KKK and Racist Groups Have Killed More People Than Islamist Terrorists in the U.S. Since 9/11

Home-grown white supremacists like the KKK, anti-government radicals, black panthers and other racist groups have killed twice as many people compared to the Islamist terrorists, jihadists and Muslim extremists in the U.S. since 9/11. This has been revealed in a study conducted by an American think-tank. The recent shooting incidents have occurred at a time when the American society is at crossroads and there is an ongoing raging debate about equality, non-segregation and equal justice without any prejudice against colored population of the U.S., especially the African-American community.

The raging debate is also about the reason why the most recent shooting incidents in Charleston-South Carolina, Detroit-Michigan, and Philadelphia-Pennsylvania, should be referred to as terrorist attacks. In Charleston-SC, a young white man with extremist views, murdered nine black people within a church premises. Other shooting incidents mentioned included people opening fire at a block party with many kids, who could have been victims of the crime which can only be described as a terrorist attack regardless of the affiliations of the perpetrators. The suspect of the shooting incident in Detroit is a black guy and police are on the lookout.

The study conducted by a Washington think-tank named the New America, has revealed that home-grown extremist groups like the KKK, black panthers, and other racist groups have killed more people compared to Islamist terrorists in the U.S. since 9/11. The study suggests that while the threat of Islamist attacks in the U.S. is overstated, attacks from racist groups like KKK are grossly understated in the country. The study reports seven attacks within the U.S. homeland since 9/11, which can be traced to what it referred to as ‘deadly jihadist attacks’ that have killed 26 people.

On the contrary, there have been 19 extremist-racist attacks in the U.S. during the same period, mostly perpetrated by people aligning themselves with the KKK, anti-government radicals and other black racist groups and white supremacist groups. These set of attacks have killed a total of 48 people in the U.S. since 9/11. The Charleston church attack perpetrated by a self-radicalized man, who aligned with the KKK-run propaganda, has been the most severe of these race relate attacks in which nine churchgoers were killed last week. There was another attack on a Sikh Gurdwara in Wisconsin which killed six people in 2012. In the same period, the most severe jihadi attack was at Fort Hood in 2009 which claimed 13 lives.

As far as the number of extremists being charged are concerned, the database of the New America showed 183 individuals being charged after 9/11 as ‘non-Jihadists’, while 276 extremists have been charged for ‘jihadist terrorism.’ The report closely examined the U.S. citizens and permanent residents as well as individuals living in the U.S. regardless of their citizenship status, who engaged in extremism and violent activity. It is mentioned in the report that the researchers had examined individuals who were motivated by ideologies that are non-jihadist in character, for example, the extreme right-wing groups like KKK, idiosyncratic beliefs or left-wing and those who are motivated by the jihadist ideology, for example, people inspired by or who worked with al-Qaeda or any of its affiliated groups.

The report mentions that an in-depth analysis was conducted of the 276 individuals currently charged in the U.S. with an act of terrorism since 9/11, who were recruited by al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups. This showed that the traditional investigative methods were more helpful in these cases compared to the minimal contribution of bulk surveillance programs undertaken by the NSA. Reportedly, skewed priorities like these are not new as the first survey to be published by the New America this week, asked around 382 sheriff and police departments across the U.S. to rank the three biggest threats from extremist violence in their jurisdiction. According to researchers David Schanzer of Duke University and Charles Kurzman of the University of North Carolina, around 39 percent listed ‘violence inspired by al-Qaeda’ while close to 74 percent listed violence of anti-government groups and extreme racist groups like KKK and black panthers.

Dr. Kurzman went on to say that many law enforcement agencies across the United States have told the researchers that the threat from Islamic extremists was not as great as the threat from right-wing and racist extremists. He said that it is still the threat from Islamist terrorists that is given prime importance since the World Trade Center attacks. He also called for more attention to be given to the famous gun culture in the U.S. Dr. Kurzman said that it provides home-grown extremists and radicals like the KKK, black panthers and other racist groups with easy access to lethal weapons, who have killed more people in the U.S. than Islamist terrorists since 9/11.

By Ankur Sinha

Sources:
The New York Times-Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Jihadists in U.S. Since 9/11
The Times Of India-More people killed in US by racists than terrorists
CNN-U.S. right wing extremists more deadly than jihadists
CBS-Police Release Suspect Photos, Video In Greektown Shooting
NBC-Police Find Shotgun Where Shooting Wounded 7, Including Children, in Philadelphia