Ideologically Motivated Murder: The Threat Posed by White Supremacist Groups

Acts of terrorism committed by domestic extremists outnumber those committed by international actors. White supremacist groups are linked to a considerable number of these terrorist acts. Although part of the same movement, certain groups appear to pose a greater threat than others in that they are linked to a greater number of ideologically motivated homicides. Caspi investigated whether a group's location within its network accounted for this phenomenon. Interestingly, this preliminary study suggests that an association between network location and threat of extreme violence does exist. This finding may have important implications for those tasked with fighting terrorism.