In the wake of the mob incursion that took over the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, it’s clear that many people are concerned about violence from far-right extremists. But they may not understand the real threat. While researching my forthcoming book, It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the U.S., I discovered that there are five key mistakes people make when thinking about far-right extremists. These mistakes obscure the extremists’ true danger.

Numerous social networks were quick to impose bans President Donald Trump, preventing him from continuing to disseminate lies on their platforms, and, more importantly, blocking him from using his social media accounts to incite violence. For many critics, these restrictions came four years too late. The assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters has led to fresh calls in Germany for more restrictions on extremist speech in Germany, too.

On 6 January, a large number of pro-Trump rioters occupied portions of the U.S. Capitol building to protest and disrupt the counting and certification of electoral votes from the November 2020 election. Herb Lin writes that the significance of this event for American democracy, the rule of law, and the depths of extremism in the U.S. populace will be addressed by others, “but I am compelled to point out this siege has created potentially serious cyber risks for Congress and other affected offices.”

Ten suspects will face court in the second half of next year over the 2016 Brussels terror attacks which left 32 people dead. One of the defendants was allegedly also involved in the 2015 Paris attacks.

If fear of 5G technology proves to be the motive for the Christmas-Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee, no one should be surprised. Audrey Kurth Cronin writes that if [Nashville bomber] Anthony Warner was indeed protesting 5G networks, it shines a light on the long-standing need for U.S. intelligence and law enforcement to meld global and local efforts to get ahead of cyber-driven threats to critical infrastructure. “Authorities need to strengthen their ability to meet anti-technology attacks on our vulnerable critical infrastructure, especially by looking close to home.”

A new report issued by INTERPOL assesses the impact of COVID-19 on global terrorism, trends and potential risks related to attacks on vulnerable targets and bioterrorism is the focus of. As COVID-19 cases subside in some regions and surge in others, the report underlines the critical need to monitor the reaction and response by terrorist networks, violent extremist groups, and other potentially dangerous non-state actors.

DOJ on Monday announced criminal charges against a new suspect in the 1988 terrorist bombing of a Pan Am airliner that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland. The charges against Abu Agela Masud, a Libyan bombing expert, came on the 32nd anniversary of the deadly bombing and two days before Barr steps down as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

The rise of populist movements is changing political systems around the world. As support for these “anti-elite” movements intensifies, many are scrambling to understand whether economic decline and intensifying inter-group conflict are playing a role.

Since the April 2019 fall of Sudanese dictator Omar Al-Bashir, the expectation was that the United States would remove Sudan from the Terrorism-Supporting States list. On Monday, 14 December, the United States has formally done so.