Micro 2-Extremism and the Military: Ideological and Group Affiliation

Extremism and the Military

Ideological and Group AffiliatioNS

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Criminal extremists with military backgrounds can be broken into three main ideological categories including:

Extremism and the Military

Ideological and Group Affilitations

Anti-government

60% of offenders with military backgrounds in the Profiles of Individuals Radicalizing in the United States (PIRUS) dataset “were affiliated with more than 125 unique extremist groups or named movements. The remaining 40% of individuals in the data [expressed] ideological views but were not members of organized extremist groups or named movements."1

White supremacy, white nationalism, and/or xenophobia

Salafi Jihadist Groups

+ about the PIRUS dataset

Anti-government

177

Anti-government criminal extremists adhere to anti-government views or were members of organized militias. Nearly half of the subjects in PIRUS with military backgrounds fall into the anti-government ideological category.3 “This includes individuals who were affiliated with the Sovereign Citizen and Patriot movements, as well as subjects who were members of the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, and more than two dozen local militia groups. This category also includes individuals who were motivated to overturn the

of the individuals in PIRUS with military backgrounds were affiliated

with known anti-government groups or militias, including:

45

41

26

members of the Boogaloo movement."5

subjects who were part of the Sovereign Citizen movement

members of the Oath Keepers

2020 U.S. Presidential election results."4

Conducted by START, a research center at the University of Maryland, the Profiles of Individuals Radicalizing in the United States (PIRUS) dataset is an ongoing project to collect comprehensive data on extremist offenders in the United States, including those with U.S. military backgrounds. “PIRUS is a representative sample of individuals who have committed criminal offenses on behalf of their extremist views and/or affiliations. To be included in PIRUS, a subject must have (1) radicalized (in whole or in part) in the United States; (2) adhered to or espoused views that justify the use of illegal means, including violence, to achieve political, economic, religious, or social goals; and (3) committed a criminal offense that was clearly motivated by their ideological views and resulted in their arrest, indictment, or death. All data are coded from public sources, including court records, public police reports, and print and online news media.”2

What Can We do?

Salafi Jihadist Groups

The Salafist Jihadist category includes those connected to, or inspired by, a Sala Jihadist group abroad.

Of the offenders in PIRUS with military backgrounds, just over 7% of the subjects fall into this category.8 This includes:

19

22

individuals

individuals

inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)

inspired by, or affiliated with, al-Qaeda and its affiliated movements.9

White supremacy, white nationalism, and/or xenophobia

141

of the individuals in PIRUS with military backgrounds were members

of known skinhead, white supremacist, or white nationalist groups, including:

“Over 30% of the subjects in PIRUS with military backgrounds [expressed] views of white supremacy, white nationalism, and/or xenophobia. These individuals were affiliated with no fewer than 50 extremist groups, including local skinhead gangs and several national white supremacist organizations.”6

34

16

11

subjects who were members of the Proud Boys

individuals who were members of the Aryan Nations." 7

individuals who were members of the Ku Klux Klan