Domestic Terror the Hammerskin Nation, Term Paper

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Del O'Conner, head of the British chapter of the Hammerskins, carried out a nail-bomb attack on a gay pub in England that injured several; he was hidden for years in Texas by his Hammerskins brethren (Reynolds, 2002).

All of these crimes by Hammerskins leaders meet the definition of terrorism for the following reasons: the violence was repeated; the violence was criminally and politically motivated (the crimes were committed against groups like gays and blacks that the Hammerskins politically oppose); and the victims were targets of opportunity or symbolic, such as black or gay people who happened to be using a park or having a drink at a pub at the wrong time. Further, the acts of terrorism committed by Hammerskins leaders have the effect of encouraging terrorism among rank-and-file members. The average member would be right to deduce that those who practiced violence would be protected by the group and perhaps even advance within it. In short, there was an institutional condoning of violence - if it was right for the leadership, it was right for the members.

And, as one might expect, there have been plenty of violent crimes committed by ordinary members that would be rightly classified as terrorist. One California member has claimed that his chapter had a rule that required black citizens to be assaulted if they ever walked through a neighborhood where Hammerskins lived (Miner, 2003). Clearly, these victims were targets of opportunity designed to further the Hammerskins message of race separation.

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Additional hate crimes have been committed by Hammerskins members in Arizona, California, Texas and Massachusetts, and Illinois police believe they may have halted more serious crimes when they made a major illegal-gun bust that netted several Hammerskins' automatic weapons and handguns in 2004 (Corcoran, 2004).

In short, it is easy to establish that the crimes committed by Hammerskins' leaders were terrorist in nature, but it also can be demonstrated that the hate crimes of regular Hammerskins' members should be classified as terrorism. By recruiting from prisons, protecting violent felons, and glorifying (or even promoting) members who commit violent crimes, the Hammerskins have sent a clear message to members that violence is encouraged. Moreover, this violence does meet the definition of terrorism, because the victims have been targets of opportunity, who were often symbolic in nature, such as Jewish or gay people, or people of color. And the crimes were definitely intended to advance the political agenda of the Hammerskins, which is focused on white dominance over other races and homosexuals - a dominance that is established physically, through violence.

The Hammerskins are, quite simply, a terrorist group and their message and tactics are great dangers to American society. Although the group may currently be enduring a period of transition, it has shown the ability to be a major force in the white-power movement, and America has likely not seen the last terrorist act committed by this group.

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