An act of terrorism

Something is happening in North Carolina, and we should all be paying close attention.\nOn Friday, 22-year-old University of North Carolina alumnus Mohammed Taheri-azar rented a Jeep and plowed into a populated gathering place on the Chapel Hill campus, intending to kill. He injured nine people instead. \nMoments after committing this act, he dialed 911 to confess, telling the police, "Come arrest me." When the dispatcher asked why he wanted to kill people, Taheri-azar replied, "It's really to punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world." He later told investigators he wanted to "avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world."\nNow a debate has been sparked about whether or not the act should be labeled terrorism. Should it?\nSome might argue this is a case of stereotyping -- that just because Taheri-azar has a "Middle Eastern-sounding" name and committed his crime in the name of Islam, he is more likely to be labeled a terrorist than if he possessed a "white-sounding" name and committed the act in the name of something else. Some might say his act is trivial compared to other terrorist attacks -- past and future ones -- that he has no connections to terrorist groups, and his attempt at mass murder was a poor one.\nAll these things may be true, but that doesn't that discount Taheri-azar's actions are consistent with the actual definition of terrorism, which is, according to Dictionary.com, "the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."\nClearly, Taheri-azar wants to intimidate the U.S. government -- with death, mind you -- based on political reasons. He didn't snap and drive through a crowded area because he was having a bad semester or because he was suicidal -- he explicitly stated he was punishing the United States government and avenging deaths of Muslims.\nWhat's even scarier than people disagreeing with me on this matter is Taheri-azar himself. If you have seen any media coverage, you know the guy is bizarre. Who rents a Jeep, plows into a crowd and then calls 911 to say "come get me"? He has a permanent, creepy smirk and has chosen to represent himself on the 18 felony counts he now faces. He's not exactly bright.\nWhat needs to happen now is we must recognize the seriousness of this case and prosecute Taheri-azar on federal terrorism charges. If he isn't charged with committing an act of terrorism, it would send the message that this incident is not considered terrorist in nature. This is entirely dangerous and frightening. Think about if this had happened at IU, which is not far from being possible. What would you think if someone ran over your best friend in the name of punishing the United States? \nLike the UNC College Republicans, we must protest terrorism at our universities. We must follow this case, and make sure Taheri-azar is labeled a terrorist. We're fighting the war on terror abroad. Now we must do the same at home.