Tom Parker
@tdgparker.bsky.social
Counterterrorism practitioner and former UN war crimes investigator. Author of Avoiding the Terrorist Trap. Personal tweets, retweets ≠ endorsement 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦
…Booth also managed to snag one of the steel pikes Brown had had manufactured to arm the slave rebellion as a souvenir.
August 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
…Booth also managed to snag one of the steel pikes Brown had had manufactured to arm the slave rebellion as a souvenir.
…Despite his personal dislike of the abolitionist, whom he rather ironically described as a “traitor and terrorizer”, Booth would later tell his sister: “John Brown was a man inspired, the grandest character of this century.”
August 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
…Despite his personal dislike of the abolitionist, whom he rather ironically described as a “traitor and terrorizer”, Booth would later tell his sister: “John Brown was a man inspired, the grandest character of this century.”
…Booth was appearing at a theatre in Richmond at the time of Brown’s trial and on a whim he dressed up in military uniform to accompany a unit of the Richmond Greys who had been dispatched to county seat of Charlestown to provide security for Brown’s execution on the scaffold…
August 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
…Booth was appearing at a theatre in Richmond at the time of Brown’s trial and on a whim he dressed up in military uniform to accompany a unit of the Richmond Greys who had been dispatched to county seat of Charlestown to provide security for Brown’s execution on the scaffold…
…Brown, who has a strong claim to be one of history’s first religious terrorists, had already murdered 5 pro-slavery settlers in Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, in May 1856. He’d make a great subject for a @theresthistory.bsky.social series…
August 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
…Brown, who has a strong claim to be one of history’s first religious terrorists, had already murdered 5 pro-slavery settlers in Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, in May 1856. He’d make a great subject for a @theresthistory.bsky.social series…
…In December 1859 John Wilkes Booth was actually present at the execution of the revolutionary abolitionist John Brown, whose raid on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia on 16 October 1859 set in motion the events that led to the outbreak of the Civil War…
August 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
…In December 1859 John Wilkes Booth was actually present at the execution of the revolutionary abolitionist John Brown, whose raid on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia on 16 October 1859 set in motion the events that led to the outbreak of the Civil War…
Another fantastic series from @holland-tom.bsky.social and Dominic Sandbrook and the @theresthistory.bsky.social team delving into the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He played a crucial part at the end of the Civil War, but incredibly he was also there at the beginning…
August 16, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Another fantastic series from @holland-tom.bsky.social and Dominic Sandbrook and the @theresthistory.bsky.social team delving into the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He played a crucial part at the end of the Civil War, but incredibly he was also there at the beginning…
If you are interested in learning more about how terrorists can be constrained in their actions by public opinion, check out my book Avoiding the Terrorist Trap: Why Respect for Human Rights is the Key to Defeating Terrorism. Thanks for reading to the end!
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
If you are interested in learning more about how terrorists can be constrained in their actions by public opinion, check out my book Avoiding the Terrorist Trap: Why Respect for Human Rights is the Key to Defeating Terrorism. Thanks for reading to the end!
The loyalty of their supporters is thus an important guarantor of terrorists’ physical safety, their operational capabilities, and even their long-term viability. If they alienate them through their words or actions, their entire enterprise can be put at risk…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The loyalty of their supporters is thus an important guarantor of terrorists’ physical safety, their operational capabilities, and even their long-term viability. If they alienate them through their words or actions, their entire enterprise can be put at risk…
As terrorism researcher Louise Richardson noted in her book What Terrorists Want: “Terrorism, to survive and thrive, needs a complicit society, a societal surround sympathetic to its aspirations”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
As terrorism researcher Louise Richardson noted in her book What Terrorists Want: “Terrorism, to survive and thrive, needs a complicit society, a societal surround sympathetic to its aspirations”…
“We offer our apology and condolences to the victims’ families. We accept full responsibility for what happened in the hospital and will pay blood money for the victims’ families”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
“We offer our apology and condolences to the victims’ families. We accept full responsibility for what happened in the hospital and will pay blood money for the victims’ families”…
Following the public backlash in Yemen to the December 2013 AQAP attack on a military hospital in Sana’a that left 52 people dead, the group’s military leader Qassim al-Raimi apologized: “Now we acknowledge our mistake and our guilt…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Following the public backlash in Yemen to the December 2013 AQAP attack on a military hospital in Sana’a that left 52 people dead, the group’s military leader Qassim al-Raimi apologized: “Now we acknowledge our mistake and our guilt…
In 2005 Zawahiri wrote to the then leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi: “The strongest weapon which the Mujahedin enjoy… is popular support from the Muslim masses… Therefore, the Mujahed movement must avoid any action that masses do not understand or approve”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
In 2005 Zawahiri wrote to the then leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi: “The strongest weapon which the Mujahedin enjoy… is popular support from the Muslim masses… Therefore, the Mujahed movement must avoid any action that masses do not understand or approve”…
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, wrote in his book “Knights under the Prophet’s Banner” that the jihadist movement “must take every precaution to avoid separating itself from its community”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, wrote in his book “Knights under the Prophet’s Banner” that the jihadist movement “must take every precaution to avoid separating itself from its community”…
In its final communiqué on disbanding, the German Rote Armee Fraktion acknowledged that it had failed listen effectively to its constituents: “The RAF was not a factor in social questions. This was a fundamental mistake”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
In its final communiqué on disbanding, the German Rote Armee Fraktion acknowledged that it had failed listen effectively to its constituents: “The RAF was not a factor in social questions. This was a fundamental mistake”…
Raúl Sendic, founder of the Tupamaros, observed: “We tried to act in consideration of the Uruguayan mentality, keeping violence to a minimum. It was then that we conducted those actions that were celebrated internationally due to the imagination we applied to avoid violence”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Raúl Sendic, founder of the Tupamaros, observed: “We tried to act in consideration of the Uruguayan mentality, keeping violence to a minimum. It was then that we conducted those actions that were celebrated internationally due to the imagination we applied to avoid violence”…
General George Grivas who led EOKA’s fight for independence from Britain wrote: “Who wins over the people, has won half the battle. Throughout the struggle I never ceased for a single moment to strive to hold the people’s moral support”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
General George Grivas who led EOKA’s fight for independence from Britain wrote: “Who wins over the people, has won half the battle. Throughout the struggle I never ceased for a single moment to strive to hold the people’s moral support”…
This sensitivity to the political sentiments of their potential constituents is not unique to the Northern Ireland Conflict, terrorist groups from across the political spectrum have learned this lesson…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
This sensitivity to the political sentiments of their potential constituents is not unique to the Northern Ireland Conflict, terrorist groups from across the political spectrum have learned this lesson…
Gerry Adams warned the annual Sinn Féin Ard Fheis “IRA mistakes are welcomed by the British state [as] it seeks to demoralize and confuse the wider nationalist support base”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Gerry Adams warned the annual Sinn Féin Ard Fheis “IRA mistakes are welcomed by the British state [as] it seeks to demoralize and confuse the wider nationalist support base”…
An Phoblacht described the bombing as a “monumental error” that would strengthen the Provisional IRA’s opponents. In January 1989, the Provisional IRA disbanded the West Fermanagh Brigade which had been responsible for the Enniskillen attack…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
An Phoblacht described the bombing as a “monumental error” that would strengthen the Provisional IRA’s opponents. In January 1989, the Provisional IRA disbanded the West Fermanagh Brigade which had been responsible for the Enniskillen attack…
As @DalrympleWill notes in @EmpirePodUK S16 E14, the November 1987 PIRA bombing of the Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen was rapidly seen as a damaging mistake within the organization…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
As @DalrympleWill notes in @EmpirePodUK S16 E14, the November 1987 PIRA bombing of the Remembrance Day ceremony in Enniskillen was rapidly seen as a damaging mistake within the organization…
Adams elaborated still further: “IRA members do not go to people who provide support without being receptive to their thoughts... Not only is that receptiveness and responsiveness correct in political terms, it is also a practical necessity in everyday circumstances”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Adams elaborated still further: “IRA members do not go to people who provide support without being receptive to their thoughts... Not only is that receptiveness and responsiveness correct in political terms, it is also a practical necessity in everyday circumstances”…
Adams returned to the theme as President of Sinn Féin in 1984, publicly warning PIRA that “there are varying degrees of tolerance within the nationalist electorate for aspects of the armed struggle”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Adams returned to the theme as President of Sinn Féin in 1984, publicly warning PIRA that “there are varying degrees of tolerance within the nationalist electorate for aspects of the armed struggle”…
Gerry Adams wrote in An Phoblacht in 1982: “To be successful we must strive towards mobilizing the maximum amount of people… in a structured manner based on their needs… We cannot gain the republic without the people. We cannot do it on our own”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Gerry Adams wrote in An Phoblacht in 1982: “To be successful we must strive towards mobilizing the maximum amount of people… in a structured manner based on their needs… We cannot gain the republic without the people. We cannot do it on our own”…
PIRA enforcer Eamon Collins: “The IRA tried to act in a way that would avoid severe censure from within the nationalist community; they knew they were operating within a sophisticated set of informal restrictions on their behavior, no less powerful for being largely unspoken”…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
PIRA enforcer Eamon Collins: “The IRA tried to act in a way that would avoid severe censure from within the nationalist community; they knew they were operating within a sophisticated set of informal restrictions on their behavior, no less powerful for being largely unspoken”…
The truly excellent @anitaanand.bsky.social, @willdalrymple.bsky.social, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and @empirepoduk.bsky.social series on The Troubles finishes strong by highlighting how even terrorist groups must operate within powerful political constraints on their behaviour (*a thread*)…
April 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The truly excellent @anitaanand.bsky.social, @willdalrymple.bsky.social, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and @empirepoduk.bsky.social series on The Troubles finishes strong by highlighting how even terrorist groups must operate within powerful political constraints on their behaviour (*a thread*)…