The car can be transformed in an instant from means of transport to deadly weapon. Unlike the purchase of chemicals for explosives or weapons, the authorities also lack methods to detect when a car is purchased with hidden motives, says Hans Brun.
– The car is a safe way for a lone worker to get to work, he says.
Over the years, cars have been used for terror and the people behind the wheel have had various motives for the crime. In the 70s drove a 22-year-old woman to death eight people in Prague. The perpetrator, Olga Hepnarová, claimed to want revenge on a society that destroyed her.
In the West Bank and in Israel, dozens of crimes have been carried out by Palestinians against civilians and military Israelis from the 2010s onwards. And in 2017, a man in the US drove into a crowd demonstrating against white supremacists and right-wing extremists in Charlottesville.
IS encourages car acts
According to the FBI, the latest car attack in New Orleans, when Shamsud-Din Jabbar killed at least 15 and injured around 30 New Year’s revelers, was “100 percent inspired by IS”.
The terrorist group, which now consists of various strongholds in Africa and Central Asia, has encouraged terrorist acts with cars and still has a large presence online.
– When IS emerged around 2014, the IS spokesperson and head of external terror operations went out and urged his followers to use the means available and to use cars to “slaughter infidels”, says terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp.
“A simple remedy”
The following year, several IS sympathizers carried out acts of terror in Europe, several by car. In September 2016, 86 people were killed by a man in a truck on the promenade in Nice. Another 450 people were injured and IS later claimed responsibility.
Later that year, 14 people were killed at a Christmas market in Berlin, also by truck. A year later, Rakhmat Akilov drove five people to death on Drottninggatan in Stockholm.
– It is a very simple tool to use to cause as much damage as possible, says Magnus Ranstorp.
How can society best protect itself against car crimes, now and in the long term? Three examples are given in the video.