Another domestic terrorism suspect busted

David Holthouse of the SPLC blog in Nativist Leader Arrested For Double Murder 06/15/09 reports on the arrest of a female suspect in an apparently nativist-motivated double-murder.

The suspect, Shawna Forde, is the director of a nativist, vigilante-patrol group called Minutemen American Defense (MAD). Two men were also arrested in connection with the murder, one of whom is charged with being the trigger man.

If the evidence holds up, it will be hard to paint this one as a "lone nut" action. Forde is charged with masterminding the murder plan. This is especially notable because this is a female accused of involvement in a rightwing terrorist action. Female terrorists are more common in leftwing groups. That's another area where ideology matters. Leftist groups are normally at least theoretically committed to women's equality and liberation. The rightist ideologies tend to stress some form of the "traditional" family, i.e., the husband is supposed to be treated as a patriarch. Far-right female terrorists are hardly unknown. But still unusual in such a key role as alleged here.

I heard someone describe the leftist German Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) of days gone by as being full of macho guys. But the women were even more macho. Gudrun Ennslin and Andreas Baader were the main leaders of the early years of the group (1970-77). In the following years, Brigitte Mohnhaupt was the main leader. I find her to be the scariest one I've heard of in that group. She seems to have been a really cold-blooded killer.

Tags: domestic terrorism, terrorism

| +Save/Share | |