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American Militant Extremists
United States, radicals

What is right-wing domestic terrorism?
Terrorism motivated by opposition to federal taxation and regulation, the United Nations, other international organizations, and the U.S. government itself, as well as by a hatred of racial and religious minorities. This type of terrorism, which has roots in the activities of white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and antigovernment groups, flourished in the 1980s. FBI officials say right-wing militants—including skinheads, neo-Nazis, militia members, and the so-called Christian Patriot movement—now pose America’s most serious domestic terrorist threat.

What attacks have been conducted by right-wing terrorists?
Examples of right-wing domestic terrorism include:

• the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing;
• the July 1996 bombing at Centennial Park during the Atlanta Olympics, which killed one person and injured more than 100;
• the summer 1999 shooting sprees by lone gunmen targeting minorities in the Chicago and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, which left three people dead.

What is special-interest domestic terrorism?
Unlike left-wing and right-wing groups, which have broad revolutionary agendas, special-interest terrorists focus on single issues such as abortion, the environment, or animal rights. Eco-terrorism, perpetrated by supporters of animal rights and environmental safeguards, arrived in the United States after cropping up in England in the early 1990s and accounts for the majority of domestic terrorist incidents in the past five years. The FBI has classified many violent attacks on abortion providers as criminal events, but not terrorism.

What targets have been chosen by eco-terrorists?
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has claimed responsibility for setting several fires, including a July 1998 fire on a ski resort in Vail, Colorado, that caused $12 million in damage. The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) has been connected to break-ins, thefts, and vandalism at animal-research laboratories on the West Coast and to a March 1999 firebombing of circus trailers in Franklin Township, New Jersey. Most of the 600 crimes that the ALF and ELF are suspected of committing since 1996 have not been classified as acts of terrorism. These crimes, which include vandalism and theft, have resulted in some $43 million in damages, according to the FBI.

Have domestic terrorists used weapons of mass destruction?
Yes. In 1984, followers of the Indian-born guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in Oregon tried to disrupt a local election by poisoning salad bars with salmonella bacteria. No one died, but 751 people became ill. And some experts speculate that the fall 2001 anthrax letters were sent by an American scientist. Domestic terrorists have become increasingly interested in obtaining weapons of mass destruction, experts say, and right-wing extremists have been prosecuted for possessing ricin, a biological toxin derived from the castor-bean plant.

How dangerous is domestic terrorism?
It’s difficult to say—especially since experts worry more about small groups than large ones. An estimated 10,000 to 100,000 people belong to right-wing militia groups, but their level of involvement varies, and the extremist core of this movement is smaller. Although experts think only a fraction of animal-rights and environmental activists would turn to terrorism, nobody knows how many autonomous cells of eco-terrorists there are or how many people might be involved. Law enforcement has monitored, infiltrated, and prosecuted hierarchical organizations, and, officials say, thereby prevented some terrorist attacks. But it’s much harder for law enforcement to anticipate attacks planned by small groups, like the one behind the Oklahoma City bombing, or by individuals such as the Minnesota college student Lucas Helder, who conducted the May 2002 pipe-bomb spree. To avoid discovery, many militants have gone underground and adopted “leaderless resistance.”

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