Most every victim of a crime feels terrified. Imagine if your wife, daughter, sister or friend were raped - that is a pretty terrifying experience. If you have ever been the first person that a woman stumbles to after that experience, I can tell you first hand they have been through a lot.
Is it a really bad crime - yes.
Does your mind wander into revenge mode - yes
Is it terrorism - no
Is it a so called "hate crime" - no
For the most part, the very few school shootings that have occurred have been crimes of revenge against bullying. No one wants to say that out loud, but it is true. Unfortunately, there were innocent victims involved as well, which speaks to the larger reason that bullying needs to be controlled much more closely in middle and high schools.
Were these killings a really bad crime - yes
Is it terrorism - no
Terrorism is part of a larger war effort between two groups, typically governments or some type of at least semi-defined organization. An attack is meant to cause not only the immediate damage, but longer term damage to the economy.
In some ways, you could label things as:
- If the "good guys" bomb someone, that is called "helping to bring peace, freedom, and democracy to a region
- If the "bad buys - whoever was bombed by the good guys" bomb someone, especially in a first world city, that is called terrorism.
Prosecutors and newspapers are always looking for a slick label to slap on people and events. I am not condoning any of this behavior, I am just saying that if people start thinking that being robbed is equivalent to a war, then we end up putting a hair trigger on calling out the military. It is a big step to call in a military solution, as their job is to not mess around.
EDITED: 30 Jan 2016 17:23 by HARRYN