The Rise of Leaderless Resistance: The Changing Nature of Domestic Terrorism in the United States

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over the past six years, approximately once every 34 days a domestic terrorist attack or foiled attack happened, led by "lone wolves" or "leaderless resistance groups" composed of less than three people, as opposed to the large, organized Islamic jihadist groups often thought of in conjunction with the term "domestic terrorism."

On the heels of last week's attacks on Paris, The University of Miami School of Law is hosting the 2015-2016 National Security & Armed Conflict Law Review Symposium "The Rise of Leaderless Resistance: The Changing Nature of Domestic Terrorism in the United States" on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015, 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

"This year's symposium focuses on political extremism and hate crimes such as the tragedy in Charleston this summer," said Kristin Westerhorstmann, chief symposium editor for NSAC. "Our expert panelists come from West Point and the federal courtrooms of the Southern District of New York."

NSAC's 2015 symposium will discuss the reasons behind, and the legal, social, and public safety consequences of this popular myth.

The symposium opens with the keynote address by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok, one of the country's leading experts on the world of extremism, and editor-in-chief of the SPLC's award-winning, quarterly journal, the Intelligence Report. Followed by three panels: Policing Extremism: Law Enforcement Tactics, Surveillance, and Military Interference; Trial Mechanics: Prosecuting and Defending an Accused Terrorist; and a roundtable discussion,  Reframing Domestic Terrorism: Where Do We Go From Here? 

Panelists include Sabrina Shroff, Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of New York, a nationally known criminal defense attorney who has represented several high-profile defendants accused of terrorist activity including Abu Hamza al-Marsi – accused of attempting to create a "terrorist training camp" in Oregon in 2012; Dr. Arie Perliger, Director of Terrorism Studies at the Combating Terrorism Center and Professor, U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Perliger extensively studies issues related to terrorism and political violence and is co-editor of the journal Democracy and Security, member of the editorial board of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and regularly reviews journals including Political Psychology, Critical Studies on Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Columbia University Press, Chicago University Press, Routledge Press, and Polity Press.

The panelists will be available to the media before the conference by prior arrangement. The conference will take place at the Shalala Student Center, 1330 Miller Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, 33146. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit the NSAC homepage here.

The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond.  Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu

The University of Miami School of Law's mission is to foster the intellectual discipline, creativity, and critical skills that will prepare its graduates for the highest standards of professional competence in the practice of law in a global environment subject to continual ― and not always predictable ― transformation; to cultivate a broad range of legal and interdisciplinary scholarship that, working at the cutting edge of its field, enhances the development of law and legal doctrine, and deepens society's understanding of law and its role in society; and to fulfill the legal profession's historic duty to promote the interests of justice.  www.law.miami.edu

SOURCE University of Miami

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