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Home , Joseph Paul Franklin

Case Study: THE LONE WOLF KILLER By John Andrews

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6 The Counter Terrorist ~ August/September 2009

CTAUGSEPT09.indd 6 6/16/09 1:49 PM Historically, the “lone wolf” terrorist has been a rarity in the . A “lone wolf” is a person who performs politically inspired terrorist acts without orders from or even connections to any type of organization.1

are politically, religiously, and/or hus, this definitionwould ideologically motivated; and second, Next, he bought a not include members of they make an effort not to get caught. guitar case in which ecoterrorist organizations such In recent years, the advent of the as the Earth Liberation Front Internet and numerous websites to carry the weapon, T(ELF), because even though the dedicated to explosives, firearms and he scouted the ELF lacks a formal structure, it is training, survivalist skills, surveillance nonetheless a loose confederation techniques, and radical ideology has area near one of the of people with similar goals and helped facilitate the creation of lone synagogues, locating modus operandi. On the other hand, wolf terrorists. However, even with a stand of bushes from the definition of lone wolf would the many resources available on the include individuals like Eric Rudolph Internet, the lone wolf may remain which he could fire from and Theodore Kaczynski, because a rarity. Terrorists seek a cause that without being seen. neither of these men were a part of or gives them emotional relief, social associated with any organization of community, and spiritual comfort. any kind. They are drawn to like-minded When discussing lone wolves, it people, and once among these people, may be valid to distinguish them from the intensity of their beliefs spirals individuals who commit terrorist acts upward in an apparent game of one- because they are mentally disturbed, upmanship with their comrades.2 as was the case with Tech In other words, the members of the shooter Seung-Hui Cho. Although terrorist group feed off one another. the lines may become blurry when This is not possible with the lone politically motivated attackers do wolf, who operates in a vacuum exhibit some degree of mental illness, with no support structure. It takes a for the purposes of this article, we certain type of individual to conduct will assume that lone wolves differ violent activities without any social from common “lone nuts” in two support. In addition, this individual ways: First, their violent actions has to possess the ability to conduct

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a successful attack, including the Of course, once an organization is knowledge required to build a bomb compromised, its leadership as well or fire a weapon accurately. Finally, as its rank and file are identified, and the lone wolf has to have certain street the organization may be destroyed. skills or tradecraft that allow him to Thus, as explained in Beam’s essay, the 3 escape once the act is complete. One only way for a radical organization individual who met of all these criteria to fight under these conditions is to was Joseph Paul Franklin. establish individual operators or small Although Louis Beam’s 1992 essay “phantom cells” that conduct the FREE 5.11 TDU BELT “Leaderless Resistance” was written actual struggle. In Beam’s words, “No WITH EVERY PAIR These actors cannot after Franklin committed his horrific one need issue an order to anyone. ($12.99 M.S.R.P) be infiltrated and will crimes, Franklin’s life closely followed Those truly committed…will act when therefore continue Beam’s description of those lone they feel the time is ripe, or will take wolves who were participating in the their cue from others who precede the armed struggle far right’s “revolutionary struggle.” In them… It becomes the responsibility 5.11 Tactical long after any related his essay, Beam described a process of the individual to acquire the Taclite Pro Pants involving a front group that eschews necessary skills and information as organizations have any illegal activities but provides to what is to be done.” As described SKU: 511-74273 been neutralized. direction for lone wolves through by Beam, these truly dedicated the dissemination of information individuals will do what is necessary WHEN YOU by means of newspapers, leaflets, without orders from or connections rallies, marches, and other organs to any organization. These actors of propaganda. (Remember, when cannot be infiltrated and will therefore Beam wrote his essay, the Internet continue the armed struggle long after BUY THESE was in its infancy, so its potential was any related organizations have been FREE 5.11 HAT unknown to him.) Beam recognized neutralized. that the government would be PLUS But was Joseph Paul Franklin in FREE SHIPPING $ .95 alerted to and would investigate fact among these “truly committed” any organizations that represented FREE RETURN SHIPPING 39 individuals? At one of Franklin’s trials, GET: With purchase of any two 5.11 Tactical clothing items. a threat. He also knew that the www.LAPoliceGear.com New York psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Limited time offer, while supplies last. 866-793-1911 government would try to infiltrate Lewis testified that Franklin was a and neutralize these organizations. paranoid schizophrenic who exhibited

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CTAUGSEPT09.indd 8 6/16/09 1:49 PM delusional and confused thinking as a result of the brutal physical abuse he suffered as a child; she also pointed out that he still carried scars on his scalp from the blows that Strategic were inflicted on him by his parents. In response to Lewis’s testimony, DefenSe Franklin took the stand and testified that although he may have had a few initiative. minor neuroses, he was not insane, and he knew exactly what he was doing. This testimony was reminiscent of Franklin’s confession to police after he was arrested for a synagogue shooting in the St. Louis area. During that arrest, Franklin was asked whether he felt any remorse. After a long silence, Franklin responded, “I can’t say that I do. The only thing I’m sorry about is that it’s not legal.” When the detective asked what illegal action he was referring to, Franklin responded, “Killing .”4 Indeed, the synagogue shooting in the fall of 1977 serves as a prime example of Franklin’s detailed planning. In his confession, Franklin explained that he bought his rifle in Dallas through a classified ad, thereby insuring no chance of a Maximum protection. Climate control. Customization. A PROTECH® Blast and Ballistic Resistant paper trail through a firearms dealer. Enclosure (BRE®) offers all that and more. And each is manufactured to the highest standards He then drove to St. Louis, looked of quality and ballistic conformance. up synagogues in the phone book, A PROTECH BRE is just one of many solutions offered by Safariland, renowned for its and filed the serial numbers off the commitment to saving lives and protecting assets. For complete information on our guard booths, guard towers, defensive fighting positions and custom solutions, contact us today. rifle. Next, he bought a guitar case in which to carry the weapon, and 800-733-3832 protecharmored.com he scouted the area near one of the ©2009 Safariland synagogues, locating a stand of bushes from which he could fire from without 145 being seen. Franklin then purchased Circle on Reader Service Card a bike, put it in his car, and rode the June Mission: June 19 - 27, 2009 bikeAugust to the Mission:predetermined August spot 19 in the- 29, 2009parking lot, and checked his police individual—a true lone wolf. bushes. Once there, he lay in wait for scanner to see whether he was being Franklin would later go on to several hours until people exited the chased. Finally, he exited the area via conduct a killing spree targeting synagogue, at which time he fired five Interstate 55.5 As these many steps African and biracial shots. After that, Franklin rode the illustrate, this was a planned murder couples. This spree began in bike back to his car, pulled out of the carried out by an intelligent, rational Oklahoma City on a Sunday in

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CTAUGSEPT09.indd 11 6/16/09 1:50 PM GIS—Providing The Geographic Advantage™

October 1979. On that day, Jesse and the example of jihadist lone wolf NOTES: for Homeland Security Marian Taylor, a mixed-race couple, Derrick Shareef. In 2006, Shareef, a 1 Burton, Fred, and Stewart, Scott, stopped at a supermarket on the way 22-year-old Muslim convert, decided “The Lone Wolf Disconnect,”Stratfor home from their children’s hula- he wanted to commit “violent jihad” Global Intelligence, January 30, 2008, hoop contest. As he returned to the against Americans. He prepared a http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/ parking lot with a bag of groceries, martyrdom video in case he didn’t lone_wolf_disconnect (accessed May Jesse was killed when he was hit by survive his attempt to do so, and he 6, 2009). three shots. Then, as his common-law even went through a purification 2 Andrews, John, “The Sociology wife Marian rushed to his side, she process that included shaving off his of Jihad,” The Counter Terrorist,July/ was fatally shot with a single round body hair. Shareef belonged to no August 2008. from a high-caliber rifle 75 yards away. organized group, nor did he receive 3 Burton and Scott, “The Lone The assassin (later determined to be funding from any outside source. He Wolf Disconnect.” Joseph Paul Franklin) escaped, and appeared to be self-recruited and self- 4 , “Damaged,” there was no apparent reason for the trained. His plan was to place grenades New York Times, February 24, 1997. attack. This pattern of cold-blooded in garbage cans at the CherryVale 5 Ibid. killings was repeated in , , shopping mall in Rockford, Illinois, 5 Gaines, James, “On the Trail of , , , on the Friday before Christmas. a Murderous Sniper Suspect: The and . The shootings were deadly Shareef picked this date in order to Tangled Life of Joseph Paul Franklin,” accurate and always conducted from maximize causalities. The only flaw People, November 24, 1980. Managing Homeland Security with GIS some distance with a high-powered in his plan was that he approached an 6 Ibid. 5 rifle or shotgun. FBI source in an attempt to trade a 7 Porteus, Liza, “Feds Arrest Government agencies and private organizations of all sizes Louis Beam was therefore right set of stereo speakers for four grenades Man They Say Planned to Detonate confront the possibility of a natural disaster or man-made about one thing: It is extremely and a handgun, which led to his arrest Grenades in Illinois Shopping Mall,” GIS is used to determine the vulnerability of an airport attack on our homeland. Because all terrorist events, threats, 7 to surface-to-air missiles. emergencies, or natural disasters can be tied to a location, difficult for law enforcement to stop before he could launch his attack. www.foxnews.com, December 9, geographic information about airports, harbors, road networks, the terrorist activities of a lone wolf Yet another jihadist lone wolf is 2006. stadiums, and other important places is crucial for homeland like Joseph Paul Franklin. In fact, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, also 8 Weiss, Kenneth, “Gunman Kills Franklin carried out a series of as known as Hesham Mohamed Ali. security. Having the most accurate, up-to-date information Two at LAX,” , July maintained in a mission-critical common operating picture is many as 20 murders, bank robberies, Hadayet was born in Egypt and 5, 2002. paramount to efforts to protect life, property, and infrastructure. and arsons beginning in 1977 and entered the United States in 1992; ten ending three years later in the fall of years later, on July 4, 2002, he pulled a ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Geographic information system (GIS) technology provides a 1980. His crimes also included the gun and opened fire at the El Al Israel Mr. Andrews served as a Special complete platform to help collect, analyze, visualize, and share information. Improved situational awareness, collaboration and attempted assassinations of high- Airlines ticket counter at LAX, killing Agent of the Federal Bureau of data sharing, interoperability, preparedness, prevention and profile targets Vernon Jordan and two people and wounding several Investigation for twenty-three years. response, and a common operating picture are just a few of the . Local, state, and federal others before an airline security guard He worked the Vernon Jordan shooting ways GIS can help better protect citizens, communities, and assets. law enforcement put in thousands shot him. When authorities later went in Indiana as a first office agent, and of investigative hours prior to to Hadayet’s apartment, they found he conducted international terrorist Discover how GIS software can play a pivotal role in solving your ® ® Franklin’s apprehension. (This pattern a note on the door saying, “Read the investigations for nine years. Mr. homeland security needs. Discover ESRI ArcGIS . was repeated in the cases of both Koran.” It should be noted that U.S. Andrews currently serves as an adjunct Tracking aircraft and identifying those that present a potential risk Ted Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph.) authorities did not consider Hadayet’s professor at State University, to critcal assets through a GIS-based common operating picture. To learn more about GIS technology Franklin’s crime spree finally came attack an act of terrorism, but rather and he has also been a guest lecturer for homeland security, to an end at a skid row blood bank an isolated incident by a mentally at Troy University. He conducts police visit www.esri.com/publicsafety. 8 in Lakeland, Florida, where the deranged individual. This raises an training throughout the United States GIS for Community Safety sharpshooter whose eyesight was too important question: How many other for Benchmark Professional Seminars  Critical Infrastructure Protection  Incident Management poor to be eligible for the draft was politically inspired terrorist incidents and Unitech.  Surveillance and Detection  Security ESRI— ™ arrested without incident.6 conducted by lone wolves have been  Common Operating Picture  Tracking e GIS Com pa ny 1-888-603-3204 Of course, not all lone wolves written off as isolated incidents?  Intelligence Analysis  Data Fusion • [email protected] are white supremacists. Consider  Vulnerability Assessment  Mitigation  Response and Recovery  Situational Awareness www.esri.com/publicsafety

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