'Terrorism has changed': "loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms"

'Terrorism has changed', says PM on Southport attacks https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg9p39kez7o

I don't want to head too deeply into what was a savage and wicked act perpetrated against children because the focus should always be on the three young girls killed in Southport in 2024 and not the monster that killed them and tried to kill others. But I do want to pass comment on what appears to be a shift following the guilty verdict at the trial of Axel Rudakubana in our understanding of terrorism and what factors may lie beneath such heinous acts. To understand such acts is to be able to prevent them from happening again.

The quote on 'loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms' made by the British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was made at a press conference following the guilty verdict and some important revelations about the killer, his background, his past history of violence and aggression and his contact with various agencies including prevent, the UK anti-extremism programme. It's an uncomfortable fact that there were some 'commonalities' between this horrendous act and other similar killings that includes: significant behavioural and/or psychiatric disorder - including an apparent diagnosis of autism, a history of violence and aggression, an almost obsessional history of viewing and showing interest in violence and murder, a willingness to carry and use weapons, and, given the choice of victims, misogyny. 

A public inquiry has been announced into this case with phrases like 'leaving no stone unturned' in order to try and understand motivations and examine the seeming failings across multiple agencies when red flags were present. The results of that inquiry are likely to be uncomfortable for many people as, alongside the usual definitions and precursors of terrorism, something new is seemingly emerging in the form of certain people without specific ideology who seemingly just want to kill. The big challenge will be to identify who these people might be early and take appropriate preventative action, yet always asking the question 'why?'

I said at the start of this post that the three young girls killed should always be the focus. Their names - Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar - should be remembered not the monster that took their lives and futures away.