James Holmes is a domestic terrorist, but would you believe there are people who argue, with anger that the Colorado Movie Massacre gunman is not a domestic terrorist? Before we go into this debate that started on Twitter, let’s recap what Holmes did.
On Wednesday night, approaching the midnight showing of The Dark Night Rises at the Century Aurora 16 Theater, James Holmes bought a ticket to the event. Then, while the movie was being screened, Holmes left the theater, went to his car, and then drove it closer to the building, and next to the exit door of the building and where the theater was located.
At about 12:30 AM, MDT, Holmes managed to enter via the exit door (some say he kept it open, but to open it from inside the theater would have triggered an alarm, or should have. Also, he would have had to be seen trying to open the exit door from inside, but there’s no account reporting that)
As Homes entered the building, he threw gas canisters “containing an irritant gas” into the theater, then opened fire.
Homles was armed with an AR-15 Assault Weapon and handguns. By 12:39 Aurora law enforcement received multiple 911 calls.
The Chicago Tribune reports that about 150 to 200 police officers arrived at the theater within minutes. What they found was awful: ten people died, and two more passed on while being rushed to the local hospital. In all, Holmes shot and either wounded or killed 71 people – the largest mass murder in American history.
K9 police teams managed to find Holmes in his white Hyundai coupe, wearing a gas mask and what was reported to be a “small cache of weapons.” James said he was ‘The Joker’ and they said he died his hair red to match the look of the character from Batman legend, but the truth is, Holmes already had that look months before, and used it while making profile photos for online dating websites like Match.com and Adult Friend Finder.
Holmes Apartment Had 30 IEDs
James Holmes lived at 1690 Paris St in an apartment on the second floor. When FBI bomb experts arrived, they found, according to The Denver Post, not one, or 10, or 20, but 30 IEDs – improvised explosive devices. They were described as “softball-sized” and some where bottles with “unknown liquid” in them.
The bottom line is Holmes not only had been planning this for some time, he obviously wanted to prevent anyone from coming into his home to investigate him via his possessions. I don’t think he planted those bombs just to harm people – he did it to destroy his belongings for some reason.
The James Holmes Terrorist Debate
Now, the James Holmes Terrorist Debate started when I spotted Whitney Greer’s Twitter tweet claiming Holmes was not a terrorist. That started this thread of conversation:
@zennie62 A terrorist is someone who commits acts of violence for political gain. There was nothing political about the CO shooting.
— Whitney Greer (@whitney_greer) July 21, 2012
And it continued. I admit my tweets were emotional, but considering the actions of Holmes, they were justified.
@zennie62 A terrorist wants to achieve a social objective strictly as it relates to the political aim. That’s nothing but a poor euphemism.
— Whitney Greer (@whitney_greer) July 21, 2012
You get the idea.
My point is that a Domestic Terrorist is by definition:
domestic terrorism – terrorism practiced in your own country against your own people; “the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City was an instance of domestic terrorism” act of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act – the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
And note that the definition includes “ideological” in nature – the idea is “An ideology is a set of ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision..”
Thus, if James Holmes says he’s ‘The Joker’ guess what: he’s pointing to actions based on an ideology. That makes him a domestic terrorist.
Whitney seems married to the idea that Holmes isn’t. The overarching reason for this talk was another tweet series that said if Holmes were Arab, he would be called a terrorist by the mainstream media, but if he were black, he would be called a thug or rapper, but because he’s white, he’s called just “mentally ill.” And indeed, ABC News seems bent on advancing that idea, rather than the idea that he’s a terrorist.
James Holmes committed a terrorist act based on an ideology – at least that is what the facts point to. But I feel there’s a smoking gun yet to be found here.
Stay tuned.
Bill Carroll