Is the “incel” ideology a terror threat? That’s the wrong question to ask

Traditional counter-terrorism frameworks don’t help tackle the rise in nebulous extremist violence like the Plymouth attack.

By Milo Comerford and Jakob Guhl

Members of the public place flowers at Royal Navy Avenue on 15 August 2021 in Plymouth, England, three days after police were called to a serious firearms incident (Photo By William Dax/Getty Images)

In the wake of the tragic shooting in Plymouth on 12 August and the claims from police that the incident was not terror related (now under review), there has been considerable soul-searching in the United Kingdom around how we conceptualise the threat from ideologically inspired violence.

While the facts are still emerging, there is evidence that the attacker in Plymouth was at least partially influenced by the involuntary celibate online subculture (although he himself stated that he did not identify as such, and appeared to have an ambivalent relationship with the community).