ADL Response to RealClearInvestigations Article About 'White Supremacist' Murder Study
(Received by email after publication, 4:58 PM, Thursday, May 26)
To the Editor:
In “The ADL Murder Report that Cried “White Supremacist” (May 26) James Varney rightfully notes that the number of white supremacist killings in the U.S. are small when compared to the number of overall homicides in America. He also notes, correctly, that some of the killings included in our report are not hate crimes. We count murders committed both for ideological reasons and also intra-and inter-group murders, non-ideological killings and killings for which the motive is not known. But this doesn’t mean that the data is lacking context or is any less valid. Our annual reports on extremist-connected murders show – transparently – that domestic extremists are responsible for a disturbing number of violent deaths in America and have been so year after year.
Over the last decade, ADL has tracked almost equal numbers of ideological and other types of murders by extremists: 231 vs. 212. But even if one eliminates non-ideological killings, ideological murders by right-wing extremists vastly outnumber those of left-wing extremists, 122 to 18, and are almost one and a half times those of domestic Islamist murders (122 to 87). Moreover, most of the non-right-wing killings took place from 2012-2016, so the recent disparity is even greater.
But extremist-related murders are only one measure of extremist violence. ADL also tracks extremist-related terrorist attacks, attempted attacks, and plots. Over the last decade ADL has identified 207 domestic terrorist incidents. Of these, the majority (111) were connected to right-wing extremism, while domestic Islamist extremists were responsible for 72 and left-wing extremists for 22. Again, right-wing extremists account for far more terror incidents than any other type of extremist.
At the end of the day, extremist violence from any source causes real suffering. Our report looks at violent extremism both on the far right and the extreme left, and contextualizes the available data. We urge government and law enforcement to be aware of these trends and to responsibly investigate and combat all sources of violent extremism.
Sincerely,
Mark Pitcavage
Senior Fellow, Center on Extremism
ADL (Anti-Defamation League)
605 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10158
www.adl.org
