On December 3, 2014, SITE Intelligence Group released a video from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), showing a hostage identifying as a British-American citizen named Luke Somers, calmly but sincerely pleading for his life. Before Somers’s plea, AQAP official Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi discusses American foreign policy in Muslim countries, including Yemen, and claims that Somers will suffer an “inevitable fate” if the U.S. does not meet the group’s demands (not specified in the video) in three days.

After a gap of almost six weeks, the Islamic State (IS) released a video yesterday showing, along with the brutal simultaneous beheading of almost two dozen Syrian pilots, the head of American citizen Peter Kassig after it was severed from his body. Standing above his head was the British executor, known as "Jihad John," who killed other American and British citizens, challenging the US to send ground troops into Iraq and Syria.

Sometime over a year ago, a teenage American girl using the pseudonym "Grape" posted in response to a question on Ask.fm:

In the last 24 hours, five audio messages pledging allegiance to Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were released on behalf of jihadist groups from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, and Algeria. Among those to pledge was the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqd (also known as Ansar Jerusalem), along with unidentified collectives of fighters representing different countries and regions: “Mujahidin of the Arabian Peninsula,” “Mujahidin of Libya” and “Mujahidin of Yemen.” However, a closer look into these pledges raises questions regarding their authenticity and the underlying intentions of IS with their release.

When Canadian jihadist Martin Rouleau ran down two Canadian soldiers, Patrice Vincent and another one unnamed, in a hit-and-run on October 20, the method of attack seemed uncharacteristic of a jihadist. Jihadist attack efforts have typically leaned toward use of normal weapons—namely explosives, guns, and knives. Rouleau's attack, strangely, seemed to resemble an accident more than a terrorist attack. Based off of recent jihadist propaganda releases and chatter, Roulaeu's attack style may not be as much of an anomaly as it may be the beginning of a new norm in domestic terrorism.