If, indeed, the suspect planned to kill people because of their Jewish faith, this would represent a major anomaly in lethal, antisemitic violence.
But the conflict in Gaza has spurred many more cases of political violence.
Over the nearly 20 months since the hostilities began, Colin Clarke said there has been a radicalization effect in the U.S., particularly of the political left.
However, Keneally said that in recent years there has been a shift in political violence.
He said the possibility that someone on the political left targeted Milgram and Lischinsky because of their religious background represents a disturbing development.
Two Israeli embassy employees were shot and killed in Washington, D.C., last week. is calling into question the rise in far-left militancy in the United States. S. On May 21, Sarah Lynn Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky were killed while departing a function at the Capital Jewish Museum. Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, the suspect who was taken into custody in the shooting, is facing multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and murder of foreign officials.
On being arrested, Rodriguez told an officer, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to an FBI special agent’s affidavit in the case. “..”.
Jeanine Pirro in the role of U. S. . Federal authorities are looking into the killings as a hate crime and a terrorism crime, according to the District of Columbia’s attorney. According to President Trump, their origins lie in antisemitism. A significant deviation from deadly, antisemitic violence would occur if the suspect did intend to murder people due to their Jewish faith.
Seth Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated that attacks against Black churches, synagogues, and mosques have usually been carried out by the violent far right. “It’s somewhat new in the US for someone from the violent far left to attack people because they are Jewish. “.”.
escalating militancy associated with the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
since an October attack on Israel by Hamas. 7, 2023, at least five confirmed deaths in the U.S. A. been associated with the conflict. In Illinois, a six-year-old Palestinian-American child was fatally stabbed by his landlord. A California college professor was charged with the involuntary manslaughter and battery of a Jewish counterprotester, age 69, in another case. In a third incident, a woman was shot dead by off-duty police after she opened fire at a Houston church while brandishing a rifle that the police claimed had a “Palestine” sticker on it. Additionally, two men—one of whom was a U—died after self-immolating in protest of the war. S. . An Israeli embassy in Washington, D.D.C., with an Air Force member outside. The other was an anti-war protester outside the Israeli Consulate in Boston.
Political violence has increased significantly, however, as a result of the Gaza conflict.
At U, there have been over 100 incidents of physical conflict, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, a nonprofit that monitors protests and political violence worldwide. S. . protests about the conflict. Furthermore, at least 30 instances of significant property damage have been reported. Only incidents where Israel or Palestine were mentioned are included in the ACLED data, which may leave out a large number of other antisemitic, anti-Arab, or anti-Muslim incidents that may have been sparked by the conflict but did not specifically use those terms.
Colin Clarke claimed that there has been a radicalization effect in the United States in the nearly 20 months since the start of the hostilities. A. mainly from the political left. Clarke is the director of research at the security and intelligence consulting firm Soufan Group.
Clarke stated, “We have only really seen this kind of uptick in what I would call far left militancy, far-left extremism surrounding the issue of Gaza since October 7th, the war in Gaza, and the Israeli military campaign in the Middle East.”. Not only are they pro-Palestinian, but they are also pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah, and pro-terrorist groups. “,”.
A social media account that was thought to be Rodriguez’s featured videos of Hassan Nasrallah, the former head of the militant anti-Israel organization Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon. Additionally, Clarke stated that “a very small slice” of protests on college campuses have included indications of support for U.S. S. . organizations that have been designated as foreign terrorists. He did, however, point out that terrorism is a “small numbers game,” meaning that a small number of players can have a big influence on public opinion and safety perceptions.
United States trends in political violence. S. . are changing.
White supremacist violence has been the most “lethal and persistent” threat to domestic terrorism, according to federal authorities over the past five years. Examples of this violence include the 2018 murder of eleven people at a Pittsburgh Jewish synagogue; the 2019 murder of twenty-three people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, by a shooter who claimed to be targeting “Mexicans”; and the murder of ten Black people at a Buffalo, N.Y. Yep. , supermarket by a white man whose writings seemed to be racist and antisemitic.
Katherine Keneally, director of Threat Analysis and Prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit organization that focuses on terrorism and extremism, stated, “What the research has shown is that when it comes to – and I don’t think there’s any other more direct way to say it than the death count – incidents that are typically affiliated with issues or ideologies that might fit in a more far-right bucket have been more lethal.”.
“The most common strategies employed by the left are usually directed towards property. Thus, graffiti, vandalism, and arson are examples of such actions,” Keneally said. “Targeting and killing two individuals is definitely an increase in those kinds of tactics. “..”.
Keneally asserted, however, that political violence has changed in recent years. Recent events have not always been clearly motivated by a left or right ideology. She asserted that this was the case for the two men who are thought to have tried to kill Trump. The first of these took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. According to reports, the gunman had also looked into events that former President Biden would attend. In the other, which took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Keneally claimed that a person was deeply involved in conspiratorial material.
Despite being supported by some on the far left, Luigi Mangione, the alleged shooter of the CEO of United Healthcare, has not had a straightforward case.
Anger towards the U.S. was what drove him most. S. more generally, the healthcare system,” she stated. “This one issue was the main source of motivation for him, more than anything else, when you look at the materials he posted online. “.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza is still a threat within the United States, according to many who monitor political violence and terrorism. S.
According to Jones, who is with CSIS, “I am increasingly concerned that this war will lead to extremist activity in the United States the longer it continues.”. “It is a troubling development that someone on the political left might have singled out Milgram and Lischinsky due to their religious background,” he said.
“It’s an anomaly,” he admitted. It’s difficult for us to determine whether this is an isolated incident or if more of these are likely to occur in the future, in my opinion. “,”.
