SubX.News® Terrorism Report
Right-wing and white supremacist terrorism has been the most frequent and most lethal category of domestic terrorism in the United States. For years, far-right attacks and plots have outnumbered all other ideological categories, with perpetrators overwhelmingly white.
The record is not ambiguous. Long-running CSIS datasets tracking U.S. domestic terrorism from 1994 through mid-2025 show that right-wing extremists—overwhelmingly white perpetrators—have dominated the landscape for much of that period.
From the mid-2010s through 2024, far-right attacks and plots consistently outnumbered all other ideological categories, often accounting for sixty to ninety percent of annual totals. On CSIS visualizations, the red bars tower over the rest, peaking at roughly thirty-five to forty incidents per year between 2017 and 2022.
These incidents were not abstract. They included mass-casualty shootings, bomb plots, vehicle attacks, and targeted violence aimed at government officials, police, racial and religious minorities, and public institutions. This was not a brief surge or a single movement. It was a sustained pattern across multiple years.
Jihadist violence spiked sharply in the mid-2010s during the ISIS era, producing some of the deadliest attacks of that decade. That wave faded after 2018, dropping to minimal levels in the 2020s. Left-wing violence remained low and sporadic for decades, rising during the 2020 protest period and surging again in early 2025.
CSIS notes that 2025 marked the first time in more than thirty years that left-wing attacks and plots temporarily outpaced right-wing activity. Even so, that increase was driven largely by non-lethal actions—assaults, vandalism, and property damage—rather than mass killing.
Lethality tells the clearer story. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2024 report, every extremist-related murder that year was committed by right-wing extremists—eight by white supremacists and five by anti-government or sovereign citizen actors. It was the third consecutive year in which one hundred percent of extremist killings were tied to the far right.
Over the long term, right-wing violence accounts for the overwhelming majority of domestic extremist fatalities, dwarfing left-wing violence, which rarely results in death, and jihadist violence, which has declined sharply.
Recent volatility does not erase that history. The 2025 dip in right-wing incidents and the concurrent left-wing uptick reflect political polarization and shifting grievances, not a structural reversal. CSIS cautions that right-wing violence has rebounded quickly before and can do so again. What distinguishes it is not just frequency, but consistency—and body count.
The deadliest single act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history remains the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh, a white anti-government extremist, murdered 168 people, including 19 children, and injured more than 680 others. That attack still anchors the upper limit of domestic terror violence in the United States.
There is no monopoly on violence.
But the data shows a clear, repeatable pattern … white … HiHo
Sources Primary Data & Analysis Sources
Left-Wing Terrorism and Political Violence in the United States Analysis of U.S. domestic terrorism trends showing left-wing violence rising but still historically lower than right-wing activity; 2025 marked the first time left-wing plots/attacks temporarily outpaced far-right https://www.csis.org/analysis/left-wing-terrorism-and-political-violence-united-states-what-data-tells-us
Ideological Trends in U.S. Terrorism Context on ideological shifts in domestic terrorism, noting patterns of right-wing violence and increases in left-wing incidents in 2025 https://www.csis.org/analysis/ideological-trends-us-terrorism
Anti-Defamation League – Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2024 ADL’s official report documenting extremist-related murders in 2024, with all 13 tied to right-wing extremists (white supremacist and anti-government) https://www.adl.org/resources/report/murder-and-extremism-united-states-2024
ADL Press Release – Extremist-Related Murders in 2024 press release confirming that all 2024 extremist-related murders in the U.S. were committed by right-wing extremists and noting trends https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-data-shows-extremist-related-murders-set-increase-2025-despite-third
The Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States
Earlier CSIS analysis documenting the broader domestic terrorism landscape and the threat from white supremacist and far-right extremists https://www.csis.org/analysis/escalating-terrorism-problem-united-states
The Rising Threat of Anti-Government Domestic Terrorism
CSIS briefing on domestic terrorism incidents, including partisan-motivated attacks and plots from 1994 to 2024 https://www.csis.org/analysis/rising-threat-anti-government-domestic-terrorism-what-data-tells-us
Global Terrorism Threat Assessment 2025 Assessment noting that domestic terrorism poses a significant threat in the contemporary U.S. environment https://www.csis.org/analysis/global-terrorism-threat-assessment-2025
DOJ Issues Sweeping New Domestic Terrorism Directive: What the Attorney General’s December 4 Memorandum Means for You https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/blogs/enforcement-edge/2025/12/doj-issues-sweeping-new-domestic-terrorism-directive
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Remarks: Domestic Terrorism Policy Address June 15, 2021 https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-remarks-domestic-terrorism-policy-address
Audit of the Department of Justice’s Strategy to Address the Domestic Violent Extremism Threat June 2023 https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-078.pdf
Understanding and Conceptualizing Domestic Terrorism: Issues for Congress Dec 29, 2023 https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47885
Domestic Radicalization and Violent Extremism January 2, 2024 https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/domestic-radicalization-and-violent-extremism
Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling The White House January 29, 2025 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/
Radical and Morally Confused … Domestic Radicalization and Deradicalization: Insights from Family and Friends https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/domestic-radicalization-and-deradicalization-insights-family-and-friends
