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Terrorists Target Music Venues
Taylor Swift fans are disappointed after three Vienna concerts were canceled due to a possible terror threat. Europe has seen several deadly attacks on music venues in recent years, raising security concerns.
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U.K. Riots Blamed on Israel by Conspiracy Theorists
Riots across the United Kingdom involving far-right elements broke out after the murder of three young girls at a dance class in the Southport knife attack was falsely attributed to a recently arrived Muslim migrant. It is predictable but still problematic to see Israel scapegoated as the cause of the riots.
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Federal Jury Convicts New York Resident of Acting as a Covert Chinese Agent
Defendant Pretended to Be Opposed to the Chinese Government So He Could Get Close to Prominent Activists Seeking to Bring Democracy, Reform and Human Rights to China
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The National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research: Five Years On
What are the effects of red flag laws? What risks do people face when living with gun owners? What influences young people to carry guns? Just five years ago, little scientific evidence existed to answer to these questions because Congress barred federal funding of for research to find answers to these and other questions.
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Implementing Secure Firearm Storage Program for Illinois Parents
Firearm injury and mortality are the leading cause of death among youth in the U.S. From 2013-2020, firearms contributed to a staggering cumulative loss of 1.3 million years of life for young people.
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Iranian Plot to Kill U.S. Officials, Politicians
A Pakistani man with ties to Iran was charged with murder-for-hire plot as part of an alleged scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil. Law enforcement foiled the charged plot before any attack could be carried out.
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Potential Terrorists Can Be Identified from Social Media Posts
Researchers have identified signals in social media posts that can predict when someone posting on far-right forums is likely to go on to commit a terrorist act.
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Mass Shooters Are Often ‘Socially Stunted’ with ‘Zero Coping Skills’
“The fact that a grown man who lives with his mom and dad still enjoys playing dress-up like a preschooler is strange and yet a frequent occurrence among mass shooters,” said an expert on mass shooters. “There is a subtype of mass shooters that dress up in pseudo‐commando attire brandishing assault weapons.”
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How America's Elites May Hold the Key to Lowering Murder Rates
New crime laws, police funding and similar efforts may have some effect on homicide rates in the United States – but the biggest impact will come from the actions of our political and economic elites, historian and author of American Homicide writes in new report.
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Alarmism about Terrorism Is Risky and Unjustified
The annual chance of being murdered in an attack committed by a foreign-born terrorist is about one in 4.5 million—about 323 times lower than the chance of being murdered in a normal homicide during that 1975–2023 timeframe. The U.S. ought to be more realistic about the foreign-born terrorist threat. Alarmism in the face of small and manageable risks that probably haven’t arisen is a tremendous vice that policymakers should avoid.
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The Failure of the Secret Service
The Director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, has resigned, and not a moment too soon. The multiple failures of the Secret Service at Butler, Pennsylvania were grotesque.
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Protecting Major Sporting Events from Terrorism: Considerations for the Paris Olympics and Beyond
As France prepares to host the Summer Olympic Games next month, recent developments have highlighted the challenging threat environment that exists for the country’s security services. The scale of the events planned during the Paris Olympics, in a tense terrorist environment, presents a series of unique challenges for French security services under the scrutiny of an international audience.
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Grassley, Cortez Masto Want Senate Confirmation of Secret Service Directors
Lawmakers filed a bill that would require Senate confirmation of Secret Service directors and impose a 10-year term limit. The heads of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement and Customs & Border Protection are already confirmed by the Senate.
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A Uniquely Perilous Moment in U.S. Politics
Assassins believe that they can change the course of history. Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware write that the attempt om Donald Trump’s life is but the latest violent incident targeting an elected official or candidate in the United States in recent years. “The biggest question is whether this is, in fact, the beginning of what could be the most violent presidential race in the history of the country.”
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Trump Assassination Attempt Sparks Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories and Violent, “Revenge” Rhetoric
Online reactions to the assassination attempt elevated a variety of conspiracy theories about the motivation for and “real” perpetrators of the attack, as well as calls for retaliatory violence and a civil war.
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The long view
Extremist Ideology Is Hard to Pin Down
When it comes to extremist motivations for political violence, their varied sources and the role of mental health make it difficult to attribute a root cause and who might have been responsible for leading them down that road. Benjamin Allison writes that thelack of ideological clarity among those who commit acts of political violence is not uncommon.
U.S. Domestic Terrorism Is Increasingly Motivated by Partisan Politics
One of the most alarming trends in terrorism is the growth in anti-government extremism. “The heightened risk of terrorist attacks motivated by partisan beliefs does not just endanger individual lives but also threatens the democratic process itself, casting a shadow over open discourse and discouraging civic engagement,” Riley McCabe writes.