Modern Politics and Lone Wolf Terrorism

On February 11, 2024, a devastating shooting took place at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas during a Spanish-language service which left two injured victims (including the shooter’s young child) and one individual killed (the shooter).

Lakewood Church, under the leadership of televangelist Joel Osteen, is known for its extensive congregation and work within the community they call home which made this event particularly shocking for those in close geographical proximity to the house of worship. The shooter, 36-year-old Genesse Moreno, was confirmed as engaged and killed by Houston Police. The incident prompted a significant emergency response, closing nearby roads and the establishment of a reunification center.

Early reports indicate that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine may have contributed to the motives of the shooter, as they had previously presented pro-Palestine writings. Moreno’s misguided and indefensible attack is just the latest in a string of politically motivated violence coming from the extreme sides of our political spectrum . . . and that is deduced from all of the available information as of the morning of February 14, 2024. I believe it can be said with confidence that this act of terror came from a place of extremism and likely is not completely the result of self-contained radicalization.

From all of the reporting and publicly available evidence, it seems that Moreno was likely in some way self-motivated and self-radicalized through the use of social media, the consumption of mass media, and participation in tailored echo chambers that fostered a warped world view buttressed by conspiracies and misinformation. Moreno was clearly a vulnerable and isolated individual that likely grew up either distant or ostracized by parents and siblings.

This brings us to the potential influence of international terror on disturbed individuals.

The influence of global terrorist networks on domestic extremism cannot be understated. Organizations like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Al-Shabaab have mastered the art of exploiting social media to identify, target, and radicalize individuals in Western societies. Their subtle encouragement and guidance can escalate the vulnerabilities of isolated individuals, pushing them ever closer towards committing acts of terror. Violent extremist organizations from around the world actively attempt and could very well be contributing to the encouragement of terrorist acts within the extreme flanks of our nation’s political spectrum.

While the disturbed individual (like Moreno) might believe they have found a sympathetic ear to their plight, in reality they have engaged with an established terror organization that seeks to destabilize the United States of America by facilitating havoc on what they would deem to be “soft targets.” By just listening, reaffirming, and guiding these vulnerable individuals, terror organizations are recruiting instruments of violence, hate, and death to activate further down the road. The reason: it is a cheap and effective way for established terror organizations to make a notable impact in Western nations. ISIS is particularly skilled at this process as documented by CNN and CBS’ Evening News.

So, what can be done?

Undoubtedly, we will hear a refrain for the FBI and other U.S.-based intelligence agencies to step up and contribute more resources to the monitoring and infiltration of groups on the extreme flanks of the political spectrum. This, inevitably, will draw choruses of Constitutional infringement and the need to protect privacy from an overbearing and overreaching Big Brother-esque government.

The kind of extremism that established terror organizations prefer to engage in with disturbed individuals in Western countries is a relatively new concept for the United States of America. And many will claim that without proper monitoring, it is likely to grow at an alarming rate. It is in the chatrooms, the Subreddits, the Discord servers, and Facebook groups (our bet is that the average American might have heard of one . . . maybe two of these mediums) where violent extremism festers and grows. There is a school of thought that says the utilization of text scanners working around the clock can help determine our national threat level through rhetoric-detecting software. A companion approach would be using Artificial Intelligence to determine someone’s likelihood of committing an act of violence through a wide range of factors. This level of tracking of rhetoric-driven content can help the intelligence community to track bad actors within international terrorist organizations who actively infiltrate these social media groups.

The topic of Artificial Intelligence is a hot button issue on many fronts right now, and we could spend hours dissecting its pros and cons not only in our society, but also in our national security apparatus. While I won’t travel any further down that rabbit hole here, I intend to do so in a future post dedicated solely to the implementation of emerging technologies within the National Security eco-system.

The extreme sides of the political spectrum attract marginalized and isolated people, and these are the people most likely to be vulnerable to negative, violent, and influence. These polarized sides have plenty of reasonable people who just hold what many would classify as extreme views. Most of these individuals will do no harm and cause no terror to those around them. Rather, they only seek to express and share their political point of view. So, how do we identify and engage with those troubled individuals without relying on governmental monitoring? Ultimately, troubled individuals are simply that . . . troubled, until the moment they take an action that transforms them into a monster.

Where do we go from here?

The tragedy at Lakewood Church serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive threat of domestic terrorism. While the path forward very well may call for advancement in technological interventions, it most definitely calls for a collective societal effort to address the root cause of radicalization. As we delve deeper into this complex issue as a society, it is crucially important for all concerned citizens to stay informed and engaged in the discourse and debate before us, Advocate for strategies and solutions that align with your core values and beliefs while preserving the fabric of our great nation.

If you’re interested in encouraging your federal elected officials to consider legislation to address the radicalization of domestic terrorist, then click here to identify your elected officials and find their contact information. If you are an individual who finds yourself looking for someone to talk to and listen to what is going on in your life, click here to connect with a crisis counselor . . . because you are not alone and it is not nearly as bad as you think it may be.