• 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.

  • Staying the Unfavorable Course

    Why did U.S. goals in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2016 not evolve? How do policymakers attempt to adapt national security decision-making processes when their policies are not achieving their intended results?

  • 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.

  • Violent Extremists Are Not Lone Wolves – Dispelling This Myth Could Help Reduce Violence

    After decades of research on numerous attacks that have left scores dead, we have learned that extremists are almost always part of a pack, not lone wolves. But the myth of the lone wolf shooter remains tenacious, reappearing in media coverage after almost every mass shooting or act of far-right extremist violence. Because this myth misdirects people from the actual causes of extremist violence, it impedes society’s ability to prevent attacks.

  • Michigan State Murders: What We Know About Campus Shootings and the Gunmen Who Carry Them Out

    A gunman opened fire at Michigan State University on Feb. 13, 2023, killing three people and injuring five others before taking his own life. There have been nine mass shootings in or around college or university settings since 1966, according to The Violence Project database, which defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are murdered in public in a single incident. This would not include the Michigan State University shooting at this stage, or many other incidents in which fewer people than four were killed. It also doesn’t include the 1970 Kent State massacre in which four students were shot dead by the Ohio National Guard. In all the campus mass shootings in the database, the gunman was a man, with an average age of 28. The youngest was 22 and the oldest was 43. Six of the nine perpetrators were nonwhite.

  • Since Elon Musk’s Takeover, Twitter Has Seen a Rapid Rise in Gen-Z, Neo-Nazi Antisemitism: Study

    A new study has demonstrated that extremist elements have viewed Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter as an opportunity to rejoin the social media platform en masse. The study also indicates that a sea change is taking place on Twitter with respect to the proliferation of extremist antisemitic content.

  • U.K. to Reform the “Prevent” Counter-Radicalization Program

    A just-published review of Prevent, the U.K. program aiming to curb radicalization, harshly criticizes the program for succumbing to political correctness. William Shawcross, the author of the review, says that this has caused officials at Prevent to downplay the role of religion and militant Islamic ideology as drivers of radicalization, focusing instead on the psychological vulnerabilities and economic and social privation of Muslim extremists. At the same time, Prevent has inflated the threat posed by far-right extremists.

  • U.K. Deradicalization Program Downplayed Islamist Extremism, Exaggerated Far-Right Extremism: Report

    The U.K. Prevent counter-radicalization policy was introduced by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003 and expanded in 2015 by Prime Minister David Cameron. In 2017, Prime Minister ordered a thorough review of the program, and William Shawcross, the author of the review, has submitted it earlier this week to Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

  • Extremist Couple Charged in Plot to Destroy Baltimore’s Power Grid

    Two extremists have been charged Monday with conspiracy to attack and destroy energy facilities around Baltimore in a plot to “completely destroy” the city. The man, the founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen, and his accomplice appear to be part of trend among domestic violent extremists to target the U.S. electrical grid. In recent years, DHS and the FBI have discovered several such conspiracies to take down the power system, with the most recent attacks taking place in North Carolina and Washington State.

  • Israel to Enact New Counterterrorism Measures After Attacks

    In the wake of deadly weekend terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, the Israeli government has said it would seek to speed up the process for citizens to obtain firearms.

  • NIST Releases Bioeconomy Lexicon

    Biosecurity, bioenergy, bioinspired, biorisk: If you have ever started to feel like the new trend in security jargon is adding “bio” to an already existing word, then NIST’s Bioeconomy Lexicon  is for you.

  • One Year After Colleyville Attack, Domestic Islamist Extremism Continues to Pose Threat

    Several incidents in 2022, including a 12-hour hostage crisis at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, with an Islamist extremist perpetrator, demonstrate the ongoing threat of Islamist extremism and are a reminder that the U.S. faces a diverse set of extremist threats.

  • U.S. Must Not Overlook Al-Qaida, Islamic State: Officials

    For months the gaze of U.S. counterterrorism officials has been shifting, moving from scrutiny of foreign terrorist organizations to individuals in the United States seeking out ideologies to justify their use of violence. A top U.S. counterterrorism official cautions that jihadi groups, such as al-Qaida and Islamic State, cannot be forgotten.

  • Capitol Assault Network Map

    More than 300 defendants who have been criminally charged for participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have been identified as having connections to contemporary extremist groups and movements.

  • Yeast Material Developed for Training First Responders on Biothreats

    First responders who train for emergencies involving threats from biological agents such as bacterial or viral pathogens, need to do so in a safe and careful manner. To help meet their needs, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a reference material based on yeast cells.