bomber" Muharem Kurbegovic bombed the Pan Am Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, killing three and injuring 36. He also firebombed the houses of a judge and two police commissioners as well as one of the commissioner's cars. He burned down two Marina Del Rey apartment buildings and threatened Los Angeles with a gas attack. His bomb defused at the Greyhound Bus station was the most powerful the LAPD bomb squad had handled up until that time. His personal vendetta against a judge and the commissioners grew into demands for an end to immigration and naturalization laws, as well as any laws about sex.[35][36]
A bomb was exploded in the Fraunces Tavern of New York City, killing four people and injuring more than 50 others. The Puerto Rico nationalist group FALN, the Armed Forces of Puerto Rican National Liberation, which had other bomb incidents in New York in the 1970s, claimed responsibility. No one was ever prosecuted for the bombing.
Croatian terrorists hijacked a TWA airliner and diverted it to Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, and then Paris, demanding a manifesto be printed. One police officer was killed and three injured during an attempt to defuse a bomb that contained their communiques in a New York City train station locker.[38]Zvonko Bušić who served 32 years in prison for the attack, was released and returned to Croatia in July 2008. In September 2013 Bušić shot himself and was given a hero's funeral by the Croatian government.[39]
Orlando Letelier, a former member of the Chilean government, is killed by a car bomb in Washington, D.C. along with his assistant Ronni Moffitt. The killing was carried out by members of the Chilean Intelligence Agency, DINA.
Bombing of the Statue of Liberty: At 7:30 pm, a time delayed explosive device detonates in the Statue of Liberty's Story Room. Detonated after business hours, the bomb did not injure anyone, but caused $18,000 in damage, destroying many of the exhibits. The room was sealed off and left unrepaired until the Statue of Liberty restoration project that began years later. FBI investigators believed the perpetrators were Croatians seeking media coverage of the living conditions of Croats in Yugoslavia, though no arrests were made.[40][41]
In response to a black man not being found guilty of murdering a white man, three members of the KKK burned a cross on the courthouse lawn. They then picked a black person at random, Michael Donald, who they abducted, beat, strangled and killed; they left his body hanging from a tree. It is one of the few times white perpetrators have been tried and found guilty of a lynching. It is sometimes called the "Last Lynching in America", although it was not the last random racial murder by a white supremacist in the United States, and despite the fact that Michael Donald was not abducted from a jail or courthouse, as was the case with historical lynchings.
Alan Berg, Jewish-American lawyer and talk show host, is shot and killed in the driveway of his home on Capitol Hill, Denver, Colorado, by members of a neo-Nazi and white separatist group called The Order led by terrorist David Lane (the creator of the slogan "Fourteen Words"). Berg had stridently argued with a member of the group on the show earlier who was convicted in his murder.
1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack: In what is believed to be the first incident of bioterrorism in the United States, the Rajneesh movement spreads salmonella in salad bars at 10 restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon, to influence a local election. The plan backfired, as suspicious residents came out in droves to prevent the election of Rajneeshee candidates. Health officials say that 751 people were sickened and more than 40 hospitalized. All but one of the establishments attacked went out of business. Investigators believed that similar attacks had previously been carried out in Salem, Portland and other cities in Oregon.[45]
CIA Shooting: Pakistani Mir Qazi (a/k/a Mir Aimal Kansi), outraged by U.S. policy toward Palestinians, opens fire on cars stopped at a traffic signal outside CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. He kills 2 and injures 3, then escapes to Pakistan. He is subsequently apprehended, confesses, is tried and executed.
World Trade Center bombing: Ramzi Yousef, a member of Al Qaeda, masterminds the truck-bombing of the World Trade Center. The bomb is meant to destabilize the foundation of the building, causing it to collapse and destroy surrounding buildings, leading to mass casualties. It failed to do so, but the detonation killed six people and injured more than 1,000.[48][49][50][51]
Murder of David Gunn: Army of God member Michael F. Griffin ambushes and shoots gynecologist David Gunn three times in the back outside the Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic. Before murdering Gunn, Griffin shouts, "Don't kill any more babies!"
Army of God member Rev. Paul Jennings Hill murders gynecologist John Britton and Britton's bodyguard James Barrett with a shotgun at close range, outside the Ladies Center clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Hill admits to the murder, is tried, convicted, and executed by lethal injection.
Advertising executive Thomas J. Mosser is killed by a mail bomb sent by the Unabomber (Ted Kaczynski). Mosser is the second person murdered by Kaczynski.
Anti-abortion activist John C. Salvi III shoots and kills 2 employees and injures 5 others in a rampage attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts. Salvi escapes and drives to Norfolk, Virginia, where Army of God (United States) spokesman Rev. Donald Spitz resides.
Salvi attacks the Planned Parenthood clinic in Norfolk, Virginia. A security guard returns fire and Salvi flees. Salvi is apprehended shortly after, and has in his possession Army of God (United States) spokesman Donald Spitz's name and unlisted telephone number.
Centennial Olympic Park bombing: Army of God member and adherent of the anti-Semitic and racist Christian Identity movement Eric Robert Rudolph places three pipe bombs in a backpack, which he leaves in busy Centennial Olympic Park. The bomb is discovered by security guard Richard Jewell who raises an alert. One person is killed and 111 others are wounded in the explosion. Rudolph escapes and becomes a fugitive for 10 years. Rudolph's bomb is intended to force the cancellation of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia due to his outrage over legal abortion.
Army of God member Eric Robert Rudolph bombs a women's health clinic in Sandy Springs, Georgia. There are two bombs; the first meant to kill people inside the clinic, the second bomb placed in the parking lot and time-delayed to kill first-responders. No one was harmed by the first bomb, but six people were injured by the second.[52]
Otherside Lounge bombing: Army of God member Eric Robert Rudolph bombs the Otherside Lounge, a lesbian bar in Atlanta, Georgia. There are two bombs; the first left on the outdoor patio, the second bomb left in the parking lot, time-delayed to kill first-responders. The initial explosion injures five, the second bomb is discovered and disposed of by the police bomb squad. Rudolph's motive for this bombing was his outrage over the existence of homosexuality.[53]
1999 Independence Day weekend shootings: Neo-Nazi World Church of the Creator/Creativity member Benjamin Nathaniel Smith goes on a two-state shooting spree in Indiana and Illinois. Starting on July 2, Smith wounds nine Orthodox Jews in drive-by shootings in Chicago. Smith then shoots and kills former college basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, an African-American man, in Skokie, Illinois. On July 3, Smith travels to Decatur, where he wounds an African-American minister. On July 4, he kills Won-Joon Yoon, a 26-year-old Korean graduate student, in Bloomington, Indiana. Along his route, he shoots at and misses another nine people. He kills himself in a chase with police on July 4.
Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting: Neo-NaziAryan Nations member Buford O. Furrow Jr., armed with an Uzi-type sub-machine gun, walks into the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California and begins spraying bullets, wounding five. Furrow then flees, later killing Filipino-American postal worker Joseph Ileto for being a minority and a federal employee.[61] Furrow surrendered himself to the FBI, and pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty.
2001 anthrax attacks: Letters tainted with anthrax killed five across the U.S., with politicians and media officials as the apparent targets. On July 31, 2008, Bruce E. Ivins, a top biodefense researcher, committed suicide.[67] On August 6, 2008, the FBI concluded that Ivins was solely responsible for the attacks, and suggested that Ivins wanted to bolster support for a vaccine he helped create and that he targeted two lawmakers because they were Catholics who held pro-choice views.[68] However, subsequent evaluations have found that the FBI's investigation failed to provide any direct evidence linking Ivins to the mailings.[69]
2001 failed shoe bomb attempt: An al-Qaeda operative attempted to detonate a bomb concealed in his shoes while on board a plane from Paris to Miami. He failed to detonate it and was apprehended by passengers and crew.[70]
Beltway sniper attacks: During three weeks in October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo shot and killed 10 people and critically injured three others in the cities of Washington D.C., Baltimore, Maryland and the state of Virginia. The pair were also suspected of earlier shootings in Maryland, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, and Washington. At the 2006 trial of Muhammad, Malvo testified that the aim of the killing spree was to kidnap children for the purpose of extorting money from the government, even though no one was kidnapped.[74]
2003 West Virginia sniper: Three people were killed in a series of sniper shootings in West Virginia. Shawn Lester was arrested and convicted for the shootings in 2011.
Capitol Hill massacre: Kyle Aaron Huff entered a rave afterparty in the southeast part of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood and opened fire, killing six and wounding two. He then killed himself as he was being confronted by police on the front porch of 2112 E. Republican Street.[77]
A pair of improvised explosive devices were thrown at the Mexican Consulate in New York City. The fake grenades were filled with black powder, and detonated by fuses, causing very minor damage. Police were investigating the connection between this and a similar attack against the British Consulate in New York in 2005.[79]
Westroads Mall shooting On December 5, 2007, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins shot and killed eight people and wounded four others in a department store at Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, before shooting himself in the head.[80]
Times Square bombing: A homemade bomb damaged an Armed Forces Recruiting Office in Times Square.[82] In June 2013, The FBI and New York City police offered a $65,000 reward for information in the case and revealed that ammunition used for the bomb is the same as is used in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones.[83] On April 15, 2015, the F.B.I increased the award to $115,000 and said they have persons of interest[84]
Multiple pipe bombs exploded at 1:40 am at the Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse in San Diego causing "considerable damage" to the entrance and lobby and sending shrapnel two blocks away, but causing no injuries. The FBI is investigating links between this attack and an April 25 explosion at the FedEx building also in San Diego.[85]
Barack Obama assassination plot in Tennessee: Two neo-Naziwhite power skinheads and members of the Supreme White Alliance (SWA) Paul Schlesselman and Daniel Cowart attempted to assassinate Barack Obama followed by a killing spree of 88 (a reference to the Nazi slogan Heil Hitler) African-Americans of which 14 (a reference to The Fourteen Words) were to be beheaded many of whom were young students at an unidentified school and rob a gun store for additional weapons and commit home robberies. The two would be arrested later with several weapons in possession.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, intruders left malware in power grids, water, and sewage systems that could be activated at a later date. While the attacks which have occurred over a period of time seem to have originated in China and Russia, it is unknown if they are state-sponsored[86] or errors in the computer code.[87][88]
17-year-old Kyle Shaw set off a crude explosive device at a Starbucks at East 92nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, shattering windows and destroying a bench at the coffee shop. There were no injuries. The attack was a "bizarre tribute" of the movie Fight Club, in an attempt to emulate "Project Mayhem", a series of assaults on corporate America portrayed in the film. Shaw took a plea agreement and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in November 2010.[89][90]
Assassination of George Tiller: Scott Roeder shoots and kills Dr. George Tiller in a Wichita, Kansas church. Roeder, an anti-abortion extremist who believes in justifiable homicide of abortion providers, was arrested soon afterward. Roeder was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2010. Tiller, who performed late-term abortions, had long been a target of anti-abortion extremists; his clinic was firebombed in 1986 and Tiller was shot and wounded five times in 1993 in a shooting attack by Shelley Shannon.[91][92]
2009 Fort Hood shooting: Nidal Malik Hasan, a US Army Major serving as a Psychiatrist, opens fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 and wounding 29. On August 23, 2013, Hasan was convicted by a Military tribunal. Hasan acted as his own attorney and took responsibility for the attack saying his motive was jihad to fight "illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims".[94] On August 28, Hasan was sentenced to death.[95]
Northwest Airlines Flight 253: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 using plastic explosives sewn into his underwear while en route from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Austin suicide attack: Andrew Joseph Stack III, flying his single-engine plane, flew into the Austin, Texas IRS building; killing himself and one IRS employee and injuring 13 others. Stack left a suicide note online, comparing the IRS to Big Brother from the novel 1984.
2010 Times Square car bombing attempt: Faisal Shahzad ignited an explosive in Times Square. The bomb failed to go off, and he was later arrested on a flight leaving for Dubai.[96] Sentenced to life in prison on October 5, 2010, after pleading guilty to a 10-count indictment in June, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.[97]
Farooque Ahmed conspired with law enforcement officials posing as al-Qaeda to bomb Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon City subway station, Crystal City subway station, and Court House subway station.[100]
Cargo planes bomb plot: Two plastic explosive bombs were discovered on two cargo planes destined for two synagogues in Chicago. They were discovered at East Midlands Airport and Dubai International Airport while en route.[101]
On March 9, 2011, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Kevin William Harpham, 36, of Addy, Washington. On December 20, 2011, he was sentenced to 32 years in prison for the attempted bombing.[104]
Two Iraqi immigrants were arrested for sending money and weapons to Iraq while residing in Bowling Green, Kentucky, as well as participating in attacks while in Iraq and plotting to kill American soldiers on their return.[105]
Killing of Michael Roark and Tiffany York: 19-year-old Michael Roark and his girlfriend, 17-year-old Tiffany York members of the terrorist organization FEAR were found by two fishermen near a rural road in southeastern Georgia. It was believed that Roark was killed for his part in giving information to Fort Bliss authorities in El Paso.[citation needed]
On August 15, 2012, Floyd Lee Corkins II, wielding a 9mm pistol along with two magazines and 50 rounds of ammunition, entered the lobby of Family Research Council's Washington, D.C. headquarters.[109] Corkins shot an employee, 46-year-old Leonardo Johnson, in the left arm.[110][111][112] While injured, Johnson assisted others who wrestled the gunman to the ground until police arrived and placed the gunman under arrest.[113][114] Johnson was taken to a hospital to treat his wound.[115] Corkins committed the shooting because of the Family Research Council's opposition to same-sex marriage.[116]
Christopher Dorner shootings and manhunt: Former LAPD officer Chris Dorner goes on a killing spree targeting police officers and their families throughout Southern California. Dorner was eventually killed in a shootout and fire in Big Bear Lake, California. Dorner stated he committed the shootings in response to police brutality.
Boston Marathon bombing: Two bombs detonated within seconds of each other near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring more than 180 people.[117][118] On the evening of April 18 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an MIT campus police officer was shot and killed while sitting in his squad car. Two suspects then carjacked an SUV and fled to nearby Watertown, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. A massive police chase ensued, resulting in a shootout during which several IED's were thrown by the suspects. A Boston transit police officer was critically wounded and suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a Russian immigrant of Chechen ethnicity, was killed. The second suspect, Tsarnaev's younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, escaped. A "Shelter in place" order was given for Boston, Watertown, and surrounding areas while house-to-house searches were conducted, but the suspect remained at large. Shortly after the search was called off Tsarnaev was discovered hiding inside a boat parked near the scene of the shootout. He was taken into custody after another exchange of gunfire, treated for injuries received during his pursuit and capture, and arraigned on federal terrorism charges.[119][120][121][122] Preliminary questioning indicated the Tsarnaev brothers had no ties to terrorist organizations.[123] A note written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the boat where he was captured said the bombings were retaliation for US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan against Muslims.[124] On April 8, 2015, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty on all 30 counts related to the bombing and shootout with police.[125] On May 15, 2015, Tsarnaev was sentenced to death.[126]
2013 Wichita bombing attempt: 58-year-old avionics technician, identified as Terry Lee Loewen, was arrested on December 13, 2013, for attempting a suicide bombing at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, where he was employed. Loewen became radicalized after reading extremist Islamic material on the Internet. He was arrested while driving a vehicle into the airport with what he believed to be an active explosive device. Later sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison.[127]
Overland Park Jewish Community Center shooting: A pair of shootings committed by a lone gunman occurred at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom, a Jewish retirement community, in Overland Park, Kansas. A total of three people died in the shootings. One suspect, identified as Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr., a former member of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and its offshoot the White Patriot Party and a neo-NaziOdinistpagan, was arrested and charged with capital murder, first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated assault.
Ali Muhammad Brown shot and killed a man who was walking home from a store. This killing was part of a series of terrorism related killings in the states of Washington and New Jersey.[128]
Ali Muhammad Brown shot and killed two men outside a Seattle gay nightclub. These killings were part of a series of terrorism related killings in the states of Washington and New Jersey.[128]
2014 Las Vegas shootings: Two police officers and one civilian died in a shooting spree in the Las Vegas Valley committed by a couple, identified as Jerad and Amanda Miller, who espoused anti-government views and were reportedly inspired by the outcome of the Bundy standoff. The Millers both died during a gunfight with responding police; Jerad Miller was fatally shot by officers, while Amanda Miller committed suicide after being wounded.
Ali Muhammad Brown shot and killed a man who was driving home from college while stopped at a traffic light. This killing was part of a series of terrorism related killings in the states of Washington and New Jersey.[128]
Vaughan Foods beheading incident: Alton Alexander Nolen aka "Jah'Keem Yisrael" attacked two employees at Vaughan Foods, beheading one and stabbing the other before being shot and injured by Vaughan Foods' Chief Operating Officer.[citation needed]
2014 New York City hatchet attack: Zale Thompson injured two New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers, once critically at a Queens, New York City shopping district by striking them with a hatchet. Four officers were posing for a photograph when Thompson charged them. The police opened fire killing Thompson and injuring a civilian. Thompson, who converted to Islam 2 years before the attack, posted "anti-government, anti-Western, anti-white" messages online.[129]
Zale Thompson
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"The Guardians of Peace" linked by the United States to North Korea launched a cyber attack against SONY pictures. Embarrassing private emails were published and the organization threatened attacks against theaters that showed The Interview, a satire which depicted the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Following the refusal of theater chains to show the movie, Sony Pictures withdrew release of the movie, a decision that was criticized by President Obama and others. Obama said the USA will respond. North Korea denied responsibility for the attack and proposed a joint investigation with the U.S.[130][131][132]
Curtis Culwell Center attack: Two gunmen opened fire outside the Curtis Culwell Center during an art exhibit hosted by an anti-Muslim group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative in Garland, Texas. The center was hosting a contest for cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Both gunmen were killed by police. A Garland Independent School District (ISD) police officer was injured by a shot to the ankle but survived. The attackers, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were motivated by the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France and the 2015 Copenhagen shooting in Denmark earlier in the year. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attack through a Twitter post.[133]
Elton Simpson, Nadir Hamid Soofi, and Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem
Police investigating a planned Islamic terrorist attack on police confronted Usaama Rahim to question him. He pulled out a military knife, and was eventually shot and killed by police as he approached them with the knife. David Wright was later arrested and charged with planning a terrorist attack with Usaama Rahim.[134]
2015 Chattanooga shootings: Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He first committed a drive-by shooting at a recruiting center, then traveled to a naval reserve center and continued firing. He was killed by police in a gunfight. Four Marines were killed immediately, and another Marine, a Navy sailor, and a police officer were wounded; the sailor died from his injuries two days later. The motive of the shootings is currently under investigation.[135]
Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting: Robert L. Dear, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, opened fire at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic. Two civilians and one police officer were killed, while four civilians and five police officers were wounded before the suspect surrendered. Dear told police "No more baby parts" after being taken into custody.[137]
A man shot at a police officer in his cruiser multiple times, injuring him in the process. The officer returned fire injuring the assailant. The assailant later pledged allegiance to ISIL, citing it as his reason for the attack.[142]
Ohio restaurant machete attack: Four people were injured in a restaurant when a man with a machete attacked them at random. After a car chase, the assailant, who was from the West African nation of Guinea, was killed by police.[143]
Orlando nightclub shooting: 49 people were killed and 53 were injured in a terrorist attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida by Omar Mateen, an American-born citizen with Afghan immigrant parents who was later killed.[144] In a 9-1-1 call during the attack, Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIL and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, called himself an "Islamic soldier" and referenced the Boston Marathon bombers.[145] He posted similar messages on Facebook the day of the attack.[146] Although inspired by ISIL, Mateen had no apparent actual link to any organized terrorist group, and was apparently self-radicalized via the Internet.[147] A characteristic of ISIL terrorism "is to permit anyone who so chooses to use its name to advance mutual goals, regardless of any actual ties to the group."[145] There was no evidence that Mateen targeted Pulse because it was a gay club or that he was specifically motivated by anti-LGBT hate.[148][149]
St. Cloud mall stabbing: On September 17, 2016, a mass stabbing occurred at the Crossroads Center shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Ten people were injured, and the attacker was shot dead inside the mall by an off-duty law enforcement officer.[151] ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq media agency, claiming Adan "was a soldier of the Islamic State".[152]
Murder of Timothy Caughman: James Harris Jackson, 28, traveled from his home state of Maryland to New York City with the "sole purpose of stalking and killing black men for a statement-making media spectacle" according to police. On March 20 he allegedly attacked Timothy Caughman, 66, in Midtown Manhattan with a sword, killing him. Jackson was allegedly a reader of the infamous neo-Nazi, alt-right website The Daily Stormer.[156]
2017 Portland train attack: Jeremy Joseph Christian fatally stabbed two people and injured a third on a MAX Light Rail train, after he was confronted for directing what the Portland Police Bureau's report later said "would best be characterized as hate speech toward a variety of ethnicities and religions" at two women on a Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light-rail train. A witness reported that Christian used anti-Muslim slurs and "was screaming that he was a taxpayer, that colored people were ruining the city, and he had First Amendment rights".[157]
Congressional baseball shooting: During a practice session for a charity baseball game involving 24 Republican members of Congress, James Hodgkinson, a Bernie Sanders supporter, and a registered Democrat opened fire, shooting and injuring six people. The Virginia Attorney General concluded it was "an act of terrorism...fueled by rage against Republican legislators".[158]
On August 5, 2017, an explosive device shattered windows and damaged an office at the mosque, which primarily serves people from the area's large Somali community.[159]
Charlottesville car attack: On August 12, 2017, James Alex Fields Jr. a member of the neo-Nazi group Vanguard America intentionally drove his car into a group of counter-demonstrators at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia killing a woman named Heather Heyer in the process. The Charlottesville mayor called it "an act of domestic terrorism".[160]
2017 New York City truck attack: On October 31, 2017, an ISIS-inspired man drove a rented Home Depot flatbed pickup truck in a vehicle-ramming attack on cyclists and runners along 1 mile (1.6 km) of a bike path alongside West Street in Lower Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring at least 11 others. The attack took place several blocks north of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Authorities found a note near the truck used in the incident which claimed that the attack by the 29-year-old was made in the name of ISIS.[161]
2018 Jeffersontown shooting: Gregory A. Bush Killed two African-Americans outside a Kroger grocery store. He also got into a shootout with armed civilian bystanders.
California mosque fire: The Dar-ul-Arqam mosque's parking lot was broken into at around 3:15 AM, with the arsonist using a flammable liquid to catch the mosque on fire. Seven people inside the mosque woke up and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, with no injuries and no major damage. The arsonist left behind graffiti referencing the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand. The gunman who committed the Poway synagogue shooting claimed responsibility for the arson attack in a manifesto.
2019 Tacoma attack: Willem van Spronsen of Vashon attacked an ICE facility with guns and fire bombs, he burned a car and was killed when he attempted to light a propane tank on fire. His friends described him as an anarchist and anti-fascist.
2019 El Paso shooting: Patrick Crusius of Allen, Texas, an armed gunman inspired by the Christchurch mosque shootings and beliefs in the Great Replacement conspiracy theory and a supposed "Hispanic invasion of Texas", attacked a Walmart store, killing 23 people and injuring 23 others.
2019 Jersey City shooting: Two people, David Anderson and Francine Graham, members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, killed a police officer in a cemetery. They then attacked a kosher grocery store, killing three. The attack was ended with a prolonged gun battle with police, ending in the death of the two suspects.
2020 boogaloo killings: Two men, Steven Carrillo and Robert Justus were accused of two "ambush-style" attacks on police. The assailants in the first attack used pipe bombs and homemade guns, killing two. In the second attack assailants were involved in a shootout with police.
Two women, Samantha Brooks and Ellen Reiche carried out several attacks seeking to derail trains in the coastal city of Bellingham. The women were convicted in a federal court of a "shunt"(a device that interferes with train signals) attack, following an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation into dozens of attempts to derail trains in the area.[162] Since January 19, 2020, there have been at least 41 similar attacks along BNSF tracks in Whatcom and Skagit counties in which shunts have been placed, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.[163][164]
2021 Oxford High School shooting: 15-year-old sophomore Ethan Crumbley was charged with terrorism, 4 counts of murder, and 7 counts of assault with intent to murder after allegedly carrying out a school shooting at Oxford High School. Four days prior to the shooting, Ethan's parents are alleged to have purchased the murder weapon as a gift for him. The day before the shooting, school officials left a voicemail with Ethan's mother notifying her that he had been caught searching for ammunition on his phone, to which she allegedly texted him "LOL I'm not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught." Earlier on the day of the shooting, Ethan's parents were called to the school after Ethan had drawn a depiction of a shooting. They "resisted the idea" of Ethan leaving the school at the time and did not inform school officials that they had recently purchased a gun for him. He was returned to class because he had no prior disciplinary issues.[167][168] After he was arrested, investigators found a journal in his home in which Ethan allegedly wrote "Hopefully my shooting will cause Biden to get impeached".[169] Ethan's parents were both charged with 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter. They failed to appear for their arraignment, but were arrested the following day after an extensive manhunt.[170]
Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis: 44-year-old gunman Malik Faisal Akram, a British citizen from suburban Manchester, breached the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue and then took four people hostage in Colleyville, Texas, United States. The incident took place during Sabbath services. After a ten-hour standoff and hostage negotiations, an FBI Hostage Rescue Team entered the synagogue; Akram died after from a gunshot wound during rescue operations. The remaining hostages were recovered unharmed.
2022 Buffalo shooting: 18-year-old gunman Payton S. Gendron, a self-described white supremacist and neo-Nazi, reportedly drove hours from his home in Conklin to a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo. Wearing body armor (including a helmet with a camera livestreaming the incident on Twitch), he then left his vehicle and shot four people in the parking lot before entering the store to shoot nine more victims, including a security guard. He was holding a gun to his neck when police arrived, but was arrested after being talked into dropping the gun and surrendering. The perpetrator released a manifesto online that cited Christchurch mosque shootings perpetrator Brenton Tarrant as an influence.[171]
2022 Laguna woods shooting: On May 15, 2022, David Wenwei Chou, a 68-year-old man, entered a Taiwanese church congregation in Laguna Woods, California. He opened fire, killing one person, Dr. John Cheng, and injuring five others during a luncheon. Attendees managed to restrain him, and local police subsequently arrested him. The shooting was believed to be politically motivated due to tensions between China and Taiwan[172][173]
2023 Jacksonville shooting: 21-year gunman Ryan Christopher Palmeter, an anti-black shooter, drove from Edward Waters University to a Dollar General store in Jacksonville. Wearing body armor, he left his vehicle and shot three people before committing suicide and leaving behind three manifestos.[175]
^Weiner, Tim (2012). "Revolution". Enemies: a history of the FBI (1 ed.). New York: Random House. p. 9. ISBN978-0-679-64389-0. After the McKinley assassination, a Pinkerton man proposed creating a new government agency dedicated to eradicating the nation's radicals.
^"Who Was Harry T. Moore?". Palm Beach Post. Hartford-hwp.com. August 16, 1999. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
^"A Visitor from the Dark Side: The accused L.A. gunner drove into town on a high of delusion and self-destruction." Newsweek. 134.9. August 23, 1999. p32.
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