"You'll never stop it in time. Boom."
Eric Rawdon is a psychopathic homegrown terrorist and the leader of a group of anarchists, who appeared in The Storm.
Background
No details were revealed about Rawdon's personal life. He was a sadistic psychopath who wanted to cause destruction for the sake of it, and as a result, he joined the community of anarchists, which he presumably felt allowed the most leeway for him to provoke large-scale chaos. Hotch's profile on him also mentioned he joined white supremacy groups such as the Aryan Nations, though that was never elaborated on. Rawdon became prominent in the anarchist community and managed to rally dozens (and possibly hundreds) under his leadership, reforming them into homegrown terrorists. However, Rawdon never shared their beliefs and simply wanted to cause chaos through them. At some point, he began interacting with an autistic man named Asher Douglas, who he manipulated into participating in his plan of staging a large-scale attack against the U.S. On December 24, 2013, he was arrested in Arlington, Virginia, after breaking into a building and attempting to steal explosive chemical compounds; and later charged with burglary, breaking and entering, and criminal conspiracy. He was found guilty and sent to Virginia Supermax Prison. During his trial, Rawdon was profiled by Hotch, causing Rawdon to become vengeful towards him. While imprisoned, his followers began concocting a scheme to break him out.
The Storm
In 2016, the group conducts their plan under Rawdon's supervision, and they eventually manage to free him and numerous other inmates. Rawdon makes it into the control room, where he kills a responding prison guard. After Captain Grant Howard and a SWAT team are killed by Rawdon's followers, Rawdon reenters the control room, relishes in the dead bodies around him, and orders his followers to disguise themselves as SWAT and guards by stealing their victims' clothes. Johnson informs him that the BAU are present in the serial killer wing and another cell block. Rawdon informs him that they will take care of the agents in the cell block and instructs Johnson to release the inmates in the serial killer wing, as he held them back for a reason. He then disguises himself as a SWAT agent, and the group enters the block where Reid, JJ, and a SWAT agent are at. Rawdon's accomplices kill the agent and shoot at Reid and JJ, who fire back, while Rawdon himself struggles to take out a flashbang grenade to use offensively. Hotch and SWAT agents arrive, with Hotch shooting and incapacitating Rawdon. In the process, Rawdon drops the flashbang grenade, which unintentionally incapacitates the other anarchists. Hotch then confronts Rawdon and demands him to reveal the location of a bomb the anarchists intend to use in an attack, but Rawdon smugly tells him that they will never stop it in time. However, Hotch deduces that the bomb is at the Ivory Tower, which a shocked Rawdon tries to angrily deny. He is then arrested while the BAU and SWAT manage to stop his remaining followers from escaping with the bomb.
Modus Operandi
The term "M.O." may be misused, as Rawdon was only known to have killed one victim. When he did, he shot that victim, a prison guard, in the head with a firearm.
Profile
Eric Rawdon is a malevolent psychopath with anarchistic tendencies. He exhibits multiple symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder. These traits most likely explain Rawdon's gravitation to white supremacy groups. Unlike most terrorists he is motivated not by any political or ideological agenda but by a desire to create chaos and the thrill he gets from provoking large-scale hysteria. He is egotistical, obtaining gratification from personal power. He lacks empathy and feels no ethical remorse for the consequences of his actions.
On an interpersonal level he has an incapacity for mutually intimate relationships or forging meaningful connections with others. Nevertheless he is a master manipulator — someone highly charismatic who uses exploitation, coercion and deceit in order to dominate or control those around him. His ability to work with the Aryan Nation despite not adhering to their ideology himself indicates an utter lack of any morality. His personal code is to simply cause as much fear and destruction as [he can].
- Aaron Hotchner's written profile of Rawdon
Later, during the Virginia Supermax Prison attack and break, Hotch briefly told Rawdon that he was "too compulsive to deviate" from set patterns while trying to deduce the location of the anarchists' bomb.
Real-Life Comparison
Rawdon may have been partially inspired by Joseph Konopka, who led a group of adolescent vandals in a crime spree that caused blackouts in Wisconsin. Konopka was later incarcerated in a federal prison for storing potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide in the Chicago subway system. Like Konopka, Rawdon was an anarchist who sought to commit acts of terrorism for the thrill of it, without any ideological motive driving him.
Known Victims
- September 28, 2016: Unnamed prison guard
Appearances
- Season Eleven
- "Devil's Backbone" (indirectly referenced)
- "The Storm"
- Season Twelve
- "The Crimson King" (flashbacks)
- "Seek and Destroy" (referenced)
- "Green Light" (referenced)