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this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
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It was identified as something harmless. Terrorism is the use of deadly violence on soft, civilian targets. Generally, assaults on political leaders are considered something else. Terrorism is the continued threat of future deadly violence, not of squirting vinegar on people.
I don't think a lab test was required to figure out it was harmless. It was vinegar.
Yeah, but it wasn't. If someone hit one of those ICE thugs with a black water balloon that was indeed filled with harmless water, would you support charging the thrower with terrorism?
No, it's using violence to create fear of future violence. That's the literal definition. Your personal definition waters down "terrorism" to a ludicrous extent.
Not immediately, and if it had contained a nerve agent it would have been too late to do anything about it by the time it was identified.
Terrorism doesn't exclude attacks on political leaders, especially when they're in civilian settings such as a town hall.
A brazen attack with a syringe filled with mystery fluid in the middle of a town hall is intended to have a chilling effect on political speech and communication between representatives and their constituents. It's supposed to send the message "this could happen again, to anyone," and is intended to stifle political opposition. It's an intimidation tactic, which when applied to political purposes fits the definition of terrorism.
There's no way to determine that's all it was without lab testing.
That wasn't immediately known at the time
There's a difference between water balloons and a syringe filled with mystery fluid. Also, if someone were throwing water balloons at ICE, the current administration would definitely call them terrorists. The charges wouldn't stick, but it's completely different from mystery fluid-filled syringe.
It's using violence or fear (i.e., the threat of violence) to achieve a political purpose. Stochastic terrorism doesn't utilize direct violence, but the threat of violence is often enough to achieve its intended effect.
Just creating "fear of future violence" isn't it. Extortion, blackmail, racketeering can all create fear of future violence, but they're not terrorism unless they're done for political purposes. Terrorism is using fear to achieve a political purpose, whether through violence or threats of violence. That's not my "personal definition," it's what it is. You can look it up.
So the people who mailed fake anthrax... That wasn't terrorism?
Stop, you're going to make them admit that this is the revised version of the Iraq war. That word hasn't been used this much in a long time....
If the prosecutors could prove he thought it was something more dangerous, he can be charged. The point of laws is deterrance, and if they do not charge him with a significant crime, then the next person will use more concentrated acid.
If you point a gun at someone unloaded, it's the same as pointing a loaded gun if you thought the gun was loaded.