Federal government needs to strengthen its approach to terrorism, expert says

The federal government needs to take a public-health approach for at-risk individuals and strengthen partnerships with civilian researchers to combat the rise of violent far-right terrorism, according to William Braniff, a terrorism expert.

Braniff recently testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He is the director of the University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism (START).

In 2013, there were less than five violent far-right terrorists attacks in the United States, according to START data, but last year and in 2017, there were approximately 35 attacks.

These terrorist groups have been responsible for attempted and successful illicit financial schemes, homicides, attempts to obtain chemical or biological weapons, and plots.

White supremacists are the most active group, Braniff said.

“Defining, tracking and reporting data on terrorism is subject to biases, subtle pressures or even manipulation,” Braniff said. “It’s clear that domestic terrorism, specifically far-right extremism, requires greater attention and resource allocation.”

Robert Chesney, director of the University of Texas Law School’s Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law; George Selim, from the Anti-Defamation League; and Clinton Watts, a research fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute also testified.