On Sept. 9, the U.S. Department of State terminated my employment. My “offense” wasn’t misconduct or incompetence — it was my work countering far-right extremism.
For a decade, I served in the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, helping launch the government’s first programs to address what we called “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism.” The name was a bureaucratic workaround, adopted after Republican objections to calling it “far-right” or “right-wing” extremism. But make no mistake: The threat was real.
Since Donald Trump returned to office, every official in the State Department working on this issue — including me — has been dismissed. Across government, colleagues who coordinated on this portfolio have been fired or reassigned. At precisely the moment when far-right violence is surging at home and abroad, the United States is dismantling its defenses.
We’ve seen this danger before. In 1995, far-right extremist Timothy McVeigh murdered 168 people in Oklahoma City. On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn an election. Far-right extremists have made their goal clear: to overthrow democratic governments they believe are corrupted by Jews, racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, LGBT+ people and liberals.
The toll is staggering. In Charleston, South Carolina, nine African Americans were gunned down while praying in church in 2015. In Christchurch, New Zealand, 51 Muslims were murdered at two mosques. In El Paso, Texas, 23 people were massacred at a Walmart in 2019 — most of the victims were Latino. These killers were inspired by each other’s manifestos and tactics, often paying homage to Norwegian white supremacist Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in 2011. Far-right violence is not isolated; it is part of a global movement.
The internet fuels these connections. Far-right extremists in the United States, Germany and Brazil share propaganda and strategies on encrypted apps. In 2020, far-right mobs stormed Germany’s parliament; in 2023, supporters of Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brazil’s government buildings. These weren’t copycats acting alone — they were in communication with one another, emboldened by the same online networks.
Polarizing rhetoric by politicians and media figures accelerates this radicalization. In 2018, a man radicalized by conspiracy theories about “migrant caravans” murdered 11 Jews in Pittsburgh because he believed the congregation was helping immigrants to benefit Democrats. In Poland, a liberal politician was stabbed to death at a charity event in 2019 after far-right media painted him as a national traitor. Words have consequences, sometimes fatal ones.
During my tenure at the State Department, I warned my leadership about the threat far-right extremists pose to political figures. In response, we partnered with the Strong Cities Network to train mayors worldwide on engaging communities and defusing tensions. The Justice Department extended this model domestically, funding pilot programs in U.S. cities. But earlier this year, the Trump administration canceled the grant without explanation, cutting off places like Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, from training they desperately needed. Just months later, a Democratic lawmaker and her husband were murdered in a nearby suburb in what investigators believe was a politically motivated killing.
The danger is not abstract. It is local, national and global — and it is growing. Far-right extremists have targeted journalists, activists and elected officials. They have celebrated assassinations abroad and fantasized about carrying them out here. If allowed to flourish unchecked, they will continue to attack our communities and our democracy.
Democrats have not hesitated to condemn violence from their own side. After a gunman tried to kill Republican lawmakers at a baseball field in Alexandria in 2017, Democratic leaders swiftly denounced the attack. That is what responsible leadership looks like. It is past time for President Trump and his administration to do the same when the threat comes from the far right.
Far-right extremism is not just a fringe problem. It is the deadliest form of political violence facing the United States today. Failing to confront it risks more than mass shootings. It risks the future of our democracy itself.
Michael Duffin served as a senior adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism. He was responsible for the State Department’s first programs to counter far-right extremism.
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