Trial and Terror

Since the attacks of September 11, the United States has prosecuted hundreds of people as terrorists. But what does the charge of ‘terrorism’ really mean, as it is applied by the federal government? Trial and Terror was a large-scale database project we undertook at The Intercept to investigate that question. After months of research, data collection and analysis, our team found that out of the over 800 people charged with terrorism, an overwhelming majority never got close to committing an act of violence.