‘Broken Windows’ and the Terrorism of Small Things – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

Most of my adult life has been involved with the terrorism threat, first as a scholar, then, for many years, as a counterterrorism practitioner, and now the author of frequent articles on the evolving threat. Most of this involvement has been about “big” terrorism: mass casualty events, potential attacks on nuclear facilities, assassinations, kidnappings, and airline hijackings. At one time or the other, I worked in executive protection, aviation security, hostage negotiation, and the training and testing of protective forces assigned to high-value national security and critical infrastructure targets. And in my recent writings here at The American Spectator, I’ve focused on such things as Chinese state-sponsored terrorism or the machinations of Iranian proxies.

Lately, however, I find myself more and more concerned with terrorism in a minor key, what I’ve come to think of as “the terrorism of small things.” No, I don’t mean things like the individuals who’ve aligned themselves with ISIS before going out to drive a truck through a crowd of holiday revelers. For present purposes, even the “lone actor” must be considered part of “big” terrorism, partly due to alignment with the larger international terrorist actors, but mainly because we must never allow ourselves to minimize the vile behavior of those who choose to murder the innocent. (RELATED: To Terror No Sanction)

Increasingly, however, we’re seeing a category of events that may not be lethal, but which exert a chilling and disruptive effect. The recent wave of vandalism aimed at Tesla cars and Tesla dealerships exemplifies the problem. (RELATED: We Always Knew It Was Going to Get Weird — As Elon Musk Can Tell You)

I’ve never been a fan of electric cars, and I’ve positively detested the manner in which “Green New Deal” zealots have promoted Teslas and others of their ilk. That our government and the governments of major European countries have, in effect, forced electric cars down our collective throats strikes me as insulting, both to our freedom and to our intelligence. And I’ve found those people who’ve worn their Tesla purchase as a badge of honor to be ridiculous. A Tesla parked in a driveway marked with a “Hate Has No Home Here Sign” has long been evidence of the worst kind of virtue signaling. (RELATED: The Personal Is Political for Foolish Tesla Owners)

It’s unsurprising, then, that a vehicle draped in performative woke excess should have become the object of bitter anger when the godfather of Tesla, Elon Musk, suddenly turned into both the most prominent ally and most energetic agent of Donald Trump and his agenda. If all this meant was a decline in sales, then so be it. Musk certainly profited when Teslas were purchased by the “in-crowd,” so there’s perhaps a certain justice when that same crowd walks away. In any event, one doubts declining Tesla sales really matters much to him just now.

But it’s not just declining sales.

Instead, we read every day of Tesla dealerships being attacked and the cars themselves being vandalized, frequently, contemptibly with swastikas — these people really can’t let go of their idiotic “Musk = Hitler” fantasies. Ironically, this has become but the latest example of the woke eating their own, and it would be easy for the rest of us to derive a certain pleasure in watching this play out. The Germans have a good word for this — schadenfreude, that is, amusement at the discomfort of others, and, specifically, when they’ve earned it through their own silly actions.

Still, we would do well to withhold our laughter, because this kind of vandalism represents a threat to some fundamentally conservative values. It’s not just Teslas, but all manner of other targets, including those we conservatives would value. When the “Just Stop Oil” fanatics splash paint on great works of art, society bears the cost of restoration. When “Jane’s Revenge” spray paints threats on the walls of pregnancy help centers, it intimidates both those seeking help and those who provide it, and the cleanup diverts resources better spent on these women in their hour of need.

Worse yet, this kind of political vandalism nurtures progressively greater violence, moving the needle from graffiti and broken windows to destructive acts such as arson, and sooner or later, to lethal attacks. Years ago we learned to appreciate this dynamic in the context of ordinary, non-political criminality.

One of the great insights of crime fighting was that tolerating neighborhood decline by allowing small things to slide served as an incubator for progressively more serious crimes. Reversing this tolerance, refusing to accept the “broken windows” that gave this crime-fighting concept its name, proved itself on the streets of New York and other cities.

Unlike petty criminality, however, political vandalism cloaks itself in the language of legitimate protest and hides behind the First Amendment right of free speech. This is profoundly dangerous, and it should not be tolerated. In particular, we should resolutely reject the notion that “it doesn’t really harm anyone,” or, “it’s only property.” Repainting a Tesla to get rid of the swastika takes resources away from something better — maybe that Tesla owner would otherwise have donated to a homeless shelter.

A brick through a window matters. When Nazi thugs rampaged through German cities on Kristallnacht in 1938, smashing the windows of hundreds of Jewish-owned businesses, Nazi leader Hermann Goering dismissed the damage with an arch “it’s the insurance companies that will have to pay.” In fact, when such things occur, all of us, that is, all of us who care about the society we live in, are called upon to pay. The “terrorism of small things” reaches into every corner of our lives, and normalizing it diminishes every aspect of our lives. (RELATED: So, You Want to Talk Hitler?)

And so, then, a simple value proposition. If one wants to publicly protest, then get a parade permit and march in accordance with its provisions. If one wants to send a message, write a letter to the editor, or append your thoughts to articles in the comments section of whichever online journal you either love or hate. But the moment you damage a piece of property or, worse, injure another human being, then you deserve punishment to the full extent of the law, ideally an extent not mitigated by some Soros-backed district attorney.

“Zero-tolerance” made “broken windows” policing work to reduce crime. It’s time for a similar approach to ending “the terrorism of small things.”

READ MORE from James H. McGee:

‘No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Die.’

Suppressing Speech in Germany: 1933 vs. 2025

Trump, Zelenskyy, and Ukraine: A Tale of Frustration

James H. McGee retired in 2018 after nearly four decades as a national security and counterterrorism professional, working primarily in the nuclear security field. Since retiring, he’s begun a second career as a thriller writer. His recent novel, Letter of Reprisal, tells the tale of a desperate mission to destroy a Chinese bioweapon facility hidden in the heart of the central African conflict region. A forthcoming sequel finds the Reprisal team fighting against terrorists who’ve infiltrated our southern border in a conspiracy that ranges across the globe. You can find Letter of Reprisal on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback editions, as well as on Kindle Unlimited.