White supremacists were responsible for the majority of extremist killings in 2017
Date shows that far right-wing extremism are looking for blood.
According to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacists made up the majority of extremist killings in 2017.
The league’s Center on Extremism found that 20 of the 34 people killed by domestic terrorists last year were killed by right-wing extremists. And 18 of those were white supremacist killings.
“Extremists from a variety of different movements were involved in murders in 2017, including Islamic extremists, black nationalists, as well as members of the alt-right,” the report said.
“Extremism in any form is an issue. Foreign born, politically minded extremism or racially focused extremism. What the data tells us in the past 10-plus years it is far right-wing extremism, white supremacists and their ilk that are responsible for more extremist-related murders than any other group,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.
The current statistics include last year’s “Unite the Right” rally at the University of Virginia where members of the alt-right marched chanting phrases like, “White lives matter” and “You will not replace us.” Three people died as result of the violence that ensued.
However, according to CNN, the number of actual killings has declined since last year. They found that 2016 was the deadliest year since 1970, when the ADL started tracking extremist violence, and that included the deaths of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
“Extremists feel emboldened”
The findings confirm what many others have been saying: that during the era of President Trump his racially charged rhetoric has spurred a rise in hate speech and attacks.
“Concretely it confirms extremists feel emboldened in the current environment. Right-wing extremists in particular were responsible for nearly 60% of extremist-related fatalities last year,” Greenblatt said, “The data lays bare that this is not an exaggeration, as some would try to paint it.”
Silence on the issue
CNN also noted that the release of the report comes just one day after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen omitted right-wing extremists from her report to the Senate Judiciary Committee on threats facing the country.
“DHS has historically had a focus on right-wing extremism. It makes no sense not to acknowledge those groups that committed the preponderance of the extremist violence and murder in this country,” Greenblatt told CNN.
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