Lone Wolf Terrorism in Legislation : A Legal Overview
of general terrorism . To the FBI , investigations into potential terrorist activities start with a complaint from the public or other local / state / federal agencies regarding an individual who is possibly engaged in politically or religiously motivated violence . From that point , investigators follow leads to develop a picture of how that individual is operating and if others might be involved with the potential threat . Each individual potentially involved in the activities is a standalone case arising out of an existing legal system where each terrorist would most likely be prosecuted independently of the other , so each case usually starts independently . To be clear , investigators do not work in a vacuum without coordinating efforts with others and their related cases . They also incorporate other types of intelligence or work together with cooperating witnesses . However , for the FBI , the thought of a lone wolf terrorist has little impact on investigative strategy or prosecutorial outcome .
The only element close to a lone wolf terrorist in the semantics of the FBI is the Homegrown Violent Extremist ( HVE ). The FBI has published many internal intelligence reports and articles about the threat of HVE , their origins , and mitigation strategies ; some of these merit some consideration against lone wolf terrorism , but this approach looks at HVE in a different light , more from what types of origins HVE ’ s come from rather than mitigation strategies ( Homegrown Violent Extremism n . d .). Recently , in the winter of 2016 , the FBI began a media campaign to make the public more aware of the warning signs of HVE ’ s , but this has little to do with specifics of lone wolf terrorism ( FBI | Countering Violent Extremism n . d .).
Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ), as the newest member of the USIC , has its roots in preventing terrorism , having formed in the aftermath of the attacks of 9 / 11 . However , because of its behemoth size , numerous agencies ( as of this writing , 22 different agencies ), and complex Congressional reporting requirements , locating specific policies regarding terrorism in general , let alone lone wolf terrorism , is difficult (“ About DHS ” 2012 ) 000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response , from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector . Our duties are wide-ranging , and our goal is clear - keeping America safe .”,” URL ”:” https :// www . dhs . gov / about-dhs ”,” language ”:” en ”,” issued ”:{“ date-parts ”:[[“ 2012 ”, 5,4 ]]},” accessed ”:{“ date-parts ”:[[“ 2019 ”, 3,4 ]]}}}],” schema ”:” https :// github . com / citation-style-language / schema / raw / master / csl-citation . json ”} . The various law enforcement agencies within its structure , including Immigration and Customs Enforcement , the Coast Guard , and Secret Service , all have a specialized niche and address terrorism tangentially within the purview of their regular duties . Being federal law enforcement , they have all the same prosecutorial tools as the FBI as well as the ability to investigate terrorist crimes , but since the FBI is the lead federal agency charged with investigating
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