In several unsettling attacks across Europe, lone assailants have singled out children in especially shocking acts of violence. Consider last week’s knife assault in Bavaria or the horrifying mass stabbing in Southport for which the killer has just been sentenced. Each time, authorities rush to dismiss terrorism or cite “psychological problems.” But far from having nothing to do with terrorism, these attacks suggest the emergence of a new kind of nihilistic terror, one which, although different from the ideological jihadism we might be used to, draws on a similar script. These killers express the hatred and contempt they have towards contemporary Western societies in acts of barbarism specifically targeted at children. Their choice of children is not incidental.
