Murder
and Extremism in the United States in 2018
Anti-Defamation
League
Each
year, ADL’s Center on Extremism (COE) tracks murders perpetrated by all types
of extremists. The 2018 Murder & Extremism report provides key insights
into the crimes, including motivations behind these violent attacks.
Among this report’s key findings:
Every year adherents of a variety of extreme causes kill people in the United States; ADL’s COE tracks these murders.
In
2018, domestic extremists killed at least 50 people in the U.S., a sharp
increase from the 37 extremist-related murders documented in 2017, though still
lower than the totals for 2015 (70) and 2016 (72).
The 50 deaths make 2018 the fourth-deadliest year on record for domestic extremist-related killings since 1970.
The 50 deaths make 2018 the fourth-deadliest year on record for domestic extremist-related killings since 1970.
The
extremist-related murders in 2018 were overwhelmingly linked to right-wing
extremists.
Every one of the perpetrators had ties to at least one right-wing extremist movement, although one had recently switched to supporting Islamist extremism. White supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings, which is typically the case.
Every one of the perpetrators had ties to at least one right-wing extremist movement, although one had recently switched to supporting Islamist extremism. White supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings, which is typically the case.
Deadly
shooting sprees were a major factor in the high death toll. Five of the 17
incidents involved shooting sprees that caused 38 deaths and injured 33 people.
The
perpetrator of one of 2018’s deadly shooting sprees, at a yoga studio in
Tallahassee, was connected to the misogynistic incel/manosphere movement. EDITOR'S NOTE: "incel" = "involuntarily celibate."
In
the wake of this attack and a similarly-motivated killing spree in Toronto,
Canada, ADL’s COE now tracks such incidents as extremist-related killings and
has updated its database to include an earlier incel-linked incident, Elliot
Rodger’s 2014 shooting spree.
Firearms
remain the weapon of choice for extremists who kill. Guns were responsible for
42 of the 50 deaths in 2018, followed by blades or edged weapons.
Visit ADL’s H.E.A.T. Map, the first-of-its-kind
interactive and customizable map detailing hate, terrorism, extremist and
anti-Semitic incidents around the nation, developed by ADL’s COE experts.
