Act of Terrorism or Just a Random Crime Essay Example

sending the perpetrators message to the targeted audiences. Applying this information to the Chapel Hill incident, we can understand where the controversy regarding the categorization arises. For instance, there is evidence that the suspect had an acute dislike of all religions. What if the young victims’ way of life displayed their religious beliefs which made the perpetrator hate them? If this was the case, then the conflicts concerning the parking and noises were just a way to intimidate them; and when they seemed unaffected, and he chose to kill them. From this perspective, we can classify the act as terrorism because the action was meant to highlight his hatred towards religious people.

On the contrary, the act might have been a homicide. From the Facebook post, it is evident that the suspect was an atheist who hated all religion as he believed they were baseless. Given that he was undergoing a hard time (divorce), he might have been under some form of depression that made everything else meaningless. Therefore, the young, vibrant Muslims seemed like a constant reminder of his mysteries. Then why the three Muslims and not any other staunch Christian within the neighborhood? It could be because it is easy to note a Muslim in a crowd given their dressing code which is not the case with Christians. But why the three and not any other Muslim in the region? Maybe it is because they were neighbors and their interactions had heightened his hatred towards the three religious and happy Muslims. Comparing this incident to Charlie Hebdo’s attack that happened in Paris in the same year, whereby the attackers seemed to be fulfilling their

duties, Craig act was for personal gratification rather than a duty.

It can be agreed that although the Chapel Hill incident is straight forward, the influence of external factors has significantly affected the case. Both parties need to collaborate to reach a conclusion regarding the case because each side i.e. the police and the victims’ families seem to be omitting some details. However, if we take an ethical stand, Craig’s action can be classified as terrorism because he failed to respect diversity within the community and let his personal emotions control him. This incident can be aligned by the saying “…one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom…” in this case, he murdered the three people because of his hatred towards religion, in a way he was seeking personal freedom from constant reminders of all that he despised.

Works cited

• Chapter 8. "Ethics and the " War on Terrorism."" Chapter 8 1 January 2008: 259. Document. <http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/23182_Chapter_8.pdf>.
• Godesberg, Forum-Verlag. New Definitions of Crime in Societies in Transition to Democracy. 1994. Document. <https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=1wrZXMPAUgC&dq=crime+definition&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.
• Perez-Pena, Richard and Jonathan M Katz. "In Chapel Hill Shooting of 3 Muslims, a Question of Motive." The New York Times 11 February 2015. Documents. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/us/muslim-student-shootings-north-carolina.html?_r=0>.