1/ "Stochastic terrorism" is defined as "the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted." Time for the media to start talking about it. usatoday.com/story/news/201…
2/ "Stochastic" is a math word often mistakenly interpreted to mean "random," but it means "highly variable," but still generally predictable. E.g. "It is stochastically predictable that white men might target people of color in America in 2018." It just happened in Tennessee.
3/ The concept of "stochastic terrorism" puts Reinking in context, and shifts the focus to leaders who use demonizing racist rhetoric. Those leaders bear moral responsibility, though not legal responsibility, and the media needs to grapple with such conduct as a kind of terror.
4/ I first encountered this concept as a right-wing explanation for Islamic terror ("radical Islam" demonizes the West, inspiring "lone wolf" terrorists in San Bernadino or Orlando). Somehow our "both-sides-ism" media hasn't applied this concept to our domestic politics.
5/ Let me be clear: I think stochastic terrorism has many sources in our world. But the media has only tolerated this framing for Muslim violence. What about white domestic violence? What about Nikolas Cruz, the #Parkland shooter? But this isn't really about Reinking or Cruz...
6/ The "stochastic terrorism" frame is about holding our leaders morally and politically accountable for the *utterly predictable* results of demonizing groups. If we blamed radical Islam for lone-wolves, then domestic leaders need to answer for white lone-wolf terrorism.
