The Threat Within

Who the Justice Department decides to prosecute as a domestic terrorist has little to do with the harm they’ve inflicted or the threat they pose to human life.

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Informant Reveals FBI’s Already Vast Powers to Investigate Right-Wing Extremists

Trevor Aaronson

“I was just a human recording machine paid by the government to go into people’s lives and befriend them and find out what they were thinking.”

FBI’s Leniency Toward Border Vigilante Contrasts With Harsh Treatment of “Black Identity Extremist”

Trevor Aaronson

While militia leader Larry Hopkins remained free to terrorize immigrants, Christopher Daniels was jailed for months, losing his home and his job.

Donald Trump Helped Turn a Christian Extremist Into an Alleged Domestic Terrorist

Trevor Aaronson

Michael Hari’s story shows how our increasingly divisive, conspiracy-laden culture is pushing troubled people toward extremism and violence.

Violent Far-Right Extremists Are Rarely Prosecuted as Terrorists

Trevor Aaronson

Since 9/11 federal prosecutors have applied anti-terrorism laws against 34 right-wing extremists compared to more than 500 international terrorism defendants.

The Domestic Terrorism Law the Justice Department Forgot

Trevor Aaronson

The U.S. has a powerful anti-terrorism law — but it’s only been used once against a far-right extremist since 9/11.

How a Movement That Never Killed Anyone Became the FBI’s No. 1 Domestic Terrorism Threat

Alleen Brown

Behind the scenes, corporate lobbying laid the groundwork for the Justice Department’s aggressive pursuit of so-called eco-terrorists.

The Strange Tale of the FBI’s Fictional “Black Identity Extremism” Movement

Alice Speri

The only connection between the men referenced in the FBI’s “black identity extremism” report, besides their race, is a thread of anger at police violence.

How Individual States Have Criminalized Terrorism

Margot Williams, and Trevor Aaronson

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have their own anti-terrorism laws.

Database compiled by Trevor Aaronson and Margot Williams
Project Editor: Vanessa Gezari
Project Reporter: Trevor Aaronson
Project Researcher: Margot Williams
Data Visualization: Moiz Syed
Developers: Akil Harris, Westley Hennigh-Palermo, Stephanie Harris
Art Direction: Soohee Cho, Philipp Hubert, Ariel Zambelich
Editors: Andrea Jones, Roger Hodge
Reporters: Alleen Brown, Alice Speri
Additional Research: Talya Cooper, Akil Harris, Elisa Cho
Fact Check: John Thomason, Mariam Elba, Camille Baker, Irene Chidinma Nwoye
Copy Edit: Rashmee Kumar, Maha Ahmed
Product Development: Fei Liu, LJ Ruell
Research Director: Lynn Dombek
Editor-in-Chief: Betsy Reed