"We were not ready for something of this magnitude," said Bryan Byers, a criminal justice professor. "We have lived a charmed life in this country, making us feel very safe. We have a tremendous faith in that feeling of being safe."

"Just like the bombing of the building in Oklahoma City in the 1990s, we are totally in shock," he said. "We have denied for years that this could happen on American soil."

Byers was thinking "it finally happened" as he watched television reports of two hijacked passenger planes being flown into the World Trade Tower in New York City and another into the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

"We have seen the signs leading up to this for several years," he said. "We are very unpopular in some international circles. We should never forget this."

There is the potential that the acts of terrorism were by American citizens. When the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed, the media and government officials immediately pegged the incident on foreigners, Byers said.

Timothy McVeigh, a U.S. military veteran of the Gulf War, was subsequently convicted and put to death for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

"I would not rule out homegrown terrorism," Byers said. "It is much too early to tell."

By Marc Ransford, Communications Manager

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Byers at bbyers@bsu.edu or (765) 285-1530.)