Homegrown Terrorism Domestic terrorism is on the rise, and preventing incidents remains a tremendous challenge.


“This phenomenon of homegrown terrorism even here in the United States is, I think, perhaps one of the most worrisome trends that we have seen recently.”


Brian Finlay, Henry L. Stimson Center


Domestic terrorism is becoming much more common and dangerous. From late-2001 until 2008, a seven-year span, there were 21 known domestic terrorism plots in the United States. The number of incidents spiked to 32 in just a 2½-year period between May 2009 and October 2011. This trend is especially worrisome, because lone homegrown terrorists are very difficult to detect and intercept if there are no suspicious purchases or connections to known terrorists elsewhere. Attempted domestic attacks have taken place across the U.S., from Spokane, Washington, to Ohio, Minnesota, the Washington, D.C. area and Time Square in New York City. The recent episode in Norway illustrated the danger of one madman: After detonating a car bomb downtown, he killed 49 youth at a camp.


Copyright © 2012 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27