Study: Left-wing terrorism climbs to 30-year high

Adapted from CSIS; Chart: Axios VisualsHalfway 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 shooting of two Minnesota Democrats and their spouses.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."

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