The Center for Strategic & International Studies recent brief on terrorism’s rise in the U.S. says right-wing extremists were responsible for most of the attacks in 2019 and the first half of this year.
Seth G. Jones, Catrina Doxsee and Nicholas Harrington authored the paper, which concludes many domestic terrorism incidents arise from white supremacists and raises the possibility that terrorism threats may increase due to the 2020 presidential election.
“Right-wing extremists perpetrated two-thirds of the attacks and plots in the United States in 2019 and over 90% between Jan. 1 and May 8, 2020,” the June 17 brief said.
The rising rates of terrorism in the nation will be linked to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the upcoming presidential election and its outcome.
“Far-right and far-left networks have used violence against each other at protests, raising the possibility of escalating violence during the election period,” the brief said.
Between January 1994 and May 8, 2020, CSIS compiled a data set of 893 incidents in the U.S., including both actual attacks and planned attacks that were foiled.
Right-wing attacks and plots made up the largest number of terrorist incidents during that time span. Right-wing attacks and plans have increased exponentially over the last six years. Also, right-wing perpetrators caused more than 50% of annual fatalities in two-thirds of the years when fatal incidents were carried out.
The data also shows that left-wing attacks generally target animal research, farming or construction. When left-wing terrorism activities increased from 2000 to 2005, right-wing terrorism activity decreased during that same time frame.
Among right-wing terrorism groups, there are three types of individuals: white supremacists, anti-government extremists and incels - involuntary celibates who direct their anger at women.
Left-wing terrorism groups include many types of individuals, including anarchists, environmental and animal rights groups and antifa groups.
“Over the next year, the threat of terrorism in the United States will likely increase based on several factors, such as the November 2020 presidential election and the response to the COVID-19 crisis,” the brief said. “These factors are not the cause of terrorism, but they are events and developments likely to fuel anger and be co-opted by a small minority of extremists as a pretext for violence.”
The brief explains that terrorism thrives in environments where conspiracy, disinformation and hate run rampant.
“Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi urged individuals to practice what he called ‘satyagraha,’ or truth force," the brief said. "Satyagraha is a weapon of the strong; it admits of no violence under any circumstance whatever; and it always insists upon truth. That advice is just as important as it has ever been in the United States."
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