Under New Study, George Washington Could Be ‘Right-Wing Terrorist’

From Observer:

“Far-right” terrorism is a vastly bigger threat than the jihadist variety, claims a recent study. Yet under its methodology, founders George Washington and Thomas Jefferson could be considered “terrorists.” Moreover, researchers included in the right-wing-acts category a black nationalist; a rampaging, mentally ill young man distraught over romantic failures; and a Colin Kaepernick supporter who describes himself as a “hard socialist.”

Conducted by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), the research was disseminated uncritically by media last week with claims such as “Most Terrorists in the U.S. Are Right Wing, Not Muslim.” Yet digging into the study’s data paints a far different picture.

The CIR cites 201 incidents “sorted broadly as Islamist, right wing ... and left wing” during “a nine-year period, from 2008 through 2016.” After closely examining the organization’s interactive “terrorism incidents” map, I found 193. The CIR breaks its figure down into 115 rightist incidents, 63 jihadist ones and 19 leftist ones (adding up to 197, not 201, and perhaps reflecting the researchers’ sloppiness). My numbers are, with a margin-of-error of +/-2: 108 rightist, 58 jihadist, 24 leftist and three with indeterminate ideology.

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