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1/10 When is an attack terrorism? @Max_Fisher and @amandataub walk us through the "simple" question that has divided the U.S.
2/10 On the surface, this could be considered a straightforward question of motive.
3/10 Terrorism is defined as an attack on civilians meant to frighten a larger community for political purposes.
4/10 But the new generation of Islamist terrorism has blurred the distinctions between terrorist and disturbed loner.
5/10 So have recent mass shooters who show signs of both mental illness and an attachment to vague ideological causes.
6/10 As a result, terrorism is often in the eye of the beholder, determined as much by the attacker as by the community that is targeted.
7/10 The Las Vegas attack, for some Americans, typically those on the left, represented the terrorism of unchecked gun laws.
8/10 The Manhattan attack is seen by many on the right as stemming from the wider threat of uncontrolled Muslim immigration.
9/10 Defining terrorism, then, has become another way of debating who belongs and whose concerns matter.
10/10 Read more about this "simple" question that has divided the U.S.: nyti.ms/2gU0Wop
