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How are White Supremacist terrorists (the #1 domestic terror threat in America) like ISIS?
Here's a quick thread. Hope it helps.
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Here's a quick thread. Hope it helps.
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The pathway towards radicalization, whether its towards ISIS or neo-Nazis, is remarkably similar. The DNA is the same. Angry, dislocated people find belonging in an extremist ideology that gives them purpose and community. They can emerge as heroes of this narrative.
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This ideology of supremacy creates a superior "in group" (us) and an inferior "out group" (them). There is no middle ground, no grey area. It is a zero sum game of dominance, where the in group's existence and purity is threatened by the out group, the invaders, the Crusaders. 3/
Violence is a necessary tool that must be used as an act of self-preservation to protect the pure, superior culture, identity, religion from being "replaced" or oppressed by the invaders. The heroes are willing to fight and die for a zero sum war that has already begun. 4/
The heroes want to recreate a romantic past that never existed, where everything was allegedly pure, untainted & they were on top. They glorify battles like the Crusades, the Siege of Vienna & soliders, Knights Templars, or early wars like the Battle of Badr & the mujahideen. 5/
They both use the internet for prosletyzing, propaganda, recruitment, radicalization, selecting targets and organizing. This ideology of hate is now globalized, without borders. They want to inspire solidiers to join the righteous fight. They are willing to be martyrs. 6/
The white supremacists seek Valhalla, the violent jihadists seek paradise. Both want the world to "witness" them. (Mad Max Fury Road in my opinion really captured this phenomenon well. Yes, I wrote that.) Their violence, and narcissism , must be shared, retweeted, promoted. 7/
Ideology is one of the factors that motivates them. In America, we aggressively uncover the ideological roots, texts, preachers, politicians & media pundits who influence Muslim terrorists. When will we do the same for domestic white supremacist terrorists? Time is now.
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