Terrorists Try to Terrorise

For John, BLUF:  Terrorism works through fear.  A few events and a lot of propaganda.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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ISIS affiliate puts 264 in Mass. on its ‘kill list’

Yesterday, in The Boston Globe, Reporter Jana Ransom told us:

A cyber-affiliate of the Islamic State has compiled what appears to be a hit list naming 264 government employees in Massachusetts, officials confirmed Sunday.

The list, which included the names of mostly rank-and-file employees from across the state, was one of three posted Saturday to social media by the group called the United Cyber Caliphate, according to State Police.

The odds of someone being specifically targeted is very small.  Random acts by [something]♠ are much more likely.

State Police spokesman David Procopio is quoted as saying:

At this time we have no intelligence suggesting any immediate threat to Massachusetts citizens in response to this list or for any other reason.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  We are told by Mr Adam Ragusea, in Slate that we should never (the Media should never) use the word "Terrorist" because it is now a biased term.  His view is "Avoid labels!  When possible, describe what people do instead of labeling what you think they are."  On the other hand, terrorism is "what people do" when they want political change and have limited resources or support and decide to make people miserable in order to force the change they want.  And the collective term for these people is terrorist.  I wonder if Republican and Democrat are labels, and thus biased?