The savage beheading of an Oklahoma woman should be considered both an act of workplace violence and an act of terror, says Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of Truth Revolt and editor-at-large of Breitbart News.
"Just because you kill somebody in the workplace doesn't mean that it wasn't an act of terrorism," Shapiro said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
Thus far, the government has refused to call the murderous act "terrorism," even though suspect Alton Nolen, 30, had converted to Islam in prison and was reportedly trying to convert others.
"This is a federal government, unfortunately under the Obama administration, that refuses to acknowledge the threat of lone wolf terrorism inside the United States from Islamists," Shapiro said.
"Because if they were to do that, it would suggest that we might have to take the problem a little more seriously than we've been taking it here before."
Shapiro pointed to the fact that the beheading occurred within days of the Islamic State (ISIS) calling for beheadings in the United States.
"Whether or not you are going to consider [Nolen] a formal associate of a terrorist group seems irrelevant at this point given the fact that we've had lone wolf attacks in the past from affiliates," Shapiro said.
"People not necessarily formally affiliated with terrorist groups, but people who sympathize with terrorist groups.
"That he's an Islamic convert, I don't think that shocked anyone. When you hear beheading, typically you don't tend to think Buddhist convert."