“Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism has increased in the United States,” says a very informative 2024 study that – until recently – had been on the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs website (ojp.gov).
“In fact, the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism,” adds the report. “Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.”
But after the assassination of conservative podcast host and activist Charlie Kirk, Pam Bondi’s Justice Department (DOJ) removed the study from its Justice Programs website, mere days after the crime. Why? Perhaps because it reveals that, since 1990, right-wing terrorist attacks in the U.S. have been more than 5 times as prevalent as left-wing attacks, according to the report.
The study on politically-motivated violence was created by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), an agency that conducts research on behalf of DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs.
“The National Institute of Justice (NIJ or the Institute) is the research, evaluation, and technology agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and is dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science,” says the NIJ on its website.
At first, it seemed the important study might be gone – but, of course, such a thing doesn’t happen in the digital age. A Daily Beast article has tracked down a copy of the scrubbed report, held on Archive.org’s Wayback Machine.
“In fact, the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism,” points out the NIJ study. “Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists,” adds the report.
Below, The American Spark offers it readers significant quotes from this very timely, essential study:
WHAT NIJ RESEARCH TELLS US ABOUT DOMESTIC TERRORISM
“NIJ-funded research projects have led to a better understanding of the processes that result in violent action, factors that increase the risk of radicalizing to violence, and how best to prevent and respond to violent extremism.
“Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism has increased in the United States. In fact, the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism. Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives. In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives.
“A recent threat assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concluded that domestic violent extremists are an acute threat and highlighted a probability that COVID-19 pandemic-related stressors, long-standing ideological grievances related to immigration, and narratives surrounding electoral fraud will continue to serve as a justification for violent actions.
“Over the past 20 years, the body of research that examines terrorism and domestic violent extremism has grown exponentially.
“Studies have looked at the similarities and differences between radicalization to violent domestic ideologies and radicalization to foreign extremist ideologies.
“Research has found that radicalization processes and outcomes — and perhaps potential prevention and intervention points — vary by group structure and crime type. In addition, research has explored promising and effective approaches for how communities can respond to radicalization and prevent future attacks.”
[A blurb from the short study reads: “One of the more common conclusions of recent research on radicalization is that no single profile accurately captures the characteristics of the individuals who commit extremist and hate crimes.”]
“The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has played a unique role in the evolving literature on terrorism and violent extremism. NIJ has promoted the development of comprehensive terrorism databases to help inform criminal justice responses to terrorism, address the risk of terrorism to potential targets, examine the links between terrorism and other crimes, and study the organizational, structural, and cultural dynamics of terrorism.
“In 2012, the U.S. Congress requested that NIJ build on these focal points by funding ‘research targeted toward developing a better understanding of the domestic radicalization phenomenon and advancing evidence-based strategies for effective intervention and prevention.’
“NIJ has since funded more than 50 research projects on domestic radicalization, which have led to a better understanding of the processes that result in violent action, actors that increase the risk of radicalizing to violence, and how best to prevent and respond to violent extremism.
“This article discusses the findings of several NIJ-supported domestic radicalization studies that cover a range of individual and network-centered risk and protective factors that affect radicalization processes, including military involvement and online environments.
“The article also explores factors that shape the longevity of radicalization processes and their variation by group structure and crime type, and examines factors that affect pathways away from
domestic extremism. It concludes with a discussion of how these findings can inform terrorism prevention strategies, criminal justice policy, and community-based prevention programming.”
