Audio Briefs “Left-Wing Terrorism and Political Violence in the United States: What the Data Tells Us”: Audio Brief with Riley McCabe
4 snips
Sep 30, 2025 Riley McCabe delves into the rising trends of left-wing terrorism in the U.S., highlighting their specific targets and low lethality compared to historical violence. He discusses the increase of left-wing incidents amid a decline in right-wing and jihadist attacks, exploring underlying reasons for this shift. McCabe concludes with policy recommendations to effectively address political violence, emphasizing the importance of not infringing on peaceful groups while ensuring strong leadership denunciations of any violent acts.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Balance Resourcing With Restraint
- Ensure proper counterterrorism resourcing to address political violence across ideologies.
- Avoid overreactions like government crackdowns on peaceful organizations and condemn attacks unequivocally.
Left-Wing Incidents Rising But Still Low
- Left-wing terrorism incidents have risen over the last decade but from very low levels and remain below historical right-wing and jihadist violence.
- The recent increase is mainly driven by plots targeting government and law enforcement.
Relative Share Shifted By Declines Elsewhere
- Left-wing attacks were a record share of U.S. terrorist incidents in early 2025 largely because other forms of terrorism declined.
- Right-wing and jihadist attacks fell, changing the relative proportions of incidents.