The use of vehicles to carry out terror attacks have been on the rise in the United States. Though, no single terror group have claimed to be responsible for the attacks, Al-Qaida and ISIS have been encouraging use of vehicles to attack their ‘enemies’. These attacks are carried out by individuals (lone wolf) who have no ties with any terror group. This makes it impossible for the security agencies to thwart the attack before it happens since there is no communication that can be traced. For example, the case of James Alex that occurred at Charlottesville, Virginia was not even known by his mother (Yan, 2018).
Vehicles are used to carry out an attack since they are a ready weapon. They can be accessed by many people. The skill they need is only driving of which many people know. They can be used to attack many people at a go. These makes lone wolfs to target protestors, public gatherings and pedestrians in busy streets. To contain use of vehicles to carry out an attack pedestrian pathways and other areas like open air markets should have barriers (Jenkins, 2018).
According to FBI hate crime data for 2020, these attacks are motivated by various ideologies among them; race, religious beliefs and political affiliations. The perpetrators of these attackers are radicalized on the internet. This is either through hate publication or being in social groups that encourage violence against their opponents. The increase of social media usage by the American has correlation with the increase of crime rates (Statista Research Department, 2022).
According to FBI 2020 hate crime data in the below chart race motivated attacks were the highest. This can be attributed to numerous car ramming that occurred during the protests following the death of George Floyd (Allam, 2020). White Supremacists are on lead of use of vehicles to carry out terror attacks.
The government (Federal, state, local ) and other security agencies have a mandate of ensuring Americans and their properties are safe. The department of homeland security (DHS) is responsible for domestic security. To prevent vehicle attacks the department need to have more security officers on the busy and congested streets. The department also need to up its surveillance on pathways during protests.
Vehicles are used to carry out an attack since they are a ready weapon. They can be accessed by many people. The skill they need is only driving of which many people know. They can be used to attack many people at a go. These makes lone wolfs to target protestors, public gatherings and pedestrians in busy streets. To contain use of vehicles to carry out an attack pedestrian pathways and other areas like open air markets should have barriers (Jenkins, 2018).
According to FBI hate crime data for 2020, these attacks are motivated by various ideologies among them; race, religious beliefs and political affiliations. The perpetrators of these attackers are radicalized on the internet. This is either through hate publication or being in social groups that encourage violence against their opponents. The increase of social media usage by the American has correlation with the increase of crime rates (Statista Research Department, 2022).
According to FBI 2020 hate crime data in the below chart race motivated attacks were the highest. This can be attributed to numerous car ramming that occurred during the protests following the death of George Floyd (Allam, 2020). White Supremacists are on lead of use of vehicles to carry out terror attacks.
The government (Federal, state, local ) and other security agencies have a mandate of ensuring Americans and their properties are safe. The department of homeland security (DHS) is responsible for domestic security. To prevent vehicle attacks the department need to have more security officers on the busy and congested streets. The department also need to up its surveillance on pathways during protests.
