Study: Left-wing terrorism outpaces far-right attacks for first time in 30 years
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Halfway through 2025, attacks by far-left extremists outpaced far-right violence for the first time in more than three decades, according to new research from the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
Why it matters: America's domestic terrorism landscape has undergone a remarkable inversion since President Trump took office, as his policies have eased grievances on the far right while intensifying anger on the far left.
Far-right violence has historically been more frequent and more lethal, but plunged dramatically over the first six months of 2025.
- Despite the uptick in high-profile attacks like the assassination of Charlie Kirk, political violence remains rare and overwhelmingly opposed by most Americans.
By the numbers: CSIS researchers compiled and analyzed a data set of 750 domestic attacks and plots from Jan. 1, 1994, to July 4, 2025, categorizing them into "right," "left," "jihadist," "ethnonationalist" and "other."
- The data showed that left-wing extremists have carried out 41 attacks since 2016, compared with 152 from the far right over the same period.
- Left-wing violence has killed 13 people over the past decade — far fewer than the 112 deaths from right-wing attacks and 82 from jihadists.
- But at least five left-wing plots or attacks have already been recorded this year, compared to just one right-wing attack.
The big picture: Trump responded to the Kirk assassination by designating antifa a "domestic terror organization," despite no known links between the alleged shooter and the decentralized movement of left-wing agitators.
- He also vowed to investigate liberal groups and progressive donors for allegedly funding violent protests, including billionaires George Soros and Reid Hoffman.
- Daniel Byman, the lead author of the CSIS study, warned Axios that the data should not be taken by the government "as an excuse for a crackdown on legitimate organizations."
Between the lines: Trump and his allies have turned a blind eye to right-wing violence, including the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by Trump supporters — all of whom he pardoned.
- "The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don't want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem," Trump claimed on Fox News last week.
- Byman told Axios that far-right extremists are "more comfortable with the Trump policies, and that may be a motivation for why we've seen a reduction in violence."
Editor's note: This headline has been corrected to reflect that left-wing terrorism is outpacing far-right terrorism for the first time in 30 years (not that left-wing attacks overall are at a 30-year high).
