Check out this insightful review article titled: “Far-Right and Jihadi Terrorism Within the United States: From September 11th to January 6th”.
The article discusses the January 6th attack on the US Capitol by far-right extremists and its antecedents in American counter-terrorism policies. It argues that, although unifying the country, the 9/11 attacks disproportionately punished innocent Muslims and legitimized anti-Muslim ideals, which gave rise to anti-Muslim hate crimes and backlash by jihadi extremists, emboldening violence from far-right extremists.
The perpetuation of fear from Islamic terrorism helped obscure the rising threat from the far-right. While hate crimes continued to persist at levels well above those prior to September 11th and the far-right perpetrated acts of terror at an increasing rate, public discourse by US leaders argued that America’s greatest threat was still Islamic terrorism. Yet, the research shows that far-right terrorists attacked 331% more often than jihadi extremists since September 11th, and 75% more people were killed by the far-right than by jihadi assailants. Clearly, the greatest terrorist threat in the twenty-first century United States has thus far been the far-right.
Excessive punishment that disproportionately targets one group while overlooking others’ offending could cause backlash from targeted groups and emboldenment from protected groups, increasing the likelihood of terrorism from both. Several of the jihadi perpetrators in the Global Terrorism Database cite the US treatment of Muslims as their reasoning behind the attacks. The growth of far-right terrorism and the emergence of new far-right threats suggest that an unintended sanctuary might have fostered their progress.
The article points out that counter-terrorism efforts should attend to all ideologies underpinning terrorism. Government leaders should restrain themselves from using rhetoric that unjustifiably alarms the public and instead aim for the proportionality supported within the scientific deterrence literature. Humans respond to more than just threats of punishment, and we now know that governments can use a wider variety of policy levers to influence terrorism. Finding methods for addressing the grievances of those who are vulnerable to being recruited by extremist groups, including military veterans, should be a policy priority.
The review argues that the January 6th attack on the US Capitol was an act of terrorism by far-right extremists, and the response to it has been divisive, and that the Bush administration misused deterrence in response to the September 11th attacks, leading to the rise of far-right extremism. The US needs to recognize far-right terrorism as the greatest terrorist threat in the twenty-first century and attend to all ideologies underpinning terrorism. Governments should use a wider variety of policy levers to influence terrorism, including finding methods for addressing the grievances of those who are vulnerable to being recruited by extremist groups, including military veterans.