• U.S. Anti-Hate Crime Law Provides New Enforcement Tools, but Will It Work?

    A bill that President Joe Biden signed into law Thursday gives local and federal officials new tools and resources to combat hate crimes, while putting the spotlight on a surge in anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impetus for the new law was a dramatic increase in attacks on Asian Americans since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan, China, more than a year ago.

  • “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists” Pose “Most Lethal” Threat to Homeland: DHS, FBI

    A joint report from the FBI and the DHS  on domestic violent extremism (DVE) warns that lone wolf attackers, who have ready access to weapons, pose the most serious terrorism threat to the United States. The report notes that the number of people killed by racially motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) has been on the rise every year since 2017.

  • Unreliable Witness Testimony Biggest Cause of Miscarriages of Justice

    Unreliable witness testimony has been the biggest cause of miscarriages of justice over the past half century, a major new study suggests. The research also suggests that regulations governing the powers of police have been effective in reducing wrongful convictions caused by unreliable confessions.

  • When Should U.S. Cyber Command Take Down Criminal Botnets?

    Trickbot is back. U.S. Cyber Command targeted this malware in autumn 2020 in an unprecedented use of military offensive cyber operations to disrupt a purely criminal operation. Jason Healey writes that “Such military operations are a good idea only in cases that meet a five-part test of imminence, severity, overseas focus, nation-state adversary, and military as a last-ish resort.”

  • The FBI Is Breaking into Corporate Computers to Remove Malicious Code – Smart Cyber Defense or Government Overreach?

    The FBI has the authority right now to access privately owned computers without their owners’ knowledge or consent, and to delete software. It’s part of a government effort to contain the continuing attacks on corporate networks running Microsoft Exchange software, and it’s an unprecedented intrusion that’s raising legal questions about just how far the government can go.

  • A Jan. 6 Commission is Crucial to Understand the Reality of the Attack, and the Alternate Reality of the Attackers

    A dangerous rift currently exists in the public perception of Jan. 6 – a rift that may have grave implications for the future of American democracy, Fadi Quran and Justin Hendrix write. Polls show that a small majority of Republicans continues to believe in the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread election fraud, and that there were left-wing infiltrators who were responsible for the violence at the Capitol. Why does it matter that such voters believe in these untruths? Because, as the unclassified version of a report on the threat posed by domestic extremism from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) suggests, “narratives of fraud in the recent general election” may well contribute to an increase in future violence.

  • Reducing Inappropriate Use of Force by Police

    A new report outlines policy and procedural recommendations for reducing use of inappropriate police force from behavioral and social science experts. “There is a crisis in the United States and beyond right now with respect to relations between police and the communities they serve,” says one of the report’s authors. “Large scale efforts thus far to improve these relations have failed and it is time for a new set of strategies based on behavioral and social science.”

  • Tighter Gun Laws Help Reduce Mass Shooting Violence: Research

    President Joe Biden recently called for tougher gun laws to reduce mass shooting violence. Columbia University researchers have conducted research related to measures proposed by Biden, including on the impact of state gun laws and the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994; the use of high-capacity magazines in high fatality shootings; and the effects of exposure to gun violence on children.

  • Mathematics Professor and University Researcher Indicted for Grant Fraud

    A federal grand jury in Carbondale, Ill. On Wednesday returned an indictment charging a mathematics professor and researcher at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale (SIUC) with two counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement. The prosecution is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing China Initiative. Led by the Department’s National Security Division, the China Initiative is a broad, multi-faceted effort to counter Chinese national security threats and safeguard American intellectual property.

  • “I Felt Hate More Than Anything”: How an Active Duty Airman Tried to Start a Civil War

    Steven Carrillo, a 32-year-old Air Force sergeant, wanted to incite a second Civil War in the United States by killing police officers he viewed as enforcers of a corrupt and tyrannical political order — officers he described as “domestic enemies” of the Constitution he professed to revere. Carrillo’s path to the Boogaloo Bois shows the extremist anti-government group is far more organized and dangerous than previously known.

  • In a Year of Racial and Political Turmoil, This Black Gun Group Is Booming

    The National African American Gun Association was founded as a refuge from the discrimination and fear that often come with being Black and armed in America. Thousands of new members have joined its ranks in 2020.

  • Improving Vehicle Inspections at Security Checkpoints

    Federal agencies screen an average of 235,000 vehicles every day for illegal contraband, explosives and other potential threats in the United States. Currently, federal law enforcement personnel (LEP) perform a visual search of the undercarriage using mirrors, or, if available, an under-vehicle inspection scanner. The scanning units are expensive, have moderate resolution and require vehicles to go only five miles per hour. DHS S&T is changing that.

  • Epidemic of Firearm Injury Spurs New Wave of Research

    Fifty-five years ago, America’s death toll from automobile crashes was sky-high. Nearly 50,000 people died every year from motor vehicle crashes, at a time when the nation’s population was much smaller than today. But with help from data generated by legions of researchers, the country’s policymakers and industry made changes that brought the number killed and injured down dramatically. Experts welcome new federal funding for more injury prevention research to reduce the toll of a leading cause of death while respecting Second Amendment rights.

  • Biden Announces Actions on Gun Violence

    U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke Thursday about a set of new measures meant to address gun violence in the United States. Ahead of their remarks, the White House released details of some of the initiatives, calling gun violence a “public health epidemic.”

  • Violent Extremism in America

    People who radicalize to extremist ideologies often are triggered by negative life events or exposure to propaganda, and those who escape from extreme groups frequently are aided by an individual or group that intervenes to help them reject the philosophy, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation.