DOJ removes study on far-right extremists committing majority of killings in US

WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department has taken down a research paper from its website that highlighted far-right extremists as being responsible for most extremist-related killings in the country since 1990, AFP confirmed on Tuesday. 

The report, prepared by the National Institute of Justice, had pointed to far-right violence as a bigger threat than attacks carried out by far-left or extremists.

The research concluded that "far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides during the last three decades.

This finding stands in stark contrast to comments made by senior Trump administration officials about the threat of left-wing extremism, following last week’s assassination of prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The DOJ did not respond to requests for comment on why the paper, titled What NIJ research tells us about domestic terrorism, was taken down in the days after the deadly September 10 shooting in the state of Utah.

As reported by the independent outlet 404 Media, archived versions of the Office of Justice Programmes website captured by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine show that the article was accessible on September 11, but no longer available the following afternoon.

Reached by AFP, one of the cited authors declined to comment on its removal.

Other studies detailing the threat of far-right extremism remain available on the department’s website.

On Monday, the White House said it would pursue an alleged left-wing "domestic terror movement" in the wake of Kirk’s killing, prompting alarm that such a campaign could be used to silence political dissent.

While federal law enforcement includes combating domestic terrorism in its remit, the United States does not maintain a list of designated "domestic terrorist organisations".