Editing Weapon of mass destruction (section)

====Criminal (civilian) definition====
For the purposes of U.S. [[criminal law]] concerning terrorism,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_113B.html |title=US CODE: Chapter 113B—Terrorism |publisher=.law.cornell.edu |date=28 June 2010 |access-date=5 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819002206/http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_113B.html |archive-date=19 August 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> weapons of mass destruction are defined as:
* any "destructive device" defined as any explosive, incendiary, or [[poison gas]] – bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or device similar to any of the devices described in the preceding clauses<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/921- |title=US CODE: Title 18, § 921. Definitions |publisher=.law.cornell.edu |date=13 September 1994 |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>
* any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors
* any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector
* any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2332a- |title=US CODE: Title 18, § 2332a. Use of weapons of mass destruction |publisher=.law.cornell.edu |date=28 June 2010 |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>

The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s definition is similar to that presented above from the terrorism statute:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/wmd/wmd_faqs/ |title=What is A Weapon of Mass Destruction |publisher=Fbi.gov |date=30 March 2007 |access-date=5 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013224419/http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/wmd/wmd_faqs |archive-date=13 October 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* any "destructive device" as defined in Title 18 USC Section 921: any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas – bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or device similar to any of the devices described in the preceding clauses
* any weapon designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals or their precursors
* any weapon involving a disease organism
* any weapon designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life
* any device or weapon designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury by causing a malfunction of or destruction of an aircraft or other vehicle that carries humans or of an aircraft or other vehicle whose malfunction or destruction may cause said aircraft or other vehicle to cause death or serious bodily injury to humans who may be within range of the vector in its course of travel or the travel of its debris.

Indictments and convictions for possession and use of WMD such as truck bombs,<ref>See, e.g., {{cite web |title=United States v. McVeigh |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6243122458905704098 |website=Google Scholar |access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref> [[pipe bombs]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=/data2/circs/2nd/981723.html |title=FindLaw for Legal Professionals – Case Law, Federal and State Resources, Forms, and Code |publisher=Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com |access-date=5 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610132713/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=%2Fdata2%2Fcircs%2F2nd%2F981723.html |archive-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> shoe bombs,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/reid/usreid1002ind.pdf |title=U.S. v. Richard C. Reid |access-date=5 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325035918/http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/reid/usreid1002ind.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and cactus needles coated with a biological toxin<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nPAyAAAAIBAJ&pg=6809%2C3453874 |title=The Free Lance-Star – 14 Jul 1998 |access-date=11 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102045936/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nPAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mQgGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6809%2C3453874 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> have been obtained under 18 USC 2332a.

As defined by 18 USC §2332 (a), a Weapon of Mass Destruction is:
* (A) any destructive device as defined in section 921 of the title;
* (B) any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;
* (C) any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of this title); or
* (D) any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life;
Under the same statute, conspiring, attempting, threatening, or using a Weapon of Mass Destruction may be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, and if resulting in death, be punishable by death or by imprisonment for any terms of years or for life. They can also be asked to pay a maximum fine of $250,000.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/pdf/uscode18/lii_usc_TI_18_PA_I_CH_113B_SE_2332a.pdf |title=18 U.S. Code § 2332a - Use of weapons of mass destruction |access-date=27 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720083239/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/pdf/uscode18/lii_usc_TI_18_PA_I_CH_113B_SE_2332a.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported on 30 March 2006: "Jurors asked the judge in the death penalty trial of [[Zacarias Moussaoui]] today to define the term 'weapons of mass destruction' and were told it includes airplanes used as missiles". Moussaoui was indicted and tried for conspiracy to both destroy aircraft and use weapons of mass destruction, among others.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indictment of ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI |url=https://www.justice.gov/archives/ag/indictment-zacarias-moussaoui |website=www.justice.gov |language=en |date=9 September 2014}}</ref>

The surviving [[Boston Marathon bombing]] perpetrator, [[Dzhokhar Tsarnaev]], was charged in June 2013 with the federal offense of "use of a weapon of mass destruction" after he and his brother [[Tamerlan Tsarnaev]] allegedly placed crude shrapnel bombs, made from pressure cookers packed with ball bearings and nails, near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. He was convicted in April 2015. The bombing resulted in three deaths and at least 264 injuries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/04/23/number-injured-marathon-bombing-revised-downward/NRpaz5mmvGquP7KMA6XsIK/story.html|title=Injury toll from Marathon bombs reduced to 264|quote=Boston public health officials said Tuesday that they have revised downward their estimate of the number of people injured in the Marathon attacks, to 264.|date=24 April 2013|access-date=29 April 2013|newspaper=The Boston Globe|last=Kotz|first=Deborah|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331141156/https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/04/23/number-injured-marathon-bombing-revised-downward/NRpaz5mmvGquP7KMA6XsIK/story.html|archive-date=31 March 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>