In the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week, President Donald Trump promised retribution against the “radical left” who he claims are undermining the American way of life through violence.
Before he departed for the United Kingdom for an official state visit, Trump doubled down on his remarks, saying, “Most of the violence is on the left.”
However, the president’s claims are not supported by data produced by the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute.
The institute's research found that since 2020, right-wing terrorists account for 54 percent of the 81 people who have been killed as a result of political violence. That compares against the 21 percent who were killed by Islamist fundamentalists and 22 percent who were killed by left-wing activists.
The study adds that since 1975, Islamist terrorists have been responsible for 87 percent of deaths as a result of political violence in the US, due to the number of casualties as a result of 9/11.
This week, the Department of Justice appeared to delete its own study, which supported the findings of the Cato Institute, reports 404 Media.
“The number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism. Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives. In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives,” the opening paragraph of the study reads.
That research, titled “What NIJ research tells us about domestic terrorism,” was published in January 2024. The department has yet to comment on the removal of the study. The Independent has contacted the DOJ for comment.
Speaking to Time Magazine, domestic terror researcher Colin Clarke noted that President Trump rarely mentions instances of domestic terror when the suspect is believed to hold right-wing views.
“There's no question that, if you look at the numbers in terms of lethality, it is the far right that's been far more lethal—Tree of Life , the El Paso Walmart attack, the Buffalo supermarket shooting.
“He mentioned all these issues of far-left terrorism… But he omitted the attack on [Michigan Governor] Gretchen Whitmer. I don't think he mentioned the arson attack against Governor [Pennsylvania Josh] Shapiro. So do we only care about one type of extremism? And if so, why wouldn't we care about the more lethal threat?”
In recent months, the White House has pointed to vandalism against Tesla vehicles and dealerships, as well as anti-ICE protests, as examples of left-wing terrorism.
When asked by a reporter on Monday why flags were not lowered to half-staff when Minnesota Democrat Melissa Hortman was shot dead alongside her husband in June, Trump appeared unaware of the incident.
“I’m not familiar, who?... Well, I would have done if the governor had asked me to do that.”
Trump has sometimes made similar threats against those who have views that differ from the MAGA movement without following through. But now there’s renewed interest fueled by anger over the killing of Kirk, who was friends with many of Trump’s advisers.
Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed “left-wing radicals” for the shooting and said “they will be held accountable.” Stephen Miller, a top policy adviser, said there was an “organized campaign that led to this assassination.”
Miller's comments came during a conversation with Vice President JD Vance, who was guest-hosting Kirk's talk show from his ceremonial office in the White House on Monday.
Miller said he was feeling “focused, righteous anger,” and “we are going to channel all of the anger" as they work to “uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks" by using “every resource we have."
Vance blamed “crazies on the far left” for saying the White House would "go after constitutionally protected speech.” Instead, he said, “We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates, and engages in violence.”
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