ExtremismExtremist-Related Shootouts with Police Soar in 2020

Published 5 February 2021

During the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, violent Trump supporters—reinforced by a broad coalition of right-wing extremists—attacked police, who appeared to be caught unprepared for a violent encounter with a crowd which has been loudly and consistently supportive of law enforcement. In 2020, there were 16 incidents in which police and extremists exchanged gunfire, an increase from the 11-year average of nine per year.

During the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, violent Trump supporters—reinforced by a broad coalition of right-wing extremists—attacked police, who appeared to be caught unprepared for a violent encounter with a crowd which has been loudly and consistently supportive of law enforcement. The siege left roughly 140 officers injured, including U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, whose injuries were fatal.

One of the insurgents, Ashli Babbitt, a QAnon follower, was shot and killed by Capitol police as she attempted to breach a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s lobby, while lawmakers and officials were being evacuated. This incident marks the first time in which shots were fired between police and extremists in 2021—and illustrates how quickly extremists can turn on law enforcement.

Over the course of 2020, ADL’s Center on Extremism documented 16 incidents in which police and extremists exchanged gunfire, a considerable increase from the 11-year average of nine per year. During these incidents, extremists shot at least ten members of law enforcement. Three of those shootings were fatal.

As has been the case in every previous year of this 12-year study, an overwhelming majority (87.5%) of the 2020 incidents involved right-wing extremists. The 16 incidents included eight anti-government extremists, six white supremacists, one Islamic extremist and one left-wing extremist.

These numbers clearly demonstrate that right-wing extremists, specifically white supremacists and anti-government extremists, continue to pose the greatest threat to law enforcement.

These numbers also highlight the critical need for law enforcement and the general public to recognize and understand emerging extremist threats. At least two of the anti-government extremists involved in 2020 violent incidents were connected to the boogaloo movement, a new movement that features a loose anti-government and anti-police ideology. In 2020, boogalooers increasingly engaged in real world offline activities and were arrested for crimes up to and including murder and terrorist plots. Two of the extremists killed by police during these incidents, Duncan Lemp and Eric Allport, now serve as martyrs for the boogaloo and broader anti-government movement.

2020 Incident Summaries:
Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 2020:
 Self-described white separatist and racist skinhead Jason Edward Galliart died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a stand-off with Albuquerque police. The incident began when police responded to reports of a person shooting from inside a motel room. Following an hours-long standoff, two SWAT team members shot Galliart when he exited the room through a window holding a handgun. Wounded by police gunfire, Galliart shot himself in the head.