Last month’s shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival is now being investigated as a domestic terrorism incident. The FBI said today that the Gilroy shooter allegedly had a “target list” that included religious groups, federal government buildings, and political institutions on both sides of the aisle.
Saturday’s shooting in El Paso, Texas, is also the latest example of a growing trend: home-grown white nationalist terrorism. The gunman allegedly targeted Hispanics, and left behind a racist and violent manifesto longing for a return to a majority-white society.
The details of this case and other attacks by white nationalists have direct parallels to ISIS in the Middle East. Looking at white nationalist terrorism through the lens of jihadism may help people understand why these attacks are so frequent and deadly.