On 6 th December 2019, one of the student naval flight officers at a Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida fired at his colleagues and killed three US sailors while eight more individuals were injured (Clark, 2020). The gunman was a 21-year-old Second Lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Airforce by the name Mohammed Alshamrani. The shooting incident which occurred in a classroom is said to have been unprovoked. Mohammed Alshamrani also shot at the pictures of the incumbent and a former US president while expressing criticism of the actions of US military abroad (Clark, 2020). Although it was not immediately apparent whether the attack was a terrorist attack, subsequent details would help confirm the attack as an act of terrorism.
Investigations revealed that Mohammed was a follower of the al Qaeda doctrine. He used to follow the lectures by al Qaeda and before executing the attack, he had posted anti-American messages on Twitter criticizing US and Israel’s policies. He had also retweeted an article in which Trump’s regime had recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The US Attorney General in mid-January described the shooting as an act of terrorism fueled by jihadist ideology (Cable News Network (CNN), 2020). On 2 nd February 2020, the al Qaeda took responsibility for the attack and released a video praising the heroic acts of Alshamrani (Clarks, 2020). Thorough investigations focusing on Alshamrani’s phone revealed that he was an al Qaeda associate (CNN, 2020). He was in communication with his handlers, including the night before executing the attack.
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The world is yet to have a unified definition of what acts should be termed as terrorist activities. Different institutions, including the US Department of State and FBI, have adopted varying definitions. The US Department of State defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, and is usually intended to influence an audience” (Nacos, 2016, p. 25). The Pensacola attack matches the various components of this definition, thus qualifying as an act of terrorism. First, the motivations of the attack were political and intended to influence the US government on its military decisions and policies. Secondly, the attack targeted noncombatants. The military trainees were not engaged in any combat. Thirdly, the perpetrators of the attack were non-state actors. Specifically, the perpetrators were a terrorist group, al Qaeda, which is engaged in international terrorism.
References
Cable News Network (CNN). (2020). US Terrorist Attacks Fast Facts . CNN. Retrieved 30th June 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/u-s-terrorist-attacks-fast-facts/index.html .
Cable News Network (CNN). (2020). US Terrorist Attacks Fast Facts . CNN. Retrieved 30th June 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/u-s-terrorist-attacks-fast-facts/index.html .
Nacos, B. (2016). Terrorism And Counterterrorism (5th ed., pp. 25-29). Routledge.
