God, Guns, and Sedition

November 15, 2023
A timely study of domestic terrorism. Hoffman and Ware, both fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations, maintain that today's far-right extremists have been gathering momentum since the 1970s. They began work on this book during the height of the pandemic, when "the vilification of Jews, Asians, persons of color, and immigrants, among others, was reaching unprecedented levels." They deliver a vivid academic history that gives violent events more space than ideas, so readers should expect pages of murderous action and quotes from their perpetrators and supporters. Outraged by opposition to the Vietnam War and the success of the civil rights movement, groups of white racists became convinced that the U.S. government was hopelessly corrupt and dominated by non-whites, leftists, and immigrants, and they believed it had to be destroyed in order to create a new society. With names such as the Aryan Nation and the National Alliance, they gathered weapons and trained, issued manifestos, and occasionally engaged in armed robberies and standoffs with law enforcement. Initially incompetent in dealing with frank violence, the FBI and ATF improved, and by the 1990s, quasi-military organizations had largely vanished in favor of individual lone actors, including Timothy McVeigh. Although far-right extremists were distracted by foreign terrorists after 9/11, the election of America's first Black president galvanized the fringe, who were further weaponized by social media--and later enraptured by Donald Trump's surprise victory in 2016. Mass murderers now operate almost weekly, with ideologues perhaps outnumbered by the mentally ill. The authors clearly show how far-right rhetoric has entered the mainstream and how hatred of "government," worship of firearms, and fear of immigrants win at the polls. Voters in nations around the world have elected autocrats and seen their democracies wither. Readers may wonder if that's also in the cards for America. A deeply disheartening look at American terrorism.

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