Domestic terrorism and violent extremism are growing threats in the United States. The FBI had 9,049 open domestic terrorism cases in fiscal 2021, up 357% from the number of open domestic terrorism cases in fiscal 2013. Many of the most violent incidents of domestic terrorism in the U.S. today are carried out by individuals who have been radicalized by racist, homophobic, ethnocentric, or anti-government ideologies – ideologies widely propagated by extremist hate groups.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, there were 1,224 active hate and anti-government groups in the U.S. in 2022. These groups include those with distinct chapters in cities across the country, such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Ku Klux Klan, and ACT for America. While specific views vary between these and other groups, they are generally all galvanized by curtailing government power or hatred toward individuals of certain races, religions, ethnicities, or sexual orientations.
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