The Department of Justice has removed a report showing that far-right extremists commit most US terror killings. Photo / Getty Images
The Department of Justice has removed a report showing that far-right extremists commit most US terror killings. Photo / Getty Images
A paper on domestic terrorism detailing far-right extremist violence in the United States has been removed from the Justice Department’s website, AFP confirmed today.
The research summary from the National Institute of Justice concluded that “far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists”since 1990.
This finding stands in stark contrast to comments top Trump Administration officials have made about the threat of left-wing extremism following last week’s assassination of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The department did not respond to requests for comment on why the paper, titled “What NIJ research tells us about domestic terrorism”, was taken down in the days following the deadly September 10 shooting in the state of Utah.
As reported by the independent 404 Media, archived versions of the Office of Justice Programmes website captured by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine show that the article was accessible on September 11 but was no longer available the following afternoon.
Reached by AFP, one of the cited authors declined to comment on the removal.
Other studies detailing the threat of far-right extremism remain available on the department’s website.
Yesterday, the White House said it would be pursuing an alleged left-wing “domestic terror movement” after Kirk’s killing, prompting alarm that such a campaign could be used to silence political dissent.
While federal law enforcement includes combating domestic terrorism under its purview, the US does not have a list of designated “domestic terrorist organisations”.
