Why arent street gangs considered domestic terrorist organizations?.

[nextormento]

Why don't we extend it to every criminal and every morally dubious character and every agitator? or every politician: they terrorize for political gain, don't they?
This need to extend the most damning labels to other less or differently threatening things will eventually leave us incapable of specifically describing stuff.

All while I was a kid growing up, my mother, and my close family by extension, was a potential target of ETA (separatist terrorists in northern Spain and southwestern France, operating since the 60s). She was so because of her job: state servant as nurse in high security prisons.
This makes you paranoid.
We had our car bellows lined in steel: we would check it every time we took it in case it was bomb rigged.
We would we scared to death if she came a few minutes late after work.
Minimized social interaction. Be wary of new neighbors. Distrust other parents in my school.
Modify regularly our paths through the city.
All the things any normal person does on a regular basis are questioned or avoided. And, like many people do with cancer, we wouldn't even talk about it openly.
Some of those stick with you. My mother still calls all her sisters and brothers several times a day to make them know she's ok.
Writing about it here is something I wouldn't even consider some 10 years ago.

You are dragged into a irrational spiral. One you can't quite escape: you are a target for ever.
We were not even high priority targets. Save for a few high risk months in the 90s, we didn't need constant escorts. I can't imagine what goes through the minds of people with higher risk. When they dismantled terrorist cells, there always appeared documents detailing every move of those targets. We knew a few, and you could sense their anxiety through every single word they uttered.

If you think that's comparable to the fear under street gangs, feel free to share your experience. Some gangs are actually considered terrorists, after all. But I remain skeptical about the average ones.

[Alydael]

I would consider them terrorists and prosecute them as such. While we argue semantics and philosophical points from the safety of our homes, people die in the street..... Is it acceptable to us. By some of the post here, it seems some people do accept it. I don't.

The real battle is civilized vs. uncivilized. We just refuse to see it. On the civilized side: society. Uncivilized: gangs, criminals, terrorists.

Society needs to stand up for itself or it is worthless. If you want to reject society, or cause harm to it, society needs to be able to reject you back.

[Citizen T]

Doesn't fit any of the three components of the 2nd item listed. Not even (i), since most gang activity isn't intended to intimidate or coerce an entire population, just individuals.

It doesn't say that is has to be intended to intimidate or coerce just APPEAR to be intended. The neighborhoods affected by these thugs would surely agree that it appears to be their intention to intimidate them - particularly in regards to reporting illegal behavior to the police.

[araine]

Under the fbi definition of domestic terrorism it says this though.

"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:
◾Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
◾Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
◾Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.

That seems to describe street gangs to a "T".

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investi...ism-definition

Street gangs have nothing with terrorism to do.

[Kalis]

I would consider them terrorists and prosecute them as such. While we argue semantics and philosophical points from the safety of our homes, people die in the street..... Is it acceptable to us. By some of the post here, it seems some people do accept it. I don't.

The real battle is civilized vs. uncivilized. We just refuse to see it. On the civilized side: society. Uncivilized: gangs, criminals, terrorists.

Society needs to stand up for itself or it is worthless. If you want to reject society, or cause harm to it, society needs to be able to reject you back.

We've been punishing people for rejecting society for thousands of years.

Why reclassify terrorism when we already have legislation in place to deal with criminality?

[nextormento]

Why reclassify terrorism when we already have legislation in place to deal with criminality?

So they can stigmatize groups more efficiently.

[Kalis]

So they can stigmatize groups more efficiently.

I suppose if you classify everything as terrorism, it does make it simpler. Not entirely sure I want to live in a society dedicated to simpletons though.

[Bushtuckrman]

Here is how America can end gangs...

VLAD law - Viscious Lawless Association Disestablishment act

An act which 'severely punishes criminal organisations that commit serious offences'.

The Act applies to legal organisations and "any other group of 3 or more persons by whatever name called, whether associated formally or informally and whether the group is legal or illegal." Similarly it defines office bearer of the organisation to allow for informal roles, with the defendant required to prove that they are not an office bearer.

The Act declares a person to be a "vicious lawless associate" if they commit a serious offence "for the purposes of, or in the course of participating in the affairs of, the relevant association". It is incumbent on the defendant to prove that the association is "an association whose members do not have as their purpose" the serious offences listed in the Act.

If a person is declared to be a "vicious lawless associate", this Act mandates a further 15 years imprisonment on top of the sentence for the crime for members of the organisation, and 25 years imprisonment for office bearers of the organisation.

No bail, no parole, mandatory jail for anyone associated with criminal gangs regardless if they commit a crime or not.

Despite what you might think about that draconian law, it is effective and it is used in Queensland, Australia (where I live).

[Deleted]

Despite what you might think about that draconian law, it is effective and it is used in Queensland, Australia (where I live).

Yeah Australia's like North Korea....

[Bushtuckrman]

Yeah Australia's like North Korea....

North Korea would be awesome if it was like Australia