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Title: Antigovernment Groups. A Growing Threat to US Security

Abstract

Domestic terrorism is a growing threat in the United States, particularly from the 998 right-wing antigovernment (AG) groups in existence in 2015. In the years since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, right-wing anti-government acts have oc- curred more often and killed more people in the United States than Muslim extremists. Such AG group members are often in uenced by racist, anti-Semitic, or anti-Islamic views, believe conspiracy theories about the government, and often refuse to pay taxes or participate in frivolous lawsuits in order to intentionally waste the government's time. There is, however, a violent element to these groups which participates in events ranging from the armed take-over of federal land in Oregon, to an armed stand-o with federal agents in Nevada, to the bombing of the Oklahoma City building which killed 168 people. Such acts may be conducted by a few individuals, as is the case of the Oklahoma City bombing, or an entire group. Such groups have a wide range of capabilities, with typical weapons including legal and illegal rearms, with a focus on purchasing fully automatic weapons; hand grenades, with some homemade; deadly tox- ins, like ricin (in multiple cases) and sodium cyanide (inmore » one case); transportation, such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs); arson, with the intent of destroying federal property; and explosives, often in large numbers and including pipe bombs, truck bombs, IEDs, and other homemade explosives. The growing acceptance of these violent methods by Republican congressmen and governors, however, only increases visibility of such groups and encourages their behavior. Coupled with the removal of the Department of Homeland Security's division responsible for monitoring such groups, the result could prove disastrous for the safety of United States citizens.« less

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1245571
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-22249
DOE Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION; antigovernment groups, domestic terrorism

Citation Formats

Swift, Alicia L. Antigovernment Groups. A Growing Threat to US Security. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.2172/1245571.
Swift, Alicia L. Antigovernment Groups. A Growing Threat to US Security. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1245571
Swift, Alicia L. 2016. "Antigovernment Groups. A Growing Threat to US Security". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1245571. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1245571.
@article{osti_1245571,
title = {Antigovernment Groups. A Growing Threat to US Security},
author = {Swift, Alicia L.},
abstractNote = {Domestic terrorism is a growing threat in the United States, particularly from the 998 right-wing antigovernment (AG) groups in existence in 2015. In the years since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, right-wing anti-government acts have oc- curred more often and killed more people in the United States than Muslim extremists. Such AG group members are often in uenced by racist, anti-Semitic, or anti-Islamic views, believe conspiracy theories about the government, and often refuse to pay taxes or participate in frivolous lawsuits in order to intentionally waste the government's time. There is, however, a violent element to these groups which participates in events ranging from the armed take-over of federal land in Oregon, to an armed stand-o with federal agents in Nevada, to the bombing of the Oklahoma City building which killed 168 people. Such acts may be conducted by a few individuals, as is the case of the Oklahoma City bombing, or an entire group. Such groups have a wide range of capabilities, with typical weapons including legal and illegal rearms, with a focus on purchasing fully automatic weapons; hand grenades, with some homemade; deadly tox- ins, like ricin (in multiple cases) and sodium cyanide (in one case); transportation, such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs); arson, with the intent of destroying federal property; and explosives, often in large numbers and including pipe bombs, truck bombs, IEDs, and other homemade explosives. The growing acceptance of these violent methods by Republican congressmen and governors, however, only increases visibility of such groups and encourages their behavior. Coupled with the removal of the Department of Homeland Security's division responsible for monitoring such groups, the result could prove disastrous for the safety of United States citizens.},
doi = {10.2172/1245571},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1245571}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}