Citation

Beirich H, Potok M. Policing (Oxford) 2009; 3(3): 255-263.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/police/pap020

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article investigates factors that have revolutionized the American radical right and examines what law enforcement will face in the near future from right-wing extremists. The authors discuss how economic meltdown, non-white immigration, rapid demographic change, and now the election of America's first African American president are fueling widespread rage on the U.S. radical right. Even before the 2008 economic collapse, the slaughter of the 1995 Oklahoma City bomb attack marked the beginning of a new kind of political extremism, sporting a revolutionary ideology and willing to carry out attacks directed at innocent victims. Non-white immigration has been successfully exploited by white supremacist groups in recent years, to the point where the number of such groups has spiralled from 602 in 2000 to 888 in 2007--a 48% increase. This article argues that given the current conditions, hate groups will likely continue to grow, hate violence increase and domestic terrorist plots emerge, presenting significant challenges to law enforcement.

Language: en