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The Signal in the Noise: The 2023 Threats and Those on the Horizon
We enter the new year with “blinking lights everywhere,” Austin Doctor writes. “From a U.S. homeland security perspective, the terrorism threat in 2023 can be summarized as diverse, diffuse, and active. In 2024, we are likely to continue to see signs of continuing shifts in the terrorism landscape—such as the threats posed by lone juvenile offenders, the malign use of democratized technologies, and ‘violent resistance’ narratives adopted across the extremist ecosystem.”
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How Far-Right Terrorists Learned to Stop Worrying and Leave the Bomb
There used to be a time that domestic terrorists favored bombing as their preferred method. “Today, however, the terrorists’ preferred tactic is the mass shooting,” Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware write. “Assault-style rifles have replaced explosives.”
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Jan. 6 Was an Example of Networked Incitement − a Media and Disinformation Expert Explains the Danger of Political Violence Orchestrated Over Social Media
The shocking events of Jan. 6, 2021 were an example of a new phenomenon: influential figures inciting large-scale political violence via social media, and insurgents communicating across multiple platforms to command and coordinate mobilized social movements in the moment of action. We call this phenomenon “networked incitement.” The use of social media for networked incitement foreshadows a dark future for democracies. Rulers could well come to power by manipulating mass social movements via social media, directing a movement’s members to serve as the leaders’ shock troops, online and off.
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The Organized Crime Threat to Latin American Democracies
Latin America’s democracies and democrats don’t get enough credit for weathering inequality, violence, and economic stagnation. Miraculously, only two of the region’s former democracies, Venezuela and Nicaragua, have collapsed into full-fledged authoritarianism. In no other part of the world have so many democracies held up under such pressures for so long. Governments have learned to manage many threats, but they are failing to curb the growing power of organized crime.
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How Tennessee’s Justice System Allows Dangerous People to Keep Guns — With Deadly Outcomes
Michaela Carter was one of at least 75 people killed in domestic violence shootings in Nashville since 2007. Nearly 40% were shot by people who were legally barred from having a gun.
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Reports Analyzing the Police Response to a Mass Shooting Can Leave Unanswered Questions — if They’re Released at All
Communities often rely on after-action reviews of mass shootings for a comprehensive and independent assessment of what happened. But even if an after-action investigation is released, a lack of national standards leads to wide variability in the detail of information in reports, an investigation found.
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Research on Extremism in the U.K. Hobbled by Skewed Research Environment
A new report, analyzing the research environment in the U.K. within which research on extremism takes place, found that there are problems in studying extremism and communicating the findings of studies of extremism. These problems have caused gaps in the knowledge base around extremism in the U.K. and a lack of research on specific extremist movements, especially Islamist extremism.
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Tainted Applesauce Pouches May Have Been Intentionally Contaminated: FDA
Cinnamon applesauce pouches available at Weis, WanaBanana, and Schnucks have been pulled from shelves after they were found to be contaminated with lead. The FDA says it currently believes the adulteration is “economically motivated.”
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Benbrika Case Shows Australia in Danger of Complacency About Violent Extremism
The fact that convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika is being released from jail should be of concern to all Australians. Alarmingly, it’s happening without the court system even being asked to consider a continuing detention order.
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U.S. Elected Officials Targeted by Vandalism, Threats Following October 7 Attacks
In the weeks following the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, political activists have targeted elected officials – and their offices – with harassment and vandalism. Many of these incidents featured anti-Israel rhetoric, allegations of support for genocide and demands for a ceasefire.
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Countering Domestic Violent Extremism in the Ranks: Barriers to Recruitment Screening
There an uncomfortably high number of Jan. 6 cases involving connections to military, law enforcement, and veteran personnel. These cases echo trends that have existed throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Carrie Cordero and Katherine L. Kuzminski write that these most recent cases once again raise the question of whether the United States has a problem with domestic violent extremism (DVE) in the military, veteran, and law enforcement ranks.
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Security Officers: Occupational Employment and Wages
There are more than 1.1 million security officers in the United States, and they form an essential part of the U.S. economy, playing an important role in maintaining safety and security across various sectors. The wages of security officers in the United States vary depending on several factors such as location, experience, and the specific industry they are employed in.
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German Domestic Intelligence: Heightened Terror Risk
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency says the danger of a terror attack in the country is “higher than it has been for a long time.” It cited the October 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war as factors.
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“Rogue” Security Officers Pose a Threat to Life and Public Safety
Halo Solutions, a British security and safety technology firm helps stamp out fraudulent security guards at events and gigs. The issue of qualified and certified security officers becomes even more important now, ads the U.K. is about to mandate robust public security measures at public events.
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Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Hate Are Surging. Here's How to Curb the Worst American Tradition.
As violence escalates in Israel’s struggle with Hamas, the potential for hate-based violence in the United States grows, too. American leaders need to step in to defuse tensions – with the awareness that the United States has a history of mirroring overseas conflicts in its own communities.
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The long view
How Male Grievance Fuels Radicalization and Extremist Violence
Social extremism is evolving in reach and form. While traditional racial supremacy ideologies remain, contemporary movements are now often fueled by something more personal and emotionally resonant: male grievance.