Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Update from START on Global Terrorism

“START’s Global Terrorism Database (GTD) records 16 terrorist attacks that have occurred in Boston since 1970, but only three since 1990. The most recent recorded terrorist attack occurred in November 1995 when an explosion occurred at the Boston-based headquarters of the Christian Science community. This 1995 bombing caused no fatalities.

According to the GTD, Boston has been the 14th most frequently targeted U.S. city by terrorists in the past 40+ years. Houston, Texas, has similarly experienced 16 attacks during this period. New York (430 attacks) is by far the most frequently targeted U.S. city, with Los Angeles (103 attacks) the second most common target.

The majority of Boston’s terrorist activity occurred in the 1970s, with Black nationalists responsible for five of the 12 attacks during that decade. Violent White supremacists and violent far-leftists were also active in Boston during this time.

There have been two fatal terrorist attacks in Boston since 1970, both classified as assassinations: In 1992, Iwao Matsuda—the president of a Japanese university—was assassinated in his hotel during a visit to Boston; in 1995, Paul McLaughlin—a prosecutor specializing in gang-related cases—was shot in his car in a parking lot in the city. “

http://www.start.umd.edu/start/announcements/announcement.asp?id=514

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