Domestic terrorism in the United States

In the United States, domestic terrorism is defined as terrorist acts that were carried out within the United States by U.S. citizens and/or U.S. permanent residents. As of 2021, the United States government considers white supremacists to be the top domestic terrorism threat. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines domestic terrorism as violent, criminal acts which are committed by individuals and/or groups in order to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature. Under current United States law, set forth in the USA PATRIOT Act, acts of domestic terrorism are those which: "(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended – (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States." While the PATRIOT Act defines "domestic terrorism" for the purposes of authorizing law enforcement investigations, no federal criminal offense exists which is referred to as "domestic terrorism". While international terrorism ("acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries") is a defined crime in federal law, acts of domestic terrorism are charged under specific laws, such as killing federal agents or "attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce". Citizens suspected of terrorism are usually investigated and arrested by federal law enforcement, such as the FBI. For instance, from 2016 to 2018, the FBI arrested 355 suspects on charges related to domestic terrorism. Per the FBI, the vast majority were motivated by racist and anti-government ideology. Some state and local jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C.

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Related concepts (17)

Timothy McVeigh

Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist who perpetrated the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured 680, and destroyed one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. It is one of the deadliest acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. A Gulf War veteran, McVeigh sought revenge against the federal government for the 1993 Waco siege as well as the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident and American foreign policy.

Ruby Ridge

Ruby Ridge was the site of an 11-day siege in August 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho of a cabin occupied by the Weaver family. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) came to arrest Randy Weaver under a bench warrant after his failure to appear on federal firearms charges. During a surveillance operation, officer Art Roderick shot Weaver's dog, leading Weaver's son Sammy to fire at the team. Sammy was then shot and killed, causing an exchange of fire in which Weaver's friend Kevin Harris shot and killed Deputy Marshal William Francis Degan.

Right-wing terrorism

Right-wing terrorism, hard right terrorism, extreme right terrorism or far-right terrorism is terrorism that is motivated by a variety of different right-wing and far-right ideologies, most prominently, it is motivated by Ultranationalism, neo-Nazism, anti-communism, neo-fascism, ecofascism, ethnonationalism, religious nationalism, and anti-government patriot/sovereign citizen beliefs, and occasionally, it is motivated by opposition to abortion, tax resistance, and homophobia.