Daryl Johnson, a former analyst for the Department of
Homeland Security warned that the election of the first African-American
president, combined with recession-era economic anxieties, could fuel a rise in
far-right violence.
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The
current economic and political climate has some similarities to the 1990s
when rightwing extremism experienced a resurgence fueled largely by an economic
recession, criticism about the outsourcing of jobs, and the perceived threat to U.S. power and sovereignty by other foreign powers.
During
the 1990s, these issues contributed to the growth in the number of domestic
rightwing terrorist and extremist groups and an increase in violent acts
targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers, banks, and
infrastructure sectors.
Growth
of these groups subsided in reaction to increased government scrutiny as a
result of the 1995 Oklahoma
City bombing and
disrupted plots, improvements in the economy, and the continued U.S. standing as the preeminent world power.
The
possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military
veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could
lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable
of carrying out violent attacks.
(U) Rightwing extremism in the United States can
be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are
primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or
ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal
authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government
authority entirely. It may include
groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition
to abortion or immigration.