Outline of terrorism in the United States
Overview of and topical guide to terrorism in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the past and present terrorism in the United States:
Although terrorism has been given several different definitions, it is most commonly defined as the use of violence to achieve political goals.[1]
Political terrorism has accounted for the majority of attacks in recent decades (a trend that has accelerated in recent years), while Islamist terrorism has accounted for the majority of deaths.[2]
Designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States
- Abu Nidal Organization
- Abu Sayyaf Group
- Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
- Al Qaeda
- al-Qaeda in Iraq
- Ansar al-Islam
- Armed Islamic Group
- Asbat al-Ansar
- Aum Shinrikyo
- Caucasus Emirate
- Communist Party of the Philippines
- Continuity Irish Republican Army
- Egyptian Islamic Jihad
- Euskadi ta Askatasuna
- Gama'a al-Islamiyya
- Hamas
- Harakat ul-Mujahidin
- Hezbollah
- Islamic Jihad Union
- Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
- Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
- Jaish-e-Mohammed
- Jemaah Islamiya
- Kach and Kahane Chai
- Kurdistan Workers' Party
- Lashkar-e-Taiba
- Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
- Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
- Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
- Palestinian Liberation Front
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
- Real IRA
- Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
- Revolutionary Nuclei
- Revolutionary Organization 17 November
- Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front
- Shining Path
- United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
Domestic violent extremist organizations
The following are political extremist groups that have used violence:
Inactive domestic violent extremist organizations
The following are violent extremist organizations that have been responsible for terrorist attacks on United States soil. These organizations are no longer active.
Domestic terrorist attacks
The following is a list of terrorist attacks that have happened throughout United States history, which were committed by United States citizens.
- May 21, 1856: Sacking of Lawrence
- May 24, 1856 – May 25, 1856: Pottawatomie massacre
- September 11, 1857: Mountain Meadows massacre
- April 14, 1865: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
- October 24, 1871: Chinese massacre
- May 4, 1886: Haymarket affair
- November 10, 1898: Wilmington insurrection
- September 6, 1901: Assassination of William McKinley
- October 1, 1910: Los Angeles Times bombing
- July 22, 1916: Preparedness Day bombing
- May–July 1917: East St. Louis riots
- May–October 1919: Red Summer
- April–June 1919: U.S. anarchist bombings
- September 16, 1920: Wall Street bombing
- May 31 – June 1, 1921: burning of Black Wall Street
- January, 1923: razing and massacre of Rosewood
- May 18, 1927: Bath School Disaster
- December 25, 1951: Murder of Harry and Harriette Moore
- October 12, 1958: Bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple
- September 15, 1963: 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
- November 22, 1963: Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- February 16, 1970: San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing
- May 29, 1970: Oakland pipe bombing
- August 24, 1970: Sterling Hall bombing
- November 7, 1983: 1983 U.S. Senate bombing
- April 19, 1995: Oklahoma City bombing
- July 27, 1996: Centennial Olympic Park bombing
- October 13, 2000: Firebombing of Temple Beth El (Syracuse)
- September 18, 2001 – October 9, 2001: Anthrax attacks
- May 2002: Midwest pipe bombings
- October 2002: Beltway Sniper Attacks
- March 3, 2006: Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar SUV attack
- July 28, 2006: Seattle Jewish Federation shooting
- July 27, 2008: Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting
- May 31, 2009: Assassination of George Tiller
- June 1, 2009: Little Rock recruiting office shooting
- June 10, 2009: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting
- November 5, 2009: Fort Hood shooting
- February 18, 2010: Austin suicide attack
- September 1, 2010: Discovery Communications headquarters hostage crisis
- August 5, 2012: Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting
- April 15, 2013: Boston Marathon bombing
- June 8, 2014: Las Vegas shootings
- September 12, 2014: Pennsylvania State Police barracks attack
- October 23, 2014: Queens hatchet attack
- June 17, 2015: Charleston church shooting
- November 27, 2015: Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting
- December 2, 2015: San Bernardino attack
- June 12, 2016: Orlando nightclub shooting
- September 17–19, 2016: New York and New Jersey bombings
- November 28, 2016: Ohio State University attack
- April 18, 2017: Fresno shootings
- May 26, 2017: Portland train attack
- June 14, 2017: Congressional baseball shooting
- August 12, 2017: Charlottesville car attack
- September 24, 2017: Burnette Chapel shooting
- October 31, 2017: New York City truck attack
- August 3, 2019: El Paso shooting
- January 6, 2021: January 6 United States Capitol attack
- January 15, 2022: Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis
Foreign terrorist attacks
The following are terrorist attacks that have occurred throughout United States history, which have been committed by foreign organizations and individuals.
- July 30, 1916: Black Tom explosion
- December 29, 1975: LaGuardia Airport Christmas Bomb
- August 29 – October 10, 1984: 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack
- January 25, 1993: CIA Shooting – Mir Qazi
- February 26, 1993: First World Trade Center bombing
- February 23, 1997: Empire State Building shooting
- September 11, 2001: September 11, 2001 attacks
- July 4, 2002: 2002 Los Angeles Airport shooting
- May 3, 2015: Curtis Culwell Center attack
- December 2, 2015: 2015 San Bernardino attack
- June 12, 2016: Orlando nightclub shooting
- September 17, 2016: 2016 St. Cloud, Minnesota knife attack
- October 31, 2017: 2017 New York City truck attack
- December 6, 2019: Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting
Politically violent individuals
The following are individuals that have posed threats to United States security in the past, or have been involved in terrorist attacks.
- Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
- Jane Alpert
- Dwight Armstrong
- Karleton Armstrong
- Mohamed Atta
- Anwar al-Awlaki
- H. Rap Brown
- James Wenneker von Brunn
- Leo Burt
- Zvonko Bušić
- Zachary Adam Chesser
- Linda Evans
- David Fine
- Hesham Mohamed Hadayet
- Nidal Malik Hasan
- Bruce E. Ivins
- Ted Kaczynski
- Ali Hassan Abu Kamal
- Osama bin Laden
- Colleen LaRose
- James J. Lee
- Timothy McVeigh
- Sam Melville
- George Metesky
- Thomas Mooney
- John Allen Muhammad
- Terry Nichols
- José Padilla
- Aimal Qazi
- Eric Robert Rudolph
- Dawud Salahuddin
- Al-Shabaab
- Faisal Shahzad
- Hosam Maher Husein Smadi
- Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar
- Laura Whitehorn
- Ramzi Yousef
Worldviews within terrorism
The following are common worldviews that have motivated political activists to utilize violence.
- anarchist
- anti-fascist
- black supremacist
- Boogalooism
- Bordigist
- communist
- De Leonist
- Đilasist
- eco-terrorist
- ethnic
- guerrilla
- Guevarist
- Hoxhaist
- Islamic Extremism in the United States
- Islamic fundamentalists
- far left
- far right
- fascist
- Leninist
- Luxemburgist
- Maoist
- Marxist
- militia movement
- militant
- nationalist
- Neo-Confederate
- neo-luddite
- neo-Nazi
- New Left
- Posadist
- paramilitary
- rebel
- religious
- resistance movements
- revolutionary
- separatist
- socialist
- Stalinist
- Titoist
- Trotskyist
- white supremacist
- vigilante
Methods used in terrorism
The following is a list of techniques that have been utilized by politically violent individuals in terrorist attacks.
- agro-terrorism
- arson
- assassination
- bioterrorism
- bombing
- car bombing
- chemical terrorism
- cyberterrorism
- dirty bomb
- dry run
- environmental terrorism
- firebombing
- food poisoning
- genocide
- hijacking
- hostage
- individual terror
- insurgency
- kidnapping
- letter bomb
- paper terrorism
- piracy
- proxy bomb
- shooting
- stabbing
- suicide bombing
- vehicle-ramming attack
United States counter-terrorism organizations
The following is a list of federal organizations in the United States that combat terrorism according to The U.S. Department of State's website.[3]
US Department of State
- Bureau of Consular Affairs
- Bureau of Diplomatic Security
- Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
- Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs
- Bureau of Intelligence and Research
- Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
- Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
- Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
- Foreign Service Institute
- Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
- United States Mission to the United Nations
Department of Defense
Department of the Treasury
Department of Justice
Department of Homeland Security
Other agencies
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- National Counterterrorism Center
- Agency for International Development
The following are other United States counter-terrorism agencies according to various sources.
- Air Force Office of Special Investigations
- Counterintelligence Field Activity
- Defense Criminal Investigative Service
- Diplomatic Security Service
- Naval Criminal Investigative Service
- National Counterterrorism Center (as part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence) [4]
- Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive
- United States Army Counterintelligence
- United States Army Intelligence and Security Command