Why Amherst ?
The Tamil Tigers are financed by their diaspora population. Those who succeed in leaving the island for better lands form cells, raise money and recruits. It is not difficult to envision a cell actively acquiring weapons overseas for delivery to their home. Amherst would be a safer base than New York City.
Plenty of money there and a growing Indian community.
That's all I can think of anyway.
Amhert is in the suburbs of the beautiful metropolis of Buffalo, NY. There are some radical groups in and around that city based on recent arrests.
The reason Amherst makes sense is the same as the reason that Lackawanna makes sense. LIBERALISM. Political Correctness enables terrorists to hide in plain site. For the same reason, I suspect that the most liberal cities in the most liberal states are crawling with terrorists.
Those who love diversity would never believe ill of those who are different. In the liberal way of thinking, "We need to accept their differences. If they don't like us it must be our fault."