America's jihadists are made in the United States. Decisions both to travel and to plot involved individuals rather than larger groups, which indicates that jihadists have not been able to organize themselves in the United States' Muslim community.
The travelers' collective profile differs only marginally from that of the jihadists who plotted to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States. The U. In addition, jihadist leaders have been driven underground, and many of them have been killed. Of the jihadists examined in this report, 70 percent had been sent to prison; 60 percent remain there. At least half of those who slipped by U.
The attrition rate of approximately 90 percent is an undeniable success for U. Related Products. Also available in print form. PDF file. Add to Cart. Sharpton's National Action Network, and religious or community organizations that provided housing or food to the protesters.
The civil asset forfeiture power of the United States government is awesome. The assets are seized before a person is given a hearing, and often without notice. In order to permanently forfeit the assets, the government must go before a court, but at a civil hearing, and the government is only required to prove that the assets were involved in terrorism by a preponderance of the evidence.
Because it is a civil proceeding, a person is not entitled to be represented by an attorney at public expense if they cannot afford to pay an attorney. The time between seizure and forfeiture can sometimes be months; meanwhile, organizations or individuals whose assets are seized are forced to make do without the assets.
Only the most financially flush non-profit organizations would be able to successfully defend themselves against government forfeiture.
In short, without the full due process afforded in criminal cases, the U. Disclosure of educational records - Sec. No independent judicial finding is required to verify that the records are relevant.
This means that the Attorney General may obtain the private educational records of a student involved in the Vieques protests by asserting that the records are relevant to a domestic terrorism investigation. These records may include information such as a student's grades, private medical information counseling, abortions , which organizations the student belonged to, or any other information that the educational institution collects about its students.
NESA includes a vast amount of identifiable student information from academic performance to health information, family income, and race. Until now, this information has been held to strict confidentiality requirements without exception. Again, all the government needs to certify is that the information is relevant to a terrorism investigation and the court has no choice but to issue the order.
Single-Jurisdiction Search Warrants Sec. These trends were not a commentary on the protests themselves, but rather on the ability of extremists to adapt to opportunities and the proximity of armed individuals in cities with different political and ideological motivations. Fatalities: Despite the large number of terrorist incidents, there were only five fatalities caused by domestic terrorism in the first eight months of There were four times as many far-left terrorist incidents and the same number of far-right terrorist incidents in as in all of Yet only 5 of the 61 incidents 8 percent recorded between January and August resulted in fatalities, excluding the perpetrator.
Some of these incidents were plots foiled by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies, which suggested that law enforcement agencies were effective in preventing several major attacks.
Still, the number of fatalities in was low compared to the past five years, in which total fatalities ranged from 22 to 66 fatalities.
All five fatal attacks in were conducted with firearms. Of the five fatal attacks—each of which resulted in the death of one individual—one was committed by an Antifa activist, one by a far-right extremist, one by an anti-feminist, and two by an adherent of the Boogaloo movement. District Judge Esther Salas, killing her son and wounding her husband.
On May 29, Steven Carrillo shot and killed Pat Underwood, a protective security officer, and wounded his partner in Oakland, California. The relatively low number of fatalities compared to the high number of terrorist incidents suggests that extremists in prioritized sending messages through intimidation and threats rather than killing.
Given that a large portion of attacks were conducted with vehicles or firearms, there was a high potential for lethality—but an apparent lack of will. A growing number of U. First, there are various scenarios for a continuation—and even a rise—of violence after the November elections, which could persist into and beyond. Rising political polarization, growing economic challenges, the persistence of Covid, and growing concerns about immigration could lead to a rise in domestic terrorism.
The actions of far-left and far-right extremists are likely to be interlinked as various sides respond to others during protests, riots, demonstrations, and online activity. There appears to be an assumption by some extremists that others are prepared to use force, which heightens the possibility of violence. All sides have access to firearms, incendiaries, crude explosives, and other weapons, and are willing to bring them to demonstrations.
This situation is a classic security dilemma. Since it may be difficult for individuals to distinguish between offensive and defensive arms, even efforts by one side to protect itself may motivate others to arm, creating a spiral of actions that leads to violence.
The broad scope of domestic terrorism also makes it difficult to predict where future incidents will occur. In the event of a Democratic presidential victory, the threat could involve specific attacks by radicalized white supremacists, militias, and other related individuals. In these incidents, the primary weapons—particularly for fatal attacks—are likely to be firearms and explosives, as highlighted in the militia plots against the governors of Michigan and Virginia.
Based on data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System NICS , the number of firearm background checks for gun purchases spiked to its highest level ever in —which doubled over the past decade. Based on our data, the targets are likely to be demonstrators, politicians, or individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or religion—such as African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, and Jews.
In the event of a Republican presidential victory, for example, the primary threat may come from large-scale demonstrations in cities, some of which become violent. Anarchists, anti-fascists, and other far-left extremists have utilized digital platforms and other publications to argue that Donald Trump is a neo-fascist and that violence is legitimate.
In this scenario, the primary targets could be government, military, and police facilities and personnel. Digital platforms will likely continue to be a major battlefield. Far-left extremists will likely continue to use social media platforms—such as Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter—to release propaganda and instigate violence against political opponents, law enforcement, military, and the government.
Far-right extremists will likely use a multitude of mainstream platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram, and Reddit , lesser-known platforms such as Gab, Discord, Minds, and Bitchute , forums such as Stormfront and IronForge , and other online communities to instigate violence against African Americans, Jews, immigrants, and others.
Second, the domestic landscape could shift from a decentralized milieu of extremists to more organized and hierarchically structured groups. In the United States, there are a handful of groups—such as The Base, the Atomwaffen Division including rebranded versions such as the National Socialist Order , and the Feuerkrieg Division—with some leadership structure and command-and-control arrangements.
There are also loose extremist movements that have a limited structure—especially in local areas or online—but lack a clear hierarchy and ideology. Examples include the Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, Boogaloos, QAnon, and some local networks of anarchists, anti-fascists, and militias. There have been some indications of greater organization, including the establishment of online hubs, such as MyMilitia, that provide a venue for individuals to find existing militias in the United States—or even to start their own.
A shift toward more hierarchical groups could have at least two implications. It could increase the competence and professionalism of these organizations in numerous areas, such as planning attacks, recruiting, training, improving operational security, and fundraising. In the s and s, extremists in the United States established more centralized groups—such as the Order, Mau Mau, and White Knights—to improve their effectiveness.
Fortunately, there is some good news. The number of fatalities from domestic terrorism today is relatively low, and the possibility of a civil war—which some experts have worried about and some extremists have predicted—is negligible. Examples include a surge in white supremacist terrorism in the s and s such as the Ku Klux Klan , black nationalist violence in the s such as the Black Liberation Army , revolutionary leftist violence in the s and s such as the Weather Underground , and Puerto Rican nationalist violence in the lates and s such as the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN.
But the United States weathered these periods thanks to the resilience of Americans and the effectiveness of U.
During his second inaugural address, U. President Abraham Lincoln said it best in encouraging Americans to come together during divisive times:. Seth G. The authors give special thanks to Brian Michael Jenkins, Colin Clarke, Jacob Ware, and Alex Friedland for their review of the document—including the data set—and their helpful critiques.
Also, thanks to David Brannan and Paul Smith for their comments. For an overview of the methodology used in compiling the data set, please see here.
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