Growing number of military veterans committing extremist crimes, research shows
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Law enforcement officers at the scene of the deadly Bourbon Street attack on Jan. 1 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Michael DeMocker/Getty Images
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's pick for Defense secretary, on Tuesday called the problem of extremism in the military "fake," but researchers warn there's a growing trend of military-linked terrorism.
The big picture: The rising number of people with military backgrounds engaging in domestic terrorism over the past three decades can partially be attributed to the difficulty transitioning from active duty to veteran status and a lack of community or purpose, experts say.
Driving the news: In the most recent high-profile cases, the New Year's Day attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas were both carried out by Army veterans.
Zoom in: The FBI said Tuesday the suspect in the deadly New Orleans vehicle attack, Shamsud-Din Jabbar had been isolating himself from society and began following extremist views last year.
- Investigators believe the 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran was "radicalized online" and he "appears to have been inspired — from afar — by ISIS," retiring FBI Director Christopher Wray told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday.
- The Vegas suspect, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, from Colorado Springs, was an active-duty U.S. Army soldier on approved leave when he died inside a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in the city, officials said.
- However, Hegseth said during his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that the Pentagon overreacted in attempting to combat extremism and characterized it as "peddling the lie of racism in the military."
- He added that efforts to weed out extremism pushed "rank-and-file patriots out of their formations."
By the numbers: A December report from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism found that from 1990 to 2023, 730 individuals with U.S. military backgrounds had committed criminal acts that were motivated by their political, economic, social or religious goals.
- There has been an incline in the past decade or so: From 1990-2010, an average of 7.1 people per year with U.S. military backgrounds committed extremist crimes. Since 2011, that number has grown to 44.6 per year.
- Some 84% were no longer serving in the military when they committed extremist crimes, per the report.
Zoom out: The National Institute of Justice said in analysis last year that people who encounter difficulties leaving the military may be attracted to the pull of domestic extremist groups.
- This is possibly because they can be introduced to additional combinations of risk factors for radicalization, according to Jeffrey Gruenewald, professor and director of the Terrorism Research Center at the University of Arkansas. These include a lack of purpose, social alienation or struggles with mental health.
- "Knowing this, terrorist groups may target individuals with military experience, as the ideologies underlying violent extremism have something to offer them, including a clear enemy to direct their anger, a sense of belonging and meaning, and a purpose bigger than themselves," he said.
Meanwhile, extremist groups are increasing recruiting online and specifically targeting veterans, Heidi Beirich, chief strategy officer and co-founder of Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told PBS.
- The military has "not done a good job of rooting out extremism in its ranks in recent years," she added.
Yes, but: There isn't a single factor or profile that's predictive of radicalization to violence, Gruenewald told Axios.
- "Nonetheless, it is feasible that military experience for some can increase or exacerbate risk factors associated with radicalization to violence," he said.
- Being in the military may increase a person's chances of experiencing a significant personal loss, trauma, or feelings of social isolation and alienation, Gruenewald said.
- It could also exacerbate struggles with identity, mental health and grievances, he added.
Situation report: The Defense Department said in a 2021 report that it "has long prohibited Service members from actively engaging in extremist activities" but after a number of threat attacks, it built a program to "detect, deter, and mitigate such threats."
- This included efforts to combat extremist groups from recruiting military personnel and veterans.
- Defense Department spokesperson Sue Gough said even a single incident in which those in the military commit prohibited extremist activities "can have an outsized impact on the Department and its mission."
- She added in her email: "There is no place for prohibited extremist activities in the Department of Defense. Every attempt is made to ensure such behavior is promptly and appropriately addressed and reported to the authorities."
The bottom line: People with U.S. military backgrounds represent only 14.7% of the broader set of extremists who have committed criminal offenses in the United States since 1990, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism report found.
- "The problem is that somebody who has military training who gets radicalized can be far more deadly," Beirich said.
- "Mass attacks that are perpetrated by active-duty military or veterans are more lethal than those that aren't."
Go deeper: New Orleans attack mirrors global pattern of using vehicles as terror weapons
