About 16% of those facing federal charges have known affiliations with extremist organizations
Most of the nearly 200 people charged in federal cases in connection with the Capitol riot have no known ties to far-right groups, underscoring the challenge of heading off violent extremism, a Wall Street Journal review found.
Authorities say they are ramping up efforts to counter extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but they are discovering that any charges against people affiliated with organized groups such as the Proud Boys addresses only part of the issue.
According to the Journal’s review, 16% of the 192 defendants charged in federal cases have a known affiliation with right-wing militias or other groups that espouse violence. Researchers at the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, a University of Chicago institute that looked at a larger group of arrestees that included local charges, found that 10% had known affiliations with such groups.
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