In light of recent acts of terrorism (ie. January Tel Aviv Shooting, February Kabul Suicide Bombing, July Nice, France Vehicular Attack/Shooting etc.), the U.S.'s attention has primarily been focused on international acts of terrorism, rather than the attacks taking place within its own borders.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the United States has primarily been concerned with foreign Islamic terrorism rather than domestic right-wing terrorism.
Although, preceding the events of 9/11, the act of terrorism that displayed the most horrific usage of weapons of mass destruction was in fact an act of domestic right-wing terrorism. The aforementioned act of terrorism being the Oklahoma City Bombing orchestrated by Timothy McVeigh and his lesser-known counterpart Terry Nichols. If you want a little background information on the Oklahoma City Bombing, visit this site. Domestic right-wing terrorism poses an extreme threat to the United States. Right-wing terrorist groups are driven and systematized through right-wing ideologies that include but are not limited to: anti-state, anti-government, anti-communist, anti-immigration, pro-homogeny of culture (nationalist), pro-social traditionalism, etc.. Outcomes that right-wing ideals and actions commonly result in are: white supremacy, end of immigration, populism/anti-elitism, survivalism, reduced state intervention etc..
Ultimately, there is a plethora of ways for the United States to tackle domestic right wing terrorism, but I believe the best option is for the U.S. to forgo the idea of the lone-wolf terrorist. By ignoring the possibility of the lone extremist, the United States will subsequently focus efforts on locating and diminishing the progress of extremist groups as a whole rather than focusing on a sole radical. By broadening their lens, the United States will be able to target the source of the threat of domestic right wing terrorism rather than dealing with the results of terrorist attacks like the Oklahoma City Bombing. Within Mike German’s article Behind the Lone Terrorist, A Pack Mentality, he eluded to the fact that although Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols acted alone, Timothy McVeigh held ties with more broad domestic right wing groups. (ie. militias, white supremacy groups etc.). As German continues to write in his article, looking back on the Oklahoma City Bombing, law enforcement officials are not certain that everyone involved in the act of terror is behind bars. Due to the previously held assumption that McVeigh and Nichols committed the act of terror without any known association to any right wing groups, there was little further investigation into terrorist groups that may have been backing McVeigh and Nichols. Within German’s article, he quoted a report made by an FBI stating, “McVeigh did act as a lone extremist. He was trained to do it this way. But his act of lone extremism was part of an ongoing conspiracy that continues to inspire violent attacks to this day, and to close our eyes to this conspiracy is to deny reality. It’s a matter of connecting the dots” (German, 2).
Like the FBI said, a domestic terrorist may act alone but it is essential that the United States stops turning a blind eye to the assumption that the ‘lone wolf’ terrorist is in it alone. More often than not, there is a gung-ho extremist group backing the actions of the ‘lone wolf’. It is within the United States’ best interests to place an emphasis on locating and disbanding the domestic right-wing extremist groups in order to prevent future terrorist attacks.
