Report: Fewer Homegrown Terrorists, and Fewer Americans Heading Abroad to Fight for ISIS
A new report says that the number of homegrown Islamist terrorists hatching plots or mounting attacks inside the U.S. dropped last year, but that three-quarters of those who were killed or arrested in 2016 had some link to ISIS.
Homegrown terrorists, or homegrown violent extremists (HVEs), are defined as citizens or residents of the U.S. who plot or mount attacks within the national borders. Overall, the report from New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness indicates a steep decline in the HVEs arrested or killed year to year. The 2015 report from the same office listed 75, while the 2016 report tallies 38. The number of attacks was roughly steady, at six in 2015 and eight in 2016.
The document, available to the public via this link, also says that in 2016, 76 percent of all HVEs who launched attacks or were apprehended identified themselves as having allegiance to or affiliation with ISIS.
But those would-be ISIS fighters are now less likely to head to foreign battlefields. The data shows that the number of HVEs who attempted to go abroad and fight overseas declined by almost half since 2015.