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.
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| From the ADL’s H.E.A.T. Map |
The 2018 Murder & Extremism report provides key insights into the crimes, including motivations behind these violent attacks.
2018 was a particularly active year
for right-wing extremist murders: Every single extremist killing — from
Pittsburgh to Parkland — had a link to right-wing extremism.
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 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.
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.
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.
