How the Fort Hood crime is prosecuted depends on how the word ‘terrorism’ is defined. However, as Slate notes:
There’s no precise, internationally accepted definition of terrorism or who qualifies as a terrorist. One 1988 study identified 109 definitions for terrorism, and it’s a safe bet there are now many more. The U.S. Code contains several classifications of varying scope. Perhaps the most wide-ranging is the one the government uses to exclude possible immigrants, wherein a terrorist is anyone who uses an “explosive, firearm, or other weapon or dangerous device (other than for mere personal monetary gain), with intent to endanger … the safety or one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property.” That is, anyone who’s committed an armed crime for a reason other than money. In a criminal context, the definitions are narrower. To garner a domestic-terrorism charge, the assailant must intend “to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.” As for international terrorism, the actions must furthermore either occur outside the United States or “transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished.”
…The “coercion” standard as set forth in the U.S. Code and suggested by the United Nations don’t make it clear whether the shooting spree qualifies as terrorism. Alleged gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was reportedly opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and called the war on terror a “war on Islam.” Of course, these details don’t necessarily indicate that Hasan intended to influence government policy. The U.S. Code provision against the “intimidation” of a civilian population might cover the shooting spree since there were civilians at Fort Hood. But it’s possible he just snapped, in which case it would be difficult to demonstrate that he “intended” anything at all. As for charging Hasan with international terrorism, many news sources have reported that Hasan was in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Muslim cleric now living in Yemen who is said to support al-Qaida. If al-Awlaki somehow encouraged Hasan, or helped him plan the shooting, prosecutors could argue that the incident “transcends national boundaries.”
Read the whole thing here.
