In the past decade, the national conversation on crime has largely focused on Muslim terrorist
acts.
However, law enforcement groups have made it clear that Muslim extremists make up a
minute percentage of ideologically based terror attacks in the US.
So what’s going on?
Who is really committing terrorism in the United States?
In 2014, the New York Times conducted a survey of US police about terrorism.
The greatest danger was cited as right-wing, anti-government extremists, with Muslims posing
a significantly smaller threat to Americans around the country.
Since September 11th, 2001, only about nine American Muslims per year have taken part
in terrorist plots in the US.
In total, 20 incidents resulted in about 50 deaths.
A 2012 study showed that in that same time period, right-wing extremists were responsible
for about 337 attacks per year.
In total, they killed more than five times the number of people killed by Muslims in
the US.
Right-wing extremists hold violent, anti-government ideologies.
Some notorious groups are neo-Nazis, sovereign citizens, and the KKK.
According to one source from the Department of Justice, their attacks are based on the
fear that the government will take away their guns, and that the government and economy
are going to collapse.
Sovereign citizens are people who believe that the US has no legal authority over them,
based on the idea they never “agreed” to become citizens.
The FBI considers them a loosely connected terrorist group based on their disruptive
activities and violent attacks.
In 2014, a pair of anti-government terrorists killed two police officers and a civilian,
leaving behind a swastika and a Gadsden flag.
Another striking example of the overstated threat of Muslim terrorists is how they stack
up to US homicides.
According to a 2014 study, after 9/11, 215,000 people were murdered in America.
Only 0.02% of those murders were committed by Muslim terrorists.
Additionally, 60% of all those murders came from two events: the 2002 Beltway Snipers,
and the 2009 Fort Hood shootings.
Despite a focus connecting Muslims to terrorism, police across the country have said that they
have been dealing with that threat for a long time, and have a good grip on potential attacks.
Meanwhile, right-wing groups have been on the rise, and have been ignored in favor of
an unrealistic fear of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
Statistically, it’s clear that the greater threat to most Americans is the proliferation
of right-wing extremism.
If you’d like to learn more about one of the most hateful groups in America, take a
look at our video on the Ku Klux Klan here.
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