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Hard-Right Social Media Activities Lead to Civil Unrest: Study
Does activity on hard-right social media lead to civil unrest? With the emergence and persistent popularity of hard-right social media platforms such as Gab, Parler, and Truth Social, it is important to understand the impact they are having on society and politics.
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“He Has a Battle Rifle”: Police Feared Uvalde Gunman’s AR-15
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour.
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2021 Hate Crime Statistics: 20-Year High
The number of hate crimes in the United States jumped to a 20-year high in 2021, the FBI said in an updated report released Monday. The FBI initially issued its annual hate crimes report in December showing 7,262 incidents for 2021.
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Physicians Get Trained on Gun Safety
For the past three years, Winslow and Julie Parsonnet, MD, professor of medicine and of epidemiology, have worked on an online, self-paced course called Clinicians and Firearms. The aim is to promote education for clinicians, teaching how to reduce firearm injuries and deaths, including tips on how to talk to patients about safe storage and temporary removal of firearms from the home during times of high risk.
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Preventing Violence in Schools: Encouraging Students to Report Threats
One of the most consistent findings in research on school shootings is that someone knew an attack was possible and didn’t report it. A recent RAND study looked at how schools can better encourage students to come forward when they see or hear something that should concern them. Its top recommendations: tip lines, training, and a lot more trust.
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“Prevent” Review: Why We Need a New – and Clearer – Definition of Islamist Extremism
An independent review of the UK counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent, has recommended that the government increase its efforts to tackle Islamist extremism. One fundamental question this review poses is what exactly “Islamist extremism” is. This matters because many professionals (including teachers, lecturers, social workers, health workers and prison guards) are now legally obliged to watch out for it. A clearer definition is possible.
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Extremist Propaganda Soars to All-Time High in 2022
In 2022, there has been a significant increase in racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist (RMVE) propaganda efforts, which included the distribution of racist and antisemitic fliers, stickers, banners, graffiti, and posters, as well as laser projections - with a total of 6,751 cases reported in 2022, compared to 4,876 in 2021.
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Why Police Resist Reforms to Militarization
Issues revolve around culture of viewing civilians as potential threats, concerns about self-protection in departments equipped with military-grade arms.
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Places of Worship Linked with More Neighborhood Crime in Washington, D.C.
A statistical analysis of areas near more than 700 houses of worship in Washington, D.C. found that these areas are associated with higher levels of violent and property crime—even after accounting for other factors commonly linked with crime.
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U.S. Creates New Antisemitism Task Force
Four out of 10 Jews in the US feel less secure than they did a year ago. Faced with an uptick in antisemitism, the White House responds with an action plan.
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Three Ways to Prevent School Shootings, Based on Research
We study the circumstances that lead to violence in which an attacker picks a target – like a person, group, or school – in advance. We find that the same patterns of concerning behavior emerge among the perpetrators, but that’s not all. We also find that there are often many opportunities to intervene with the perpetrator before the tragedy that peers, family members, school staff, law enforcement officials, and others miss.
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ATF Director: Action Needed on Auto Sears Which Are“Flooding Our Communities”
Fully automatic weapons are highly regulated, but the agency has recovered a startling number of machine gun conversion devices in recent years.
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Farrakhan Predicts Another Holocaust, Espouses Antisemitism and Bigotry in Saviours’ Day Speech
The Nation of Islam (NOI) held its annual Saviours’ Day conference in Chicago the weekend of February 24–26, serving once again as a platform for vitriolic antisemitism and bigotry.
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30 Years Later, Waco Siege Still Resonates – Especially Among Anti-Government Extremists
The Waco siege and fiery end continue to inspire extremists. What unites many of the groups influenced by Waco is a belief that the federal government is tyrannical and willing to attack citizens while depriving them of liberty, freedom, and firearms. The perception of a lack of consequences for the deaths at Waco is perceived, in and of itself, as proof of extremist beliefs.
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Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2022
The number of U.S. mass killings linked to extremism over the past decade was at least three times higher than the total from any other 10-year period since the 1970s, according to a new report. “It is not an exaggeration to say that we live in an age of extremist mass killings,” the report says.
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More headlines
The long view
Red Flag Gun Laws Under Fire
Laws meant to keep firearms away from unstable people are under attack by Second Amendment radicals. An investigation by The Trace and Rolling Stone exposes the ugly campaign to undermine a bipartisan compromise to stop mass shootings.
Trump Assassination Attempt Laid Bare Long-standing Vulnerabilities in the Secret Service
A Spotlight PA, ProPublica, and Butler Eagle investigation found the process for securing campaign events was susceptible to attack for years: the weaknesses that led to the assassination attempt were not unique to the July rally, but the inevitable breakdown of an already vulnerable system.
Sniff Test for Explosives Detection Extends Its Reach
Scientists have developed a way to detect tiny amounts of hard-to-detect explosives more than eight feet away, reducing the need to swipe clothing, luggage or other materials. The nNew method detects dangerous materials with lower vapor pressure.