Local terrorism expert weighs in on Nashville bombing

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Many people keep asking why officials haven’t called the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville an “act of terrorism.” The reason is that an FBI team is still formulating a profile of the bomber to determine a motive and see if there are any others involved.

Dr. Carter Smith teaches at MTSU and is an expert on domestic terrorism.

“Obviously you want to know who’s responsible. Is Nashville a target? Is AT&T a target? You’ll get a lot of people suspect this or that or whatever,” Dr. Smith said.

Dr. Smith has as many questions, as most people, but he sees this through the lens of someone who’s studied domestic terrorism for years.

“What the police have to do is eventually determine if there was a threat to more than just the RV. Obviously there was. What was the reason for that threat? What caused that? Was there anybody else that might have been targeted? Was there any other damage or injuries that might have been intended because, quite frankly, as we’ve seen just recently, if there’s not gonna be a copycat, it doesn’t mean there’s not gonna be a follow up,” Dr. Smith explained.

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He says, like most, he questioned why the older RV was able to sit in that spot so long. Another question that came to his mind is, who’s to say the suspect wasn’t forced into this plan?

“Better terrorists, A, won’t get detected right away, B, will make sure you think somebody else did it, and C, will be messing with your mind long after you think they’re capable of,” Dr. Smith said.

They’re questions we’ll probably be juggling for a long time, since law enforcement must work as thoroughly as they can to investigate every possible scenario.

“If there are three other layers there and I don’t even notice them, they win, every time,” Dr. Smith said.

He says while this looks like a well thought out and executed plan, no assumption can be trusted until the entire investigation has played out.