Secret Service Study Probes Psyche of U.S. Assassins

[PoliticAverse]

"With public speculation mounting about what motivated a 22-year-old man to attempt to kill a congresswoman, a little-known study by the Secret Service suggests the truth may be frighteningly mundane.

The study of U.S. assassinations over the last 60 years debunks some key myths about the miscreants behind the attacks. The Exceptional Case Study Project, completed in 1999, covers all 83 people who killed or attempted to kill a public figure in the United States from 1949 to 1996."

Read the rest at: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/secret-service-assassin-study/

[villager]

1. they're probing the psyches of CIA covert operatives!?

n/t

[lpbk2713]

2. It would not surprise me in the least ...

if they found a striking similarity in personality profiles with the denizens of Freepville.

[TygrBright]

3. "...the attackers didn’t conform to any particular demographic profile..."

Really?

What percentage were female?

What percentage were over 60 years old?

What percentage were non-white?

What percentage were born somewhere other than the United States?

What percentage were from intact, two-parent families in the top two income quintiles?

Just curious.

Even if this is true, assertions like that, which startle and confound the reader's expectations, should be followed by some kind of factual presentation or summary of the data, or the reader will suspect the veracity of the writer. A good editor knows this.

Apparently Wired doesn't go in for good editing.

There were good things about the "old media." I miss some of them.

dismissively,
Bright