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People are demanding that the Las Vegas attack be labeled as an act of terrorism

"This is terrorism plain and simple," wrote Lady Gaga.

Martha Tesema

on October 2, 2017

People are demanding that the Las Vegas attack be labeled as an act of terrorism

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival groundss of the Route 91 Harvest on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images

How do we distinguish a crime from a terrorist attack? It's a convoluted conversation that appears after every horrific mass shooting in America, and Sunday night's Las Vegas attack—the deadliest in U.S. history—is no exception.

As many on Twitter have pointed out, the president did not use the words "terror" or "terrorist" during his remarks about the shooting, despite his flippant use of the term in previous instances on Twitter. Today, the word is the top dictionary lookup online, according to Merriam-Webster, who defines it as "the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal."

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Because of the history of racial and religious bias in conjunction with the word "terrorist," folks on Twitter, including many celebrities, are using the platform to chastise the Trump administration and those who refer to the shooter as a "lone wolf" rather simply a "terrorist," despite the amount of terror the shooting has invoked in citizens across the country.

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