Independent terrorist actor

An independent terrorist actor works outside a command structure, unaccountable to the claimed collective cause of a group. They are often motivated by personal gain or vendetta. Examples are:

• The radical Christian extremist Eric Robert Rudolph, who launched a series of attacks against civilians in the American south.
• Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish extremist who opened fire inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, killing 29 people. Although he was affiliated with Kach, Goldstein acted on his own. In response, the Israeli government condemned the act, outlawed Kach and compensated the victims.
• Timothy McVeigh, an American domestic terrorist convicted and executed for the April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people with a bomb-laden truck.