Global Security and Intelligence Studies
due mostly to the prohibition against targeting U . S . citizens for First Amendment issues protecting free speech . Traditionally , domestic terrorism investigations rely on criminal warrants . However , there have been instances of espionage or counterintelligence investigation “ turning into ” a domestic terrorism case or an international terrorist “ becoming ” a domestic terrorist because they obtain citizenship leading to calls for a “ domestic terrorism ” law ( Tucker and Balsamo 2018 ). Since it is possible in only limited circumstances to use FISA law in domestic terrorism cases , the possibility exists that there would be difficulty in pursuing some sophisticated investigative techniques should they become necessary as it removes the “ FISA tool from the toolbox ” for investigators . Publicly available information has yet to reveal any examples of jeopardized investigations or prosecutions because of this loophole , but as is often the case , the problem will become evident due to some significant policy or prosecutorial failure and later become an issue .
Local / State Laws
As of this writing , there are no state laws and only one Resolution ( brought to the floor in the Tennessee Congress in 2015 ) explicitly mentioning “ lone wolf terrorism ” ( McNally 2015 ). Tennessee ’ s Resolution admonishes the President of the United States and requests that he reconsider the attack by Nadal Hasan at Ft . Hood , Texas as a terrorist attack . Although searches for “ terrorism ” within state statues returned considerable results ( 1,000 +), additional searches for “ terrorist ,” “ terrorist group ,” “ terrorism AND individual ,” and “ individual terrorist ” yielded results unrelated to this discussion and addressed issues such as denying work permits , applications , or licenses to individuals associated with terrorism and did not deal specifically with the criminality of being a singular terrorist . A search of the municipal codes of New York City , NY , and Oklahoma City , OK — both cities exposed to significant terrorist events from individual terrorists — returned no results ( American Legal Publishing — Online Library 2016 ; Municode Library 2015 ).
United States Intelligence Community and Department of Defense Policy
Thinking of federal laws as the topmost layer of regulation , policy by specific agencies within the U . S . government represents more detailed guidance to the respective employees of the various agencies on addressing terrorism . This section attempts to look at how individual agencies within the Executive Branch deal with lone wolf terrorism .
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Although the FBI ’ s top priority is to stop terrorist attacks and protect the American public , the organization does not approach lone wolf terrorism as a subset
12