Homegrown Terrorism

Homegrown terrorism is commonly associated with an international organization rather than being a ‘lone wolf’ act committed by isolated and disturbed individuals who have been radicalized apart from contact with a larger like-minded group. It constitutes terrorist attacks from within the target nation, often Western. The controversial and failed Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 defines homegrown terrorism as the “use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” The Congressional Research Service report “American Jihadist Terrorism: Combatting a Complex Threat” describes homegrown terrorism as a “terrorist activity or plots perpetuated within the United States or abroad by American citizens, permanent legal residents, or visitors radicalized largely within the United States.”

The definition of homegrown terrorism includes what is normally considered domestic terrorism, like the Oklahoma City bombing, but at present is most commonly used in the context of Islamist terrorism perpetrated by Western-born citizens, or those who have spent a considerable part of their lives in the West, on other Western nations. Domestic terrorists have identical, or nearly so, means of militarily and ideologically carrying on their fight without necessarily having a centralized command structure regardless of whether the source of inspiration is domestic, foreign, or transnational.