Left-wing terrorists were behind more domestic attacks in the US than right-wingers for the first time since 1994, a new study claimed.

Analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed there were five left-wing terror attacks up to July 4.

During that time, a right-wing incident involved the murder of Minnesota state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in June, reportedly by Vance Boelter.

Over the last three decades, right-wing extremists have been the primary perpetrators of domestic terrorism, including attempted or thwarted schemes, with Islamic jihadists following behind.

But that trend has reversed in the past few years as right-wing and Islamic attacks fell sharply and left-wing ones had a modest rise.

The tallied political attacks do not include the murder of Charlie Kirk in Utah on September 10 as it was after the July 4 cutoff.

The motivations and political stance of Tyler Robinson, the suspected killer of Kirk, remain a contentious topic between opposing groups, and Robinson has declined to talk to authorities.

Also not included were the arson of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home, the murder of two Israeli Embassy workers in Washington DC, and the firebombing of a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado, that injured 15 demonstrators.

These were omitted because they were motivated by the Israel-Palestine conflict and not strictly attributable to left or right wing US politics.

Left-wing terrorists were behind more domestic attacks in the US than right-wingers for the first time since 1994, including the July 4 shooting at an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas

The study doesn’t include last year’s alleged execution of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione but does see support for Mangione as part of a rising left-wing tolerance for violence

Should the pace of far-left attacks continue, 2025 would have the most from that side in more than 30 years – though still far short of the far-right’s worst years.

Left-wing culprits carried out eight attacks in both 2020 and 2022, while the high watermark for right-wing extremism was 33 in 1995, and 30 in 2017 and 2020. 

Forty-two per cent of all terrorist attacks and plots so far this year were by far-left perpetrators – it was never above 20 per cent in any other year since 1993.

From 1994 through 2000, there was an average of 0.6 left-wing attacks a year, which grew to to 1.3 annually in the 2000s and 4 per year from 2016 to 2024.

By contrast, far-right terrorists averaged 21 attacks per year from 1994 to 2000, falling to 7 annually in the 2000s, then climbing back up to an average of 20 a year in 2011 to 2024.

However, left-wing attacks were very rarely fatal with only two deaths since 2020 – Luigi Mangione’s alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson last year, and Michael Reinoehl’s fatal shooting of right-wing protester Aaron Danielson in Portland, Oregon, in August 2020.

Expanding the data to the past decade, left-wing attacks killed 13 victims, compared with 112 and 82 victims for right-wing and jihadist attacks respectively.

CSIS said there were several reasons for the changing trends – most noticeably that right-wing extremists have little to be angry about.

‘This decline is striking, and explanations are speculative,’ it said.

‘One possibility is that many traditional grievances that violent right-wing extremists have espoused in the past – opposition to abortion, hostility to immigration, and suspicions of government agencies, among others – are now embraced by President Trump and his administration.

‘It is probable that at least some extremists do not feel the need to act violently if their concerns are being addressed.’

The CSIS report quoted Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader and a convicted seditionist whom Trump pardoned, as summing up this theory

‘Honestly, what do we have to complain about these days?’ he said.

However, the CSIS report cautioned that the fall in far-right terrorism was ‘probably temporary’. 

The tallied political attacks do not include the murder of Charlie Kirk in Utah on September 10, allegedly by Tyler Robinson (pictured), as it was after the July 4 cutoff, but references him as a continuing example

Another factor was that law enforcement appeared to be better at catching far-right attackers before they did any damage.

Only one of five left-wing terror plots was foiled up to July 4 this year. 

‘The fact that left-wing plots so often result in completed attacks elevates the significance of the recent rise in incidents because it indicates that the recent increase is likely to translate into realized violence,’ the report read. 

CSIS said Joe Biden’s crackdown on far-right groups after the January 6, 2021, insurrection also helped, as it left extremist movements in disarray. 

The uptick in left-wing extremism was attributed to increased radicalization due to the rise of Trump and worsening political polarization in general.

‘Although the vast majority of Americans would never commit partisan violence and oppose it, widespread polarization and misperceptions that the other side is far more violent than it actually is creates a dangerous environment where extremists can more easily rationalize using violence,’ the report read.

‘Growth in even a tiny minority who are willing to commit partisan violence has the potential for tremendous consequences considering the combustible political climate in the US and the fact that symbolic and strategically important political leaders are among the potential targets.’

CSIS said far-left attacks were often motivated by both anti-government extremism – which takes aim at institutions attackers consider illegitimate – and partisan extremism, which targets people for their party or other affiliation.

Left-wing extremism is about both ‘rejecting its political leadership and resisting its efforts to expand the authority of military and law enforcement institutions’. 

‘Together… [they] help explain why 2025 has seen an escalation of left-wing violence, as opposition to the Trump administration fuels attacks against both its political leadership and the state institutions that carry out its agenda,’ CSIS said.

The CSIS report defined terrorism as attacks ‘with the intent to achieve political goals by creating a broad psychological impact’.

It cautioned that left and right-wing categorization of terror attacks didn’t necessarily correspond to the Democratic and Republican parties and was better defined by the causes and motivations the attack was in support of or against.