Finsbury Park attack - terrorism or not?

[NotAllThere]

Is the treatment of the Finsbury Park attack as a terrorist attack an example of political correctness and neo-liberalism, or is there a direct equivalence between that attack and the Borough Market, Westminster Bridge etc. attacks? I'm kind of leaning to the former.

[Paddy]

I would say it is not terrorism but a violent racist act. If the perpetrator had been instructed by or inspired by an organisation the it would be terrorism.

[MarillionFan]

To me it's a racist attack. Terrorism assumes a goal, whereas this fella was Welsh and a dickhead.

[meridian]

According to the online dictionaries, terrorism is "the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims."

Racist yes, probably not terrorism.

[mudskipper]

For it to be terrorism, there needs to the motive of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_Act_2000

The attacker is reported to have shouted that he wants to "kill all muslims". He has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences, but it will be for the CPS to decide whether to prosecute on that basis, and for the courts to convict.

[DaveB]

I would say terrorism.

It's directly inspired by extremist right wing / supremecist groups. These groups all have a view that non-white british, immigrants and especially muslims should be eradicated. The fact that the media has chosen not to report on them doesn't make it any less of an influence on people like this guy and the guy who killed Jo Cox. Many of those in the security services and political analysts have been warning that a rise in right wing extremism would lead directly to attacks like this and the attack on Jo Cox.

People like Tommy Robinson who a few weeks ago released a video saying "militias would be set up" to "clean out this islamic problem", and Britain First with their "Christian Patrols".

[MarillionFan]

I would say terrorism.

It's directly inspired by extremist right wing / supremecist groups. These groups all have a view that non-white british, immigrants and especially muslims should be eradicated. The fact that the media has chosen not to report on them doesn't make it any less of an influence on people like this guy and the guy who killed Jo Cox. Many of those in the security services and political analysts have been warning that a rise in right wing extremism would lead directly to attacks like this and the attack on Jo Cox.

People like Tommy Robinson who a few weeks ago released a video saying "militias would be set up" to "clean out this islamic problem", and Britain First with their "Christian Patrols".

At which point has EDL got anything to do with this guy? He's just a dickhead.

[BrilloPad]

I say terrorist dickhead.

He appears to have been generally a good person, Until someone disagreed with him when he took it personally.

I wonder where this hatred of Muslims came from? I reckon in a parallel universe he would have driven into people outside a gay pub or something else the dickheads object to.

[DaveB]

At which point has EDL got anything to do with this guy? He's just a dickhead.

EDL calling for militias and cleaning out the islamic problem -> idiot takes it into his head to "do something about it."

No different from ISIS calling on Muslims to carry out attacks in the UK. No direct sponsorship but clearly influencing the gullible. If we treat the Muslim version as terrorism why not this?

I'm not saying it was specifically the EDL influencing him here but there is an undercurrent of right wing, nominally Christian, extremism in the UK and Europe calling from much the same actions as the nominally Muslim extremists.

Far-Right and neo-Nazi terror arrests double 

In February, David Anderson QC, then the Government’s independent terror law watchdog, said far-Right terrorism could be as dangerous as Islamist violence.

Extremists were also increasingly seeking to “feed off the tension” caused by Islamist terror to plan violence of their own, he warned.

He said: “The threat from extreme Right-wing terrorism in the UK is currently fragmented but the massacre perpetrated by Anders Breivik in Norway is a warning against underestimating the threat.

“Both the Government and the courts treat the threat with the seriousness it deserves. Extreme Right-wing ideology can be just as murderous as its Islamist equivalent. A sophisticated network is not a prerequisite for mass slaughter.”

[MarillionFan]

I wonder where this hatred of Muslims came from? I reckon in a parallel universe he would have driven into people outside a gay pub or something else the dickheads object to

You can hardly compare the two. There are a group of muslims who want to **** you up at any cost, whereas gays will only **** you up if they fancy you.