ADL Articles

May 10, 2021 On April 14, 2021, both Al Qaeda and the pro-Al Qaeda propaganda outlet Jaysh Al-Malahim Al-Electroni (Electronic Battle Army) released magazines that include articles about the cultural strife in America and the West more broadly. The articles touched on the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, the racial justice protests in summer 2020, and the deepening of American political divisions. Both articles portray the West as declining and divided. The Jaysh Al-Malahim article,…

February 22, 2021 On February 5, 2021, the FBI arrested Christian Michael Mackey, an alleged member of neo-Nazi  group Iron Youth, on charges of an unlawful sale of a firearm. Mackey allegedly attempted to sell his gun to someone identified to him as a known felon, but Mackey seemed primarily concerned that the buyer was “based”— which in this case means that he subscribes to white supremacist beliefs. According to the affidavit, Mackey allegedly incited others in an…

February 17, 2021 It’s been more than a month since a horde of extremists forced their way into the U.S. Capitol, protesting the outcome of a national election and intent on disrupting a time-honored democratic process. At least five people died during the violent attack, including one Capitol Police officer. ADL’s Center on Extremism (COE) has identified 212 of the roughly 800 individuals who are believed to have breached the building on January 6. The emerging snapshot…

January 13, 2021 In the wake of the January 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol, Americans are understandably worried about extremism and political violence. They want to know how bad things are, and how bad they might get. The bottom line: Although we should not panic, there’s also no excuse for ignoring an extremist threat that appears to have significant staying power. In other words, we all need to focus on the long game. The anger and vitriol we saw on January 6 will not…

January 08, 2021 Photo credit: Associated Press Since the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, some technology companies have taken additional steps to crack down on the dissemination of hate and violent conspiracy theories. This includes indefinite bans of many of Donald Trump’s social media accounts and Shopify ceasing its sale of merchandise from the Trump Organization. However, many tech companies continue to play a significant role in spreading the hate and…

January 08, 2021 On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, pro-Trump extremists, including some identified right-wing extremists, stormed the U.S. Capitol building, interrupting the Congressional session affirming the election results and forcing a partial evacuation. The nation and the world watched the chaos unfold, including scenes of the mob on the Senate floor, in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, and swarming the Capitol steps. By the time the siege ended, four people were dead: three from…

January 07, 2021 The invasion of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 by pro-Trump extremists forced a suspension of the Joint Session of Congress certifying the results of the 2020 election and necessitated the evacuation of elected officials and staff.  Security preparations for the certification were likely developed and implemented with the knowledge that state capitols have been a frequent target of extremists throughout 2020.  Why these preparations failed so dramatically…

January 06, 2021 On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, pro-Trump extremists, including a broad coalition of right-wing extremists, descended on Washington, D.C. and a number of state capitals. Ostensibly gathered to hear President Trump and his family speak, and to dispute the result of the 2020 presidential election, which is scheduled to be certified in Congress on Wednesday, protesters stoked violence against law enforcement officers before storming the U.S. Capitol in an extraordinary display of…

September 24, 2020 While extremists of differing ideologies aligning to further a common goal is not a new phenomenon, recent activity suggests that this overlap is becoming more common as extremist ideas are shared online. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) September 3, 2020 arrest of 30-year-old Michael Robert Solomon and 22-year-old Benjamin Ryan Teeter in Minneapolis is the most recent example of a hybrid ideology. To support their alleged violent goals of destroying the U.S…

April 19, 2020 By Dr. Mark Pitcavage On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast destroyed the building, killing 168 men, women and children and injuring hundreds more. Twenty-five years later, the Oklahoma City bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history.  McVeigh and his accomplice, Terry Nichols, were not part of any large, well-funded terrorist organization; they…

March 27, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 An apparent white supremacist suspected of plotting to attack a Missouri hospital caring for coronavirus patients was killed during a shootout with FBI agents, authorities said Wednesday. Brenton Tarrant, the man accused of killing 51 worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, has pleaded guilty. The Attorney General of New York has launched a hotline for people to report hate crimes and biased incidents against Asian-Americans…

November 08, 2019 THE WEEK’S BIG 3 An avowed white supremacist in Colorado was arrested after federal investigators uncovered a plot to bomb an historic synagogue. Campus officials at East Tennessee University are opening an investigation after signs saying “It’s okay to be white”— a popular white supremacist slogan — appeared around campus. A man in Milwaukee is facing felony hate-crime charges for allegedly throwing acid on a Latino man because of his…

November 05, 2019 Update: February 26, 2021: A federal court sentenced Richard Holzer to 19.5 years in prison.  Update: October 15, 2020:  The Justice Department announced that Richard Holzer, 28, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and explosives charges for plotting to blow up the Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado. According to a DOJ press release, Holzer faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the hate crime charge…

October 10, 2019 On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of Jewish calendar, the synagogue in Halle, Germany was attacked.  A terrorist with a shotgun tried unsuccessfully to enter the synagogue, where approximately 80 congregants were worshiping.  After his failed attempt at the synagogue, he began shooting at nearby individuals, killing two people and wounding two others, none of whom were affiliated with the synagogue. According to news reports, Stephan Balliet, a 27-year-old German…

August 23, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 President Trump accused Jews who vote for Democrats of having “great disloyalty” – invoking a centuries old anti-Semitic trope. An avowed white nationalist was arrested for threatening to attack a Jewish community center in Youngstown, OH. And in California, members of a high school water polo team were seen on video giving the Nazi salute and singing a Nazi song. Read on for more on these headlines, news you can use to fight hate, and…

August 16, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 A man in southern Nevada was arrested after investigators uncovered his plot to attack an LGBTQ nightclub, a local synagogue and the regional ADL office with firearms and explosives. A white supremacist group distributed anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic fliers at Seattle-area synagogues as part of a coordinated propaganda effort. And over 100 tires were slashed in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in NJ. Read on for more on these headlines,…

August 02, 2019 THE WEEK'S BIG 3 A new report from ADL reveals extremist items, including those promoting white supremacy, are widely available for purchase on Amazon, despite the company’s terms of service against such products. The alleged gunman responsible for killing three at a California food festival promoted a book cited by white supremacists on social media shortly before opening fire. The NonProfit Times is out with their annual “Power and Influence Top 50,”…