According to the Anti-Defamation League’s statistically exhaustive annual Murder and Extremism study, right-wing ideology was behind 76 percent of extremist murders in the United States from 2009 to 2019. Although Islamic terrorism and left-wing violence certainly exist on American soil, the predominant use and threat of violence intending to “instill fear and coerce governments” comes from the right wing. In the background is the dark and dangerous reality of escalating hate crimes against Blacks, Asians, Latinos, and LGBTQ Americans, as well as increased violence targeting abortion clinics and death threats registering in the thousands against school board members, librarians, and election workers. The January 6 insurrection, the Michigan militia plot to abduct and assassinate Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the home invasion and beating of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and several mass shootings accompanied by racist manifestos all fit the description. The Defense Department defines terrorism as the “unlawful use of violence or threat of violence to instill fear and coerce governments and societies.” Given the official definition, it is easy to conclude that Americans live in an era of domestic terror.
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