Was the Las Vegas shooter a terrorist?

What we talk about when we talk about mass shootings

Concertgoers try to find safety.
(Image credit: David Becker/Getty Images)

There's one term that uniformly fits Stephen Paddock, the deceased suspect in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, and that's "mass murderer." But as we search for meaning behind an atrocity that has raised the bar on the levels of depravity people can inflict on each other, the many other labels applied to Paddock — like "terrorist" — will have wide-reaching implications. And we should all be judicious before throwing around terms that have enormous political consequences.

We know Paddock was white, retired, and had no criminal record or known history of mental illness. His dumbfounded brother told reporters "he was just a guy," someone who had never expressed any passion for politics or religion, nor did he appear to be someone obsessed with guns or harboring a murderous rage. He was unmarried and living in a retirement community. That Paddock — who was fond of both country music and gambling — chose a country music festival outside of a Las Vegas casino hotel as his killing ground is the only set of dots that appear to connect at the moment.

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Anthony L. Fisher

Anthony L. Fisher is a journalist and filmmaker in New York with work also appearing at Vox, The Daily Beast, Reason, New York Daily News, Huffington Post, Newsweek, CNN, Fox News Channel, Sundance Channel, and Comedy Central. He also wrote and directed the feature film Sidewalk Traffic, available on major VOD platforms.