THE WHITE HOUSE CLAIM
The White House posted on social media: far-left anti-government terrorists account for more extremist attacks than any other ideological category. The State Department released a supporting statement July 16 2026 adding that far-left actors were responsible for 63 percent of all recorded anti-government attacks or plots in the United States in 2025. That part is important. The claim is for the year 2025.
Ida examined the 25-year record to evaluate that claim in full context. What the confirmed record shows is below.
THE CONFIRMED DEFINITION: WHAT IS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST GROUP
The FBI defines domestic terrorism as acts dangerous to human life that violate criminal laws and are committed to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence government policy through violence confirmed by 18 U.S.C. 2331.
For the purpose of this article Ida is applying the same standard to both right-wing and left-wing groups. An organized domestic terrorist group is a group with confirmed national or regional leadership, confirmed membership, confirmed organizational structure, and confirmed acts of political violence or plots to commit political violence.
That definition is what separates an organized terrorist group from individuals who commit violent acts motivated by ideology.
CONFIRMED RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST GROUPS SINCE 2000: THEIR STRUCTURE AND ACTS
The following groups meet the confirmed definition of organized domestic terrorist groups. Each has confirmed national leadership, confirmed membership, confirmed organizational structure, and confirmed acts of political violence or plots to commit political violence.
THE OATH KEEPERS
Founded: March 2009 by Stewart Rhodes in Montana.
Structure: National organization with confirmed state and local chapters, national leader, dues-paying membership estimated between 5,000 and 38,000 members at peak confirmed by multiple sources.
Ideology: Anti-government, far-right, members primarily current and former military and law enforcement.
Confirmed acts: Participated in the armed standoff at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada in 2014. Participated in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in January 2016. Deployed armed members to Ferguson Missouri in 2014 and Charlottesville Virginia in 2017. Participated in the January 6 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. Founder Stewart Rhodes and senior leader Kelly Meggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy confirmed by DOJ. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison. Multiple other members convicted on related charges.
THE PROUD BOYS
Founded: September 2016 by Gavin McInnes.
Structure: National organization with confirmed chapters across the United States and Canada, national chairman, confirmed membership, dues structure, confirmed initiation rituals.
Ideology: Far-right, Western chauvinist, anti-immigration, anti-communist, with factions including white supremacists.
Confirmed acts: Violent clashes in Berkeley California, Portland Oregon, New York City, and Washington D.C. from 2017 through 2020 confirmed by court records. Participated in the January 6 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. National Chairman Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison, the longest sentence of any January 6 defendant confirmed by DOJ. To date the Proud Boys have accumulated the highest number of insurrection-related arrests of any extremist group confirmed by ADL. Designated a terrorist organization by Canada and New Zealand.
PATRIOT FRONT
Founded: 2017 by Thomas Rousseau in Texas, formed from the remnants of Vanguard America after the Charlottesville rally.
Structure: National organization with confirmed national leader, dues-paying membership requiring members to be white and male, centralized code of conduct, coordinated national operations confirmed by leaked internal documents obtained by ProPublica and Unicorn Riot.
Ideology: White nationalist, neo-fascist.
Confirmed acts: Responsible for 82 percent of all hate group markings cataloged by ADL in 2021 confirmed by ADL. 200 members marched in coordinated uniforms through Washington D.C. in December 2021 confirmed by AP. 31 members arrested in Coeur d'Alene Idaho in June 2022 after being found in a U-Haul truck with riot gear, smoke grenades, and shields planning to attack an LGBTQ Pride event confirmed by AP and court records. Five members convicted of conspiracy to riot confirmed by NBC News. Member attacked a Black saxophonist in Boston in July 2022 confirmed by WBUR with a federal lawsuit filed under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. Has NOT been designated a domestic terrorist organization by the Trump administration.
THREE PERCENTERS
Founded: Approximately 2008 as a militia movement.
Structure: Decentralized national network with state and regional chapters, confirmed membership, ideological framework based on the false claim that three percent of colonists fought in the American Revolution.
Ideology: Anti-government, far-right militia, armed resistance to perceived government tyranny.
Confirmed acts: Participated in the Bundy standoff 2014. Participated in the Malheur occupation 2016. Members coordinated with Oath Keepers in the January 6 2021 Capitol attack confirmed by NBC News and court records. Multiple members indicted on federal conspiracy charges related to January 6.
ATOMWAFFEN DIVISION
Founded: 2015 on a neo-Nazi website.
Structure: Confirmed national and international network with cells, leadership, and recruitment structure.
Ideology: Neo-Nazi accelerationist, sought to trigger a race war.
Confirmed acts: Members were linked to five murders between 2017 and 2018 confirmed by court records. Founder Brandon Russell was convicted of possession of explosive devices in 2017 and again in 2023. Multiple members convicted on federal charges including murder, conspiracy, and weapons violations.
THE ADL confirmed 67 domestic terror incidents by right-wing extremists between 2017 and 2022 alone. White supremacists were responsible for 45 percent of those incidents. The CSIS dataset confirmed right-wing extremists carried out 152 attacks since 2016 compared to 41 by left-wing individuals. Right-wing attacks killed 112 Americans in the past decade. Left-wing incidents killed 13 confirmed by CSIS.
CONFIRMED LEFT-WING EXTREMIST GROUPS SINCE 2000: THEIR STRUCTURE AND ACTS
Using the same definition, an organized group with confirmed leadership, confirmed membership, confirmed organizational structure, and confirmed acts of political violence or plots to commit political violence, here is the confirmed list of left-wing domestic terrorist groups in the United States since 2000.
THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT AND ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT
These are the only two entities from the left that have come close to meeting the definition of organized groups with sustained campaigns of domestic terrorism since 2000. Both are included here for completeness.
Structure: No centralized leadership. No confirmed membership lists. No national headquarters. No dues structure. The ELF and ALF described themselves as underground movements of autonomous anonymous cells. The FBI's domestic terrorism section chief told Congress in 2002 that it was hard to track down ELF and ALF members because the two groups have little organized structure. The cells operated independently and communicated results through anonymous press releases. The largest connected network investigators found was approximately 20 individuals calling themselves the Family operating primarily in the Pacific Northwest.
Ideology: Radical environmentalism and animal liberation. Opposition to industries they viewed as harming the environment and animals.
Confirmed acts: Between approximately 1995 and 2005 the ELF and ALF committed more than 1,100 criminal acts resulting in more than 110 million dollars in property damage confirmed by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism. Acts consisted almost entirely of arson and property destruction targeting logging operations, ski resorts, car dealerships selling SUVs, animal research facilities, and construction sites. The ELF and ALF never killed anyone in the United States confirmed by the Intercept and multiple law enforcement sources. The FBI labeled ELF a domestic terrorist organization in 2001. The DOJ dismantled the primary network through Operation Backfire between 2004 and 2008 resulting in 11 convictions.
Since Operation Backfire concluded in 2008 there has been no confirmed sustained campaign of domestic terrorism by an organized left-wing group in the United States. That is a confirmed gap of more than 17 years.
CURRENT STATUS OF ORGANIZED LEFT-WING TERRORIST GROUPS: ZERO CONFIRMED
There are no confirmed organized left-wing domestic terrorist groups currently operating in the United States that meet the definition of an organization with confirmed national leadership, confirmed membership, confirmed organizational structure, and a sustained campaign of political violence.
This is confirmed by the FBI, CSIS, the Congressional Research Service, and ADL research.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS ACTUALLY COUNTING AS FAR-LEFT TERRORISM IN 2025
The White House claim is based on data from the first half of 2025. That data counts five specific incidents as far-left terrorism. Here is what those incidents actually were.
INCIDENT ONE: Luigi Mangione killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in December 2024. Mangione was one person acting entirely alone. He had no group affiliation of any kind. He left a manifesto expressing personal anger at the health insurance industry. He did not claim to represent any movement or organization. He plotted to kill one specific individual. He was counted as a far-left terrorist incident.
INCIDENT TWO: On July 4, 2025 a group of individuals attacked the ICE Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado Texas. Federal prosecutors described them as an informal local cell. They were individuals who opposed ICE detention practices. They were not members of a named national organization. Nine members were convicted on terrorism charges confirmed by court records. The attack involved armed individuals ambushing ICE officers, shooting one officer in the neck confirmed by White House press release citing the incident. This was a confirmed violent attack that included intent to harm law enforcement.
INCIDENT THREE: From mid-2025 onward individuals in Portland Oregon conducted a sustained series of confrontations at a Portland ICE facility. Prosecutors described them as a local Antifa-affiliated cell. They were individuals who opposed ICE operations. Multiple convictions followed. The incidents included physical assaults on officers and incendiary devices confirmed by court records. This involved confirmed violence and weapons. They had no confirmed national organizational affiliation.
INCIDENT FOUR AND INCIDENT FIVE: Additional anti-government attacks on federal targets by individuals motivated by opposition to immigration enforcement operations, confirmed by CSIS dataset and FactCheck.org review. Specific details on Incidents Four and Five were not individually named in sources available at publication. Ida will update when confirmed details are available.
WHAT THESE FIVE INCIDENTS CONFIRM AND WHAT THEY DO NOT CONFIRM:
The five incidents involved real violence in at least two cases confirmed by court records and convictions. The attack on the Texas ICE facility involved an officer being shot. The Portland incidents involved physical assaults and incendiary devices.
None of the five incidents was carried out by a named national organization with confirmed leadership, membership, or organizational structure comparable to the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, Patriot Front, Three Percenters, or Atomwaffen Division.
The five incidents were carried out by one individual acting alone and by small informal local cells of people who opposed immigration enforcement tactics. None plotted to kill civilians in a mass casualty attack. None had confirmed national coordination.
CSIS confirmed the overall lethality of left-wing attacks remains very low.
CSIS confirmed the reason for the 2025 numerical shift: Trump's policies eased grievances on the far right while intensifying anger on the far left. The decline in right-wing attacks in 2025 is attributed to the fact that the far right is more comfortable with the current government. CSIS confirmed the decline in right-wing incidents may be temporary.
THE CONFIRMED CIVIC QUESTION
The confirmed 25-year record shows the following.
Right-wing organized groups with confirmed leadership, membership, and structure have carried out sustained campaigns of domestic terrorism resulting in hundreds of confirmed attacks, multiple mass casualty events, and the deaths of more than 112 Americans since 2016 alone.
The last organized left-wing groups that carried out sustained domestic terrorism were the ELF and ALF, whose campaign of property destruction with no fatalities was dismantled more than 17 years ago.
The incidents the White House is citing as a far-left terrorist threat in 2025 are one man acting alone in personal rage and small informal groups of people opposing immigration enforcement, some of whom committed real violence against law enforcement and were convicted for doing so. They share no organizational structure with the confirmed right-wing groups described above.
What the government chooses to call an organized terrorist threat and what it chooses not to, is a civic decision with real consequences for which groups get investigated, designated, and prosecuted. The confirmed facts are above. The judgment belongs to you.
Sources: FBI 18 U.S.C. 2331 confirmed domestic terrorism definition, ADL confirmed 67 right-wing terror incidents 2017-2022 and Proud Boys seditious conspiracy and 22 year sentence, DOJ confirmed Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy Rhodes 18 years, DOJ confirmed Proud Boys Tarrio 22 years longest January 6 sentence, AP confirmed Patriot Front Idaho arrests June 2022, NBC News confirmed five Patriot Front convictions 2023, Stanford Mapping Militants Project confirmed Patriot Front not designated terrorist organization, ProPublica confirmed Patriot Front Rousseau leadership leaked documents, WBUR confirmed Patriot Front Boston attack Black saxophonist Ku Klux Klan Act lawsuit, ADL confirmed Patriot Front 82 percent hate markings 2021, National Consortium Study Terrorism confirmed ELF ALF 110 million damage 1100 acts 1995-2005, Counter Extremism Project confirmed ELF history no fatalities, Intercept confirmed ELF never killed anyone, FBI confirmed ELF labeled domestic terrorist organization 2001, FBI Operation Backfire confirmed 11 convictions 2004-2008, Congressional Research Service domestic terrorism overview 2017 confirmed ELF ALF approximately 20 members the Family, FactCheck.org October 2025 confirmed five incidents killed nobody first half 2025, CSIS May 2026 confirmed left-wing lethality very low and right-wing decline may be temporary and Trump policies explain shift, NPR October 2025 confirmed Byman interview lethality finding and methodology, White House press release confirmed Texas ICE facility attack officer shot in neck, ADL confirmed CSIS 152 right-wing attacks vs 41 left-wing since 2016, CSIS confirmed right-wing 112 deaths vs left-wing 13 deaths past decade, State Department July 16 2026 confirmed White House claim 63 percent anti-government attacks
Now you know. Read Ida's daily nonpartisan news briefing at readida.com