Lee Erwin Reporting
lerwin@clarksvillenow.com
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Clarksville Rotary Club was visited Wednesday, July 23 by Special Agent Michael Knight with the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Knight is a Public Information Officer with the Bureau and his main topic was deterring violence.
Social Media was the main topic Knight discussed and its connection to workplace or domestic violence. He asked how many people had social media connections and around 50 people held up their hands. Knight said on average among the people at the meeting there would be close to 2,000 social media connections.
The point Knight said he was trying to make was that before a mass casualty event took place someone knew about it either in a diary, in a conversation or on the internet. “When we look at mass casualty events in the past, every one of those individuals mentioned that they were going to do this,” said Knight.
Knight added that is one reason the internet is so important from a safety standpoint because all of that information is out there. Most individuals don’t just wake up one day and decide to cause violence there is some precursor.
Talking about the internet he emphasized it’s not illegal but you can type in different words and go to a site and learn how to make an explosive device and where to put that device or how to cause a mass casualty event.
When it comes to violence Knight said shooting is not the number one issue of workplace violence, it is fist fighting. Those involved may go home after work and stir up their families and they may come back to work and it escalates from there.
Knight talked about his message to members of Rotary. “The message is part of ATF’s front line which is to help reduce violent crime in various areas of the country, in particular for today in the Clarksville and the Tennessee area. Reducing violent crime is important in many avenues including workplace violence,” Knight said.
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