While much remains unknown about the man who carried out the attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day and the man who died in a bombing in Las Vegas on the same day, the recent violence suggests an increasing role for ideologically-based attacks, especially those with war experience. It highlights what you are doing. We’re looking for mass casualties.
In New Orleans, U.S. Army veteran Shamsuddin Jabbar went on a rampage in his pickup truck, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more before being killed by police. It is being investigated as a terrorist act inspired by the extremist group Islamic State.
In Las Vegas, Matthew Libersberger, an active-duty member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, crashed a Tesla Cybertruck loaded with fireworks mortars and camping fuel canisters moments before it exploded outside the entrance to the Trump International Hotel. Officials said he shot himself in the head. , seven people were injured. The explosion may have been politically motivated, given its location in front of the Trump Hotel and President-elect Donald Trump’s ties to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. This immediately raised questions. However, investigators have not yet reached a conclusion.
Radicalized military personnel and veterans are just a small portion of the millions of people who have served our country honorably. But an Associated Press investigation released last year found that radicalization is on the rise among veterans and active-duty military, with hundreds of former military personnel arrested for extremist crimes since 2017. . The Associated Press revealed that they were involved in an extremist conspiracy. During this period, nearly 100 people were killed or injured.
The man who drove into a crowd in New Orleans posted a video online detailing his plan to attack his family again hours before the shooting, FBI Deputy Director Christopher Reier said.
The AP also notes that the Pentagon’s efforts to combat internal extremism still lacks a military-wide system to track it, and that the underlying report on the issue contains outdated data and is misleading. The analysis also found multiple problems, including the inclusion of ignored evidence. problem.
Since 2017, veterans and active-duty military have become radicalized at a faster rate than those with no military background, according to data from terrorism researchers at the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses (START). Although less than 1% of the adult population currently serves in the U.S. military, active-duty military members account for a disproportionate 3.2% of extremist incidents that START researchers uncovered between 2017 and 2022.
Data collected and analyzed by The Associated Press and START shows that while the number of people with military backgrounds involved in violent extremist plots remains small, the participation of active-duty military and veterans has led to a larger number of extremist plots. The possibility of serious injury or death is increasing.
From 2017 to 2023, more than 480 military personnel were charged with ideologically motivated extremist crimes, including more than 230 people arrested in connection with the January 6, 2021 insurrection. 18% of those arrested in these attacks as of the end of last year. According to START, this data collects individuals from the military (mostly veterans) involved in plots to kill, injure, or cause damage for political, social, economic, or religious purposes. is tracked.
An Associated Press analysis found that conspiracies involving military personnel were more likely to involve mass casualties, weapons training, and firearms than those without military personnel. This was true whether or not the conspiracy was carried out.
The Islamic State group’s jihadist ideology has clearly been linked to the New Orleans attack, making it an outlier from motives for previous attacks involving military personnel. According to START researchers, only about 9% of extremists from the military subscribe to jihadist ideology. More than 80% identify with far-right, anti-government, or white supremacist ideologies, with the remainder split between far-left or other motivations.
Still, there have been a number of significant attacks motivated by Islamic State and jihadist ideology, with attackers including members of the U.S. military. In 2017, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who had served in Iraq became radicalized through a jihadist bulletin board and expressed support for Islamic State, before going on a shooting spree at the Fort Lauderdale Airport in Florida, killing five people. was murdered. In 2009, an Army psychiatrist and officer opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. The gunman had been in contact with known al-Qaeda operatives before the shooting.
In the shadow of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, led in part by military veterans, law enforcement officials said the threat posed by domestic violent extremists remains one of the most persistent and pressing terrorist threats to the United States. said. The Pentagon said it is “committed to understanding the root causes of extremism and ensuring that such acts are promptly and appropriately addressed and reported to the appropriate authorities.”
Christopher Goldsmith, an Army veteran and CEO of the Task Force Butler Institute, which trains veterans to research and counter extremism, said he has a strong understanding of violent extremism in the military. He said the issue transcends ideological boundaries. Still, he said that while the Biden administration has tried to introduce initiatives to address the issue, Republicans in Congress have opposed it for political reasons.
“They threw every roadblock in their way, saying all veterans were being called extremists by the Biden administration,” Goldsmith said. “And now we’re in a situation where we’re four years behind where we should be.”
During their long military careers, Mr. Jabbar and Mr. Libersberger served at the U.S. Army base, formerly known as Fort Bragg, one of the largest military bases in North Carolina. One of the officials who spoke to The Associated Press said there is no duplication of missions at the base, now called Fort Liberty.
Goldsmith said he is concerned that the incoming Trump administration will focus on the New Orleans attack and ISIS, ignoring that most of the deadly attacks in the United States in recent history have come from the far right. This has been confirmed, especially if Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, becomes the next president.
Hegseth justified the medieval Crusades that pitted Christians and Muslims against each other, criticized the Pentagon’s efforts to address internal extremism, and criticized Joe Biden in the weeks after the Jan. 6 attacks. In the run-up to his inauguration, a fellow National Guard member pointed out the possibility. It’s an insider threat. ”
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