Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: A recently released FBI report provides insight into the behavior and other characteristics of lone offender terrorists in the United States.

The lessons learned from the Lone Offender Terrorism Report can potentially help prevent attacks through recognition and reporting of concerning behavior.

Dr. Sarah Craun of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU, says the study focused on 52 lone offenders between 1972 through 2015.

Sarah Craun: To be included in this study, an offender had to be ideologically driven. They had to be the primary architect and the primary actor within the attack, and they must have been radicalized at least primarily in the United States.

Halpern: BAU Chief John Wyman says one in four of the attackers had someone in their lives who was aware of a specific attack plan…

John Wyman: These lone offenders, even though they ended up conducting their attack alone, they were not truly alone. There were people around them who could see and observe their journey through this process from radicalization to mobilization to attack.

Halpern: Read the report on fbi.gov. With FBI, This Week, I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau.