By contrast, Muslim terrorists were frequently described as angry extremists, motivated primarily if not solely by religion. Speculation on mental health problems was sparse and in most cases nonexistent. When Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad opened fire at a US military recruiting office in Arkansas in 2009, killing one, Fox News reported that "Muhammad was targeting U.S. soldiers 'because of what they had done to Muslims in the past' and was angry about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." The same report suggested that the shooting "was part of what security experts call an alarming domestic trend" involving Muslim converts carrying out violent attacks in the United States. The New York Times initially focused on suggestions from experts, and even the defense lawyer, that Muhammad "was radicalized by Islamic fundamentalists in a Yemeni prison." The media's framing of Muhammad's attack, like other terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims, reduced the perpetrator to a simple-minded, angry Islamic extremist with no complex motivations or forces shaping his actions other than revenge and religion. The media exerts little effort to psychologize, humanize, or nuance Muslim terrorists in the same manner as white non-Muslim perpetrators.

XREF: Contrasts with the psychological framing media applies to white non-Muslim shooters; relates to biased coverage double standards. SEED: Potential essay angle on how terrorist framing shapes public perception and policy toward Muslim communities. Builds on: "Western news media disproportionately frames Islam around terrorism and misogyny"

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 506