Author Jeffrey Simon talks about ‘Lone-Wolf’ terrorists

Islamic Extremism

FILE – In this April 18, 2011 file photo, Man Haron Monis speaks to the media as he leaves the Downing Centre in Sydney after a pre-trial hearing where he is accused of sending offending letters to the families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Monis, the gunman in the 16-hour-long siege at the Lindt Cafe in downtown Sydney, was killed Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014 in a police operation to rescue the people he was holding hostage. (AP Photo/AAP Image, Dean Lewins) AUSTRALIA OUT, NEW ZEALAND OUT, NO ARCHIVE, NO SALES

Horror over a deadly siege morphed into anger Tuesday as leaders of a grieving nation demanded to know how a man with a violent criminal history slipped through the cracks and ended up in the downtown Sydney cafe where he took 17 people hostage.

The 16-hour siege ended in a barrage of gunfire and screams early Tuesday morning when police stormed into the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in a desperate bid to free the hostages. Two of the hostages were killed, as was the gunman, Man Haron Monis, a 50-year-old Iranian-born, self-styled cleric described by Australia’s prime minister as a deeply disturbed person carrying out a “sick fantasy.”

CCTV America was joined by Jeffrey Simon, the author of “Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing threat,” to talk about Sydney hostage siege and wide spectrum of terrorists who aren’t part of big organizations.