With the assistance of Insider reporters and a data analyst, I investigated the data the ADL used to make its H.E.A.T. An investigation of the ADL's 'extremist incidents' data But in dealing with such sensitive issues, adding as much context as possible is vital to a greater public understanding of the issue. This is not to imply the ADL has engaged in bad-faith efforts. Complicated issues aren't easy to distill in perfectly formed nuggets, whether they come from a well-respected advocacy organization's press releases or a news organization's headlines.Īs I found, it's not an easy job to perfectly analyze hundreds of incidents. What's of concern is the seeming inflation of the overall numbers under the vaguely defined umbrella of "extremist incidents" - by including crimes that are not targeted at minorities - which make extremists appear to be more pervasive than they would otherwise be, with greater context. To be sure, the ADL's most promoted and reported statistic - ultrarightist groups accounting for a disproportionate number of hate crimes and acts of terror - still holds up. One of them shot and killed Christen.Įach of these crimes is counted as an "extremist incident" by the Anti-Defamation League, whose statistics have been presented by media outlets as the gold standard for reporting on extremists of the white nationalist, anti-government, left-wing anarchist, and radical Islamist varieties in the US.īut if you limit the definition of "extremist incidents" to incidents motivated by extremist views where violence actually occurs, is attempted, or is substantially plotted, then the numbers drop significantly.Īnd if you consider only incidents that either are classified as hate crimes or terrorism by law, or were described as having been motivated by extremist views by the press - as most people likely do when they think of "extremist violence" - just 58% of the incidents cited by the ADL fit that definition, my investigation found. In 2006, four members of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood took 46-year-old Jack Christen to a remote location and demanded to know what he told police about their methamphetamine operation. During her initiation ceremony, police say Lynch either tried to back out or got into an argument with the Klansmen she was shot to death and mutilated, her remains dumped nearby. In 2008, Cynthia Lynch, 43, filed an online application to join an Oklahoma branch of the Ku Klux Klan. Police said Bournes was "a constitutionalist who didn't believe in government" and had anti-government literature in his pickup. An acquaintance told police that Bournes had called him after the murders and said his wife had been "mocking him and riding him all day." The family was living "off the grid" in a house in Montana not hooked up to public utilities. In 2015, Michael Augustine Bournes, 59, murdered his wife and three young children, then set his house on fire, before finally fatally shooting himself. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.The thoughts expressed are those of the author. It also threatens confidence in the accuracy of trusted institutions' analysis to public crises. Inflating the overall threat emboldens political extremists who want the public to live in fear.This is not to diminish violence motivated by bigotry or politics on the contrary, the ADL's reporting of statistics might be better served with more clearly defined and exacting standards of what constitutes "extremist violence.".That significantly increases the overall number of incidents in its analysis. A major factor is that the ADL counts "non-ideological" violence, such as extremists killing one another in botched drug deals and robberies, in its overall "extremist violence" stats.But if you define "extremist incidents" as incidents involving violence constituting a hate crime or terrorism, or incidents where a report of the incident refers to motivation by extremist views, just 58% of the incidents cited by the ADL over a 10-year-period fit that definition.The Anti-Defamation League's statistics about extremism have been cited as authoritative by much of the press, including its most publicized claim that nearly three-quarters of extremist killings in the US over the past decade have been committed by "right-wing extremists," a category that includes white nationalists.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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