"Domestic terrorism is a significant issue of concern and in recent years there has been a notable rise in deadly attacks committed by extremists. Extensive government resources have been allocated to prevent domestic terrorist attacks and to harden vulnerable targets. Scholars have conducted numerous studies on domestic terrorism and target selection. However, very little is known about target vulnerability and more specifically about the relationship between target vulnerability, victims and lethality. This dissertation fills this gap and examines the victims of lethal domestic extremist attacks and the situational context that surrounds these incidents. Eight separate measures of vulnerability are examined that are derived from Clarke and Newman (2006)'s EVIL DONE framework. This dissertation expands this framework by applying the framework to human targets and considering the victim and the situational context the victim was in at the time of the attack. The ideological motivation for each attack is examined to determine if there are differences in vulnerability based on motive (ideologically motivated homicides vs. non-ideologically motivated homicides) as well as the ideology of the suspect (right-wing vs. jihadist). Several factors relating to the victim and suspect are also examined. This project utilizes the Extremist Crimes Database (ECDB) and examines lethal incidents of domestic extremism that occurred between 1990-2014. This research makes several important contributions by filling a gap in terrorism literature and helps policymakers with target prioritization."--Page ii.
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