When Alton Nolen, alias Jah’Keem Yisrael, beheaded a co-worker at a food processing plant in Moore, Oklahoma, the FBI responded by downplaying any terrorist threat and dubbing the incident one of “workplace violence.”

This has naturally caused controversy, especially given the almost simultaneous arrest of another man who who openly identified with the Islamic State terrorist group and threatened to behead a co-worker in nearby Oklahoma City. Is the FBI encouraging complacency or deceiving the public about an important risk?