• Vienna “Terror” Attack: Police Launch Massive Manhunt

    A massive manhunt is underway in the Austrian capital after an attack that left four civilians dead. Authorities say at least one “Islamist terrorist” was behind the shootings and that more suspects may be at large.

  • The Terrorist Threat from the Fractured Far Right

    Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware argue that the right-wing threat is fracturing, with a wide range of overlapping groups and radical individuals posing a risk of violence that may overwhelm counterterrorism officials.

  • Recent Congressional Testimony: Worldwide Threats to the Homeland

    By Stevie Kiesel

    Two weeks ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified about “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland” to the House Committee on Homeland Security. Wray acknowledges the “unique and unprecedented challenges” brought about by COVID-19, as well as important “aggressive and sophisticated threats on many fronts,” but in his opening statement he focuses on five main topics: cyber, China, lawful access, election security, and counterterrorism.

  • 3 Killed in Terrorist Knife Attack in Nice, France

    An Islamist terrorist killed three people in Nice, France, before being shot and wounded by the police. The 21 years old attacker, a Tunisian citizen who arrived in France in late September, told police he had acted alone. The French government has beefed up security around religious institutions.

  • The Role of Anti-Semitism in American Violent Extremism

    A new report examines the role of anti-Semitic ideas and narratives as foundational elements of two disparate American violent extremist movements: the extreme right wing and violent Islamist groups. Both movements have historically used anti-Semitism as a belief and world-structuring theory to recruit new followers, mobilize them to action, and justify violent attacks against the Jewish community in the United States.

  • FBI Sits on Report Detailing White-Supremacist Terror Threat

    The FBI has failed to produce a legally required report detailing the scope of white supremacist and other domestic terrorism, despite mounting concerns that the upcoming election could spark far-right violence. Spencer Ackerman writes. According to a key House committee chairman, that leaves the country in the dark about what the FBI concedes is America’s most urgent terrorist threat, as well as the resources the U.S. government is devoting to fight it.

  • Former Rebel Groups More Moderate after Gaining Political Power in Nations with Democracy

    Former rebel groups who transform into political parties have adopted a moderate stance after gaining power in more democratic political systems, a study shows. In contrast, the tactics and policies of the former rebel groups remained unchanged if the issue which attracted supporters to them continued to remain.

  • The Evolution of Domestic Terrorism in the United States

    White supremacists and other far-right extremists accounted for two-thirds of domestic terrorist attacks and plots so far in 2020, but those by antifascist and other leftist groups are rising, according to a new report on U.S. political violence. The Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has just released a report which found that domestic terrorism only accounted for five deaths between January and August. But it cites a worrisome trend in which armed far-right and far-left extremists are confronting one another on the streets of U.S. cities against the backdrop of racial justice protests, anti-lockdown demonstrations, and other social and political issues.

  • Greek Court Orders Neo-Nazi Leaders to Jail

    By Anthee Carassava

    The leader and founder of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has turned himself in after a court ordered him and other senior members of the party to serve more than 13 years in prison for acting as a criminal organization under the guise of a political party.

  • The Violent Extremist Lifecycle: Lessons from Northern Ireland

    A new guide, released by CREST, draws on a reanalysis of interview data from the 1980s and 1990s that explored the lifecycle phases among loyalist and republican paramilitaries from across Northern Ireland. It offers twelve lessons that are relevant not only to those working within the Northern Ireland context today but also to those working to reduce the threat from violent extremists elsewhere.

  • Facebook Ran Recruitment Ads for Militia Groups

    A new report shows that Facebook for years allowed militia groups to recruit new members via paid advertisements on the platform. The review — which followed news of the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which played out on Facebook and other social media — also found more than 50 militia pages and groups that are still active on Facebook.

  • Victims of Terror Attacks Reject US Deal to Delist Sudan

    By Nabeel Biajo

    One of the attorneys representing victims of the 1998 terror attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and their families says the majority of his clients reject the deal that would result in President Donald Trump removing Sudan from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

  • French Mosque Closed as Part of a Crackdown on Islamist Extremists

    The French minister of the interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced the closure of the Pantin mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis. Darmanin said the closure was a response to the beheading Friday of Samuel Paty, a history and geography professor, near the college of Conflans-saint-Honorine where he was a teacher. Paty, teaching a course on the freedom of expression, showed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in class. A Muslin student complained to his parents, and the parents persuaded a preacher to issue a “fatwa” calling for the killing of Paty.

  • Man Denied German Citizenship for Refusing to Shake Woman's Hand

    The application of a Lebanese doctor for German citizenship was denied after he refused to shake a woman’s hand. The doctor passed the German naturalization test, but refused to shake hands with the official – a woman — who handed him his citizenship certificate. The court ruled that a refusal to shake a woman’s hand indicates that the man rejected “integration into German living conditions.”

  • Michigan Plotters Also Targeted Virginia Governor: FBI

    Two of the six men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer participated in a discussions earlier this year with other members of far-right militia groups about abducting Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, an FBI agent testified Tuesday.