The United States has been witnessing a growing percentage of plots and attacks linked to far-right activity, which takes over jihadism as the main terrorist threat, the NBC broadcaster reported on Monday, citing a researcher from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2020) The United States has been witnessing a growing percentage of plots and attacks linked to far-right activity, which takes over jihadism as the main terrorist threat, the NBC broadcaster reported on Monday, citing a researcher from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank.
"We see an increasing percentage of plots and attacks in the United States shifting over the past couple of years from jihadist motivations, increasingly, to far-right activity," Seth Jones, the director of CSIS' Transnational Threats Project, said.
According to Jones, right-wing extremists act as "sub-national or non-state entities" and can pursue ethnic or racial supremacy or express anger or hatred over certain issue or group.
A June report co-authored by the researcher lists 14 terrorist incidents, including both attacks and plots, in the US between January 1 and May 8, 2020. Thirteen of them are classified as right-wing, and the other was related to jihadism.
In 2019, the report says, the share of right-wing attacks and plans slightly topped 60 percent, becoming the highest level of such activity since 1995, when Oklahoma City bombing claimed 168 lives.
Jones expressed concerns that the coronavirus crisis, a divide over lockdowns and polarization over the Black Lives Matter movement may further contribute to the terrorist threat.
Other experts told the broadcaster that the trend of the growing far-right threat is of concern to Europe too, including the United Kingdom.
