What is the difference between…

…a terrorist attack and a hate crime? Clearly, there is an overlap but where is the dividing line? I think it matters how these terms are used, not least because of the need for an appropriate response from the police, politicians and the media.

Obviously, at least part of the aim of a terrorist is to cause fear, preferably as much as possible, in the general populace. Another fairly standard aim is to cause an authoritarian crackdown on cherished freedoms and that, in turn, inspires anger among the populace. However, does a terrorist [do terrorists] have to belong, in some sense, to a particular organisation or group with a shared ideology or can a single person with no connection to any organisation or group still be a terrorist?

Hate crime clearly can be carried out by a single perpetrator or a loose association of like-minded thugs. It does not seem to be organised in the sense of a shared ideology but more a combination of hatred of a recognisable group and mob emotion.

I remain confused about whether some recent events, which have been treated as terrorism and described as such in mainstream and social media, truly are terrorism or whether bandying the term around will nilly simply ratchets up more fear and tension between different communities.