Jeff Gruenewald – Far-Right Flashpoints: The Enduring Threat of Violent Extremism in America

Jeff Gruenewald, associate professor and Director of the Terrorism Research Center in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Arkansas, presented 'Far-Right Flashpoints: The Enduring Threat of Violent Extremism in America' at 6 p.m. Thursday, January 21, at the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History.

Gruenewald’s lecture explores how the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 exposed a rage and conspiratorial beliefs among far-right extremists that usually exist only at the margins of society. 

In this talk, Gruenewald will discuss his research on how deadly far-right extremism is unique from other types of terrorism in the United States, who perpetrates this type of violence and why, as well as who is most likely to be targeted. He will also explore how the criminal justice system has responded to far-right extremists over the last 30 years and what types of policies and programs may work to reduce the risk of this type of violence.

Gruenewald leads the American Terrorism Study and Bias Homicide Database housed at the Terrorism Research Center. He has published more than 40 studies on issues related to domestic violent extremism, murder, and media representations of violence in America. He is also a co-editor of the edited volume titled Right-wing extremism in Canada and the United States set to be published later this year by Palgrave Macmillan.

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