The term Beltway Snipers

The Beltway Snipers and the Unabomber: A Comparison

The phrase Beltway Snipers refers to two domestic terrorists who terrorized the public along the east coast of the United States in September and October 2002. The murders were dubbed the Beltway Sniper killings because the majority of them took place along the Capital Beltway in Maryland and Virginia. (Sipe) The Unabomber, on the other hand, is a phrase used to describe to Theodore John Kaczynski, an American who perpetrated terrorist crimes between 1978 and 1995 through a worldwide mail-bombing campaign. The term evolved from the police’s reference to him as “UNABOM” (University and Airline Bomber) (Revolvy)

Perpetrators

Despite these two being both cases of domestic terrorism, there are a number of differences and aspects unique to each case. To begin with, I consider the identity of the perpetrators. The Beltway snipers were two men. One was John Allan Williams who changed his name to John Allen Muhammad upon conversion to Islam. He was forty one years in age. His accomplice was Lee Boyd Malvo, a 17-year old teenager, who posed as John Allen Muhammad’s son. On the other hand the Unabomber was one Theodore John Kaczynski born in 1942.

Careers and Skills

Another difference is in the careers and skills of the perpetrators. Muhammad was an ex-member of the United States National Guard. Attesting to his skill, he had medals in honor of his excellent marksmanship during his service in the army. (Sipe) Kaczynski on the other hand was a professor of Mathematics, with numerous publications. He made the bombs used in the attacks himself. (Revolvy)

Nature of Attacks

A third consideration of the differences is the nature of the attacks. In the Beltway attacks, the shooter used a rifle from a concealed location approximately 100m or less away from each victim. In total, thirteen people were killed and three were critically injured while in various outdoor public places. (Sipe) In the case of the Unabomber, Kaczynski mailed or hand-delivered bombs. Ultimately he killed 3 people and injured 23 more.

Evasion of Capture

There were also differences in the way the terrorists sought to evade capture when the security agencies launched a manhunt for them. The Beltway snipers upon commission of crime would get away in their car, a blue Chevrolet Caprice. The Unabomber on the other hand sought to disguise himself and would lie low for some time following an attack before carrying out another one. In fact even when a task force set up to investigate him interviewed him, he is said to have forged a good relationship with them. Kaczynski also mainly used a cabin in the woods as his site of operation, where he planned the attacks and manufactured his bombs. In the making of his bombs, Kaczynski also left misleading evidence such as tags on metal plates so as to throw the investigators off the track. (Revolvy) Muhammud and Malvo on the other hand had been staying at a home in Tacoma, Washington. In the compound was even a tree stump believed to have been used by the two as target practice. (Sipe)

Weapons Used

Also among the finer details pertaining to the differences between the terrorists were aspects such as the nature and source of weapons used. The rifle used by the Beltway snipers had been stolen from a store.

Motivations

Besides the many differences demonstrated above, there were also some sharp differences in what motivated the perpetrators to commit the terrorist acts they did. Kaczynski was at core opposed to industrialization. He actually advanced a nature-centered form of anarchism. On the contrary, the Beltway sniper’s motivations were racial in nature with Malvo being indoctrinated by Muhammad. According to one of many mental-health experts who had interviews with Malvo, the pair believed that they had a mission to incite a racial revolution over the “continued oppression” of black people and to set up a utopian black colony in Canada based on racial and social justice. (Lamb & Braun, 2003)

Target Selection

Evident from the casualties and victims of the attacks, is that these terrorists selected their targets based on their motivational factors. Many of Kaczynski’s targets for example were scientists and others with repute in academia. He targeted people like David Gelernter, a computer science professor at Yale University. In a letter to the New York Times, he also claimed that he “blew up” Thomas Mosser, a Burson-Marsteller executive, because the company helped Exxon clean up its public image after the Exxon Valdez incident.

Ballistic evidenced adduced in court not only played a critical role in the capture and subsequent conviction of the Beltway Snipers but it was also later discovered that the two men had also carried out sniper attacks in Arizona. (Sipe)

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2017, from Revolvy.

Lamb, D., & Braun, S. (2003, December 14). Snipers’ Motives Start to Emerge. Los Angeles Times.

Sipe, K. (n.d.). Criminal Case Studies Involving Forensic Ballistics. Muhammad Trial Journal.