Hate crime & terrorismThe Orlando shooting: exploring the link between hate crimes and terrorism

By Joshua D. Freilich, Jeff Gruenewald, Steven Chermak, and William Parkin

Published 17 June 2016

Some are calling the mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub an act of terrorism. Others are calling it a hate crime against the LGBT community. President Obama declared it an “act of terror and an act of hate.” Can it be both? The Orlando tragedy demonstrates the importance of exploring difficult questions. For example, are terrorists who commit acts of hate and terrorists who target the government radicalized the same way? Are perpetrators motivated by far-right extremist views similar to those motivated by jihadist extremism? What factors helped push these perpetrators to violence, and what steps can be taken to stop it from occurring again? Answering these questions may help law enforcement identify, investigate, prosecute, and ideally thwart those who seek to turn to violence to achieve their goals.

Lead author Joshua D. Freilich // Source: cuny.edu

Some are calling the mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub an act of terrorism. Others are calling it a hate crime against the LGBT community. President Obama declared it an “act of terror and an act of hate.”

Can it be both?

It’s an important question. How extremist crimes are labeled by officials directly affects how offenders are charged, their likelihood of being convicted and the severity of their sentences.

Labels are also symbolic acknowledgments by the government of the harms inflicted on the nation by terrorists, and on specific social groups by hate crimes. These labels can shape how the public thinks about extremist crimes.

We have been researching terrorism, extremism, and hate for more than fifteen years and currently direct the United States Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) study.

A tool for fighting violence
The ECDB is a database of more than 2,500 extremist perpetrators. All committed a crime and supported either extreme far-right, ecoterrorism, or jihadist ideologies. Since 1990, these extremists have been responsible for more than 1,000 ideologically motivated homicides, foiled plots, arsons, or bombings in the United States.

The ECDB includes incidents that may be defined as both terrorism and hate crimes. The database includes comprehensive information about each offender’s demographic background, extremist and criminal histories, mental health statuses, personal achievements and setbacks.

As such, the ECDB is a resource for studying crimes committed both by extremists affiliated with terrorist and/or hate organizations and lone wolves. Databases such as the ECDB allow researchers to explore how and when terrorism overlaps with hate, and give us a better understanding of what drives extremists to commit violent acts.

Hate crime or terrorist act?
A hate crime is any criminal offense, like murder, assault, or vandalism, with the added element of bias. The act is considered a hate crime even if a perpetrator acts on a variety of motives, so long as bias played a part: for example, if an offender is motivated by both greed and prejudice toward the victim because of his or her race, gender, sexual orientation or other characteristic.

While there are many definitions of terrorism, almost all classify terrorism as a violent crime committed for political or ideological reasons. Nonviolent or violent offenses committed for personal motivations, like greed, are not considered terrorism.