By Michael P. Riccards

In a recent definitive history of far-right terrorism, Professors Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware of Georgetown University have outlined what FBI director Christopher Wray has called the greatest threat to the United States.

There has been the steady growth over the last 40 years of white supremacy when a new generation of white supremacists joined with militant anti-government extremists.

The most graphic example was the attack on the Capital in January 6, 2021, by Trumpite followers taking their seditious lead from the President of the United States.

I have a vested personal interest in seeing these tendencies countered. My gifted son Patrick is the CEO of “Life after Hate,” a non profit group that seeks to take the forces of extremism and lead them to more conventional and satisfied lives. But we and he know just by looking at our nation and our neighbors that extremists are both more persistent and more committed in pouring out their poisonous ideology in the social media.

It has been estimated that 100,000 individuals are involved in white supremacist groups, in addition to the 15,000-20,000 people who belong to armed militia organizations, which number over 300. The state of Idaho is almost controlled by white racial extremists, especially in its hapless legislature. The once great Republican Party will re-nominate a man guilty of sedition and indictments on 70-plus counts of violating the laws. He has made such white racist activity popular with his stupid remarks praising both sides in the Charlottesville riots and his own proclaimed desire to use the federal agencies for his paranoid retribution and for his insistence that he wished to be a dictator for a day, and God knows what happens after that.

The authors advised that the U.S. government should strike at the centers of gravity of the far-right extremists:

• Short term moves to create a stronger regulatory state to fight these forces especially on social media;
• Medium means to strengthen civil society, and
• Long term means to build nationalism which aims to the cycle of recruitment and regulation.

We must address the pernicious impact of social media, which has emerged and augmented far right extremists which employ racial, ethnic and anti- Semitic rhetoric. Terrorism is a symptom of bad government, and failed states litter the globe. We Americans are deeply committed to the First Amendment freedoms of speech, press and assembly. But the owners of social media should be held more accountable for the messages they allow to be put on their platforms.

Congress should establish a high-tolerance homeland law, and emphasis should be placed on controlling U.S. military and local law enforcement personnel and their propensity to join such extremist groups. 

The terrorist Oath Keepers group claims a membership of over tens of thousand of such people. It may be dated, but I remember pledging allegiance to protecting the Constitution before even basic training in the Army. These individuals are often outside the pale what is considered to be accepted behavior. They are often loners who seek identity in their extreme associations. 

Our politics is so polarized that it prevents us from having a common purpose. But governments, especially liberal governments, must avoid over-responding, which will create more right wing martyrs.

I am frequently asked why do we so talk about right wing terrorism, but say little about left wing terrorism. All these anti- government groups are a clear and present danger to constitutional law and order. We must be concerned that like the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1920s, we do not talk democracy but allow determined foes of constitutional government to use the constitution and imperil the very system we think we are protecting.

References

Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware, “God, Guns and Sedition,” Columbia University Press 2024.

Patrick R. Riccards, “Life After Hate,”  in CEO Outlook Magazine.

Michael P. Riccards, a former college president, is the author of 30 books, including “A Republic If You Can Keep it.”

Categories: Jandoli Institute, Michael Riccards, Politics, Uncategorized