DOJ Axes Reports Naming Far-Right As Terrorism Leaders

The Justice Department removed a key study stating that far-right and white supremacist violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violence extremism” in the United States. The discovery of the report’s removal was found by University of North Carolina graduate student Daniel Malmer, who is studying online extremism, as reported by 404 Media.

Malmer also showed that the link now takes you to a page where a notice reads: “The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs is currently reviewing its websites and materials in accordance with recent Executive Orders and related guidance.” The message implies that the report was removed at the behest of Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump. The 13-page report is still available, however, thanks to an upload on Archive.org.

The study, which was done last June, revealed that ‘Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists.’ It went on to show that 227 events involving far-right extremists were responsible for the deaths of 520 people, as compared to 42 for far-left extremists. 

The removal of the report comes as the Trump administration is under scrutiny for emphatically blaming the surge in political violence including the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the political left and members of the Democratic Party. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” Trump said in a video address after Kirk’s murder last week. 

Trump and other right-wing figures have consistently blamed the political left for Kirk’s death as authorities in Utah claim that the alleged shooter Tyler Robinson was tied to “leftist ideology,” as they disclosed text messages that allege that he had “enough of [Kirk’s] hatred.” 

The move was immediately called out by observers who noted that this was another move by Trump to gain more authoritarian control. “Make no mistake: Trump’s sole focus is suppressing dissent & consolidating more power,” wrote former Secretary of Labor and professor Robert Reich in a post on X, formerly Twitter.