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Far-Right Extremist Violence in the United States

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Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States

Part of the book series: Palgrave Hate Studies ((PAHS))

Abstract

Far-right extremists pose a significant threat to public safety in the United States. This chapter will provide an overview of violent crimes committed by far-right extremists. Early research almost exclusively relied on case studies and anecdotal accounts that demonstrated the types of violent activities, the targets, and the motivations of far-right extremists. As this body of research has matured, and an increasing number of systematically collected sources of data have become available, scholars have begun to use more rigorous methods. These studies provide a more nuanced understanding of the etiology of violence committed by far-right extremists and other issues related to this form of crime. This chapter has two objectives. First, it will review extant knowledge on this topic, focusing primarily on far-right violence in the United States. Second, it will provide research findings using data from the U.S. Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) that highlight contemporary patterns of far-right violence. We conclude with suggestions for future research in this area.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Steven Chermak

  2. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA

    Joshua D. Freilich & Leevia Dillon

  3. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, NC, USA

    William S. Parkin

  4. Department of Sociology & Criminology, Terrorism Research Center, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Jeff Gruenewald

  5. Criminal Justice, Pennsylvania State University, Abington, PA, USA

    Colleen Mills

  6. University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Brent Klein

  7. State University of New York, Oswego, NY, USA

    Celinet Duran

Authors
  1. Steven Chermak
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  2. Joshua D. Freilich
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  3. William S. Parkin
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  4. Jeff Gruenewald
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  5. Colleen Mills
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  6. Brent Klein
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  7. Leevia Dillon
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  8. Celinet Duran
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven Chermak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, University of Ontario, Oshawa, ON, Canada

    Barbara Perry

  2. Department of Sociology & Criminology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Jeff Gruenewald

  3. School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Ryan Scrivens

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Chermak, S. et al. (2022). Far-Right Extremist Violence in the United States. In: Perry, B., Gruenewald, J., Scrivens, R. (eds) Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States . Palgrave Hate Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99804-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99804-2_12

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