Lone Actor Terrorism

Difficult to detect Lone actor attacks are those carried out by one attacker –sometimes referred to as “lone wolves” but this sounds a bit too positive There has been a wave of lone actor attacks in the past decade. For security services these attacks can be the most worrying, as there may be less opportunity to catch the attackers – as they are not communicating with others. In categorising these attacks, some researchers also count attacks carried out by dyads and triads (not the Japanese ones!), but most are quite strict that the attack must be carried out by one person alone.

Lone actors Lone actor terrorism is defined as terrorist acts committed by individuals who act alone without the support of a terrorist organisation. Lone actor terrorist attacks are not a new phenomenon, but have tended to come in waves – this could be de to a contagion effect, through the coverage of attacks in the media (increase of 15% in attacks after an attack has been covered) A lone actor is 13.49 times more likely to have a mental illness than an actor within a terrorist group (RUSI study) ISIS has called for individuals to carry out independent attacks. In 2015 lone actors were responsible for 22% of attacks in OECD countries.

ISIS inspired Lone Actors Lone actors, so far, have all been male Lone attackers can be from under-educated socially deprived backgrounds, as well has highly educated, but low income backgrounds. Recruitment into a radical ideology tends to have been done locally – and also tends to have been recent – so they act quite quickly after radicalisation This compares with members of organisations like ISIS (so not lone actors) , where most foreign fighters (people who have left European countries to go and fight with ISIS in MENA) are from higher educated backgrounds.

ISIS inspired lone actor Khalid Massood was 52 years old. Born Adrian Russell Elms in Kent. He had a string of aliases, and had been involved in a number of crimes throughout his life. He had studied for a degree in economics and economic history In March 2017 he hired a car, drove it deliberately into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, then ran towards the entrance of Parliament carrying a knife. 5 people, including a police officer were killed in the attack. Many more injured.

Recent ISIS Inspired Lone Actor attacks Orlando, Florida San Benardino, California London Manchester Nice, France Recent ISIS Inspired Lone Actor attacks

Non-Isis lone actors On 22nd July 2011, seventy seven people were killed in a terrorist attack in Norway. 8 were killed by a bomb in Osla and a further 69 – mostly young people, were killed in a sustained firearm assault on Utoya Island. The attack was conceived, planned and conducted by a single person, Anders Behring Breivik. A far right extremist. He was 33 at the time.

Recent non isis inspired lone actor attacks Robert Dear – planned parenthood clinic in Colorado December 2015 Portland, Oregon, school shooting Olathe, Kansas, two Indian men killed Charleston, South Carolina, Church Shooting London Mosque attack Recent non isis inspired lone actor attacks