I was appalled to hear that UTC recently was under the threat of an active shooter. The full campus lockdown meant that students and staff endured an hour-plus of terror. The lockdown was applied to Chattanooga’s government buildings. The Chattanooga Times Free Press was also in lockdown, as were a dozen Hamilton County schools as well as Erlanger and parts of Siskin hospitals. When the search of campus buildings gave no evidence of a shooting or shooter, the lockdown was lifted.
What’s happening here? Good question. And it applies far beyond the Chattanooga area. A dozen universities experienced similar hoaxes as the fall semester began. They were all over, including Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, New Hampshire and Arizona. Keep in mind that the timing of these university incidences was too close to be copy-cats, so it’s possible that there was a coordinated effort. Maybe the FBI is looking into that.
These hoaxes, known as “swatting,” refer to law enforcement’s highly-trained SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams that respond to violent crimes. The term “swatting” may be relatively new, but dangerous hoaxes have a long history, as I know all too well. Thirty-five years ago, I was the office manager of the American Jewish Committee in Chicago when there was a bomb threat. Our office was in a 49-story building, and I was in charge of getting all our staff out safely. No elevator. Stairs only. I felt lost in a hateful alternative universe, and the fear is still easily triggered, which is the intention. The hoax was designed to disrupt and terrify.
Intentions haven’t changed but increasingly result in actual destruction. Research shows that mass shootings have been increasing for decades. The recent shooting at the Minneapolis Catholic School gives us a closer look at this cultural trend that New York Times columnist David Brooks labeled “nihilism” in a recent commentary in the Times Free Press. The urge to destroy is deeply embedded — along with hate. The Minneapolis shooter, Robin Westman, wrote about despising just about everyone: Blacks, Hispanics, Catholics, Jews. He also wrote about loving guns and admiring active shooters. The passion for violence and destruction is symbolic of the growing nihilistic trend.
I wasn’t surprised by the usual “thoughts and prayers” comments after the Minneapolis shooting or by the pushback response, including renewed calls for gun control, particularly of automatic weapons. And I wasn’t surprised by the next pushback calling these demands insensitive while claiming that the issue is mental health, not guns.