While the Pennsylvania shooter who led authorities on a wild goose chase into the forest for two months has been described as a "survivalist," it wasn't entirely clear until now why he ambushed two state police officers outside their barracks.
According to the Associated Press, Eric Frein told authorities on the night that he was apprehended that he wanted to spark a revolution because we've lost our liberty.
On the night of his capture, Frein waived his right to remain silent and told police in an interview at the barracks that he had shot the troopers "because he wanted to make a change (in government) and that voting was inefficient to do so, because there was no one worth voting for," according to a criminal complaint. "The defendant further acknowledged taking action (shooting the troopers) to wake people up because it was all he could do."
Frein also wrote a letter to his parents detailing his intentions.
"I do not pretend to know what that revolution will look like or even if it would be successful," he wrote before adding: "Tension is high at the moment and the time seems right for a spark to ignite a fire in the hearts of men. What I have done has not been done before and it felt like it was worth a try," the documents said.
Frein was already charged with first-degree murder for killing one of the state troopers he ambushed, but two additional accounts of terrorism were added yesterday after the letter to his parents was found on his computer.
More specifically, Frein was charged with "terrorism to influence the policy of government by intimidation or coercion and terrorism to affect the conduct of a government."
Frein is clearly a damaged and unhinged individual but I for one am glad to see a right wing extremist officially charged for terrorism.
Let's call it what it is.