Norms Impact
DOJ quietly removes study showing right wing attacks ‘outpace’ those by left
By scrubbing government research on domestic extremist killings without explanation, the Justice Department normalizes executive-driven suppression of empirical records that citizens need to judge power and policy.
Sep 17, 2025
Sources
Summary
The Justice Department removed from its website a 2024 study concluding far-right extremists were responsible for the bulk of ideologically motivated killings and that such attacks “continue to outpace” other forms of domestic terrorism. The department’s public-facing information posture shifted toward executive-order-driven content control while declining to explain what orders required the deletion. The practical consequence is a degraded evidentiary baseline for policymakers and the public at the exact moment political leaders are disputing which ideologies drive the nation’s deadliest extremist violence.
Reality Check
When a law-enforcement agency quietly deletes empirical findings that contradict a sitting president’s public claims, it sets a precedent for politicized control of the factual record that weakens democratic accountability and our ability to defend our own rights. On the facts provided, the conduct is not clearly criminal: removing a public webpage and citing “recent Executive Orders” does not, by itself, meet elements of federal obstruction or falsification statutes like 18 U.S.C. § 1519 absent evidence of intent to destroy records to impede an investigation or proceeding. The threat is institutional: using opaque “review” rationales to curate government truth-telling invites weaponization of public information systems against inconvenient data, especially during a live national debate over domestic violent extremism.
Detail
<p>The Justice Department removed a 2024 study from its website that analyzed National Institute of Justice data on ideologically motivated deaths. The study stated that “the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism,” and reported that since 1990, far-right extremists committed 227 ideologically motivated homicide events causing more than 520 deaths, compared with 42 attacks and 78 deaths attributed to far-left extremists.</p><p>Daniel Malmer, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Ph.D. student studying extremism, said the study was visible on the department’s site the day before and was removed by Sept. 13, days after the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The removal was first reported by 404 Media. The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment; the page now states the department is “reviewing its websites … in accordance with recent Executive Orders,” without specifying which orders. The Hill obtained the original study text.</p>