Far right threatens security of United States

Nahla Abdel Moneim

The United States is experiencing severe political polarizations, especially in its extremist currents. Washington is experiencing a major escalation in the right-wing and white terrorism, and Islamist groups are no longer the only violent threat to the country.

This problem raises a number of questions about the future of the United States and the security and intellectual confrontation strategy of the extreme right currents, in parallel with terrorism formed by groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, against which Washington has started several foreign wars, such as the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, so will Washington be able to curb the right-wing extremists, or will it face major chaos, whether it is a focused wave or sporadic attacks?

Far right and Black Lives Matter

Some far-right groups in the United States have fought hard battles with supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement for not recognizing the right of black-skinned people to live with them, as they believe in the superiority of the white race over other races and reject immigrants and all those who disagree with them.

On January 5, the authorities announced the arrest of the leader of the extremist right-wing group the Proud Boys, 36-year-old Enrique Tarrio, in Washington, DC, for burning a banner that read Black Lives Matter, a slogan that Americans raised after the killing of African-American citizen George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis at the hands of a US policeman, which caused massive demonstrations at the time.

The US authorities say that the banner that Tarrio burned was stolen from an old church during one of the demonstrations and that he leads his right-wing group to impose his ideas rejecting the acceptance of non-affiliates of his sect with violence, and the group’s demonstrations take specific formal appearances that include clothes and outerwear.

Proud Boys and US election

In the context of the dispute raging in Washington over the US election results, Tarrio, a supporter of Trump, called on his supporters to rally and demonstrate in Washington to protest against the victory of Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden in the US presidential election, as he believes that the results are rigged and Trump deserves a second term.

It is noteworthy that the protests organized by Trump supporters at the US Congress on January 7, during the session to ratify Biden’s victory, witnessed unprecedented acts of violence as the demonstrators stormed Capitol Hill and carried away some of the furniture. They also stormed the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leaving a written message saying “We will not surrender”. Police were then able to disperse them and restore security.

These protests resulted in the death of a woman by gunshot, and many politicians condemned these violent acts, even from within the Republican Party, most notably former President George W. Bush, who said, “These events are not worthy of the democracy of the United States and do not happen except in banana republics.” Members of the Trump administration have also resigned due to the excessive violence.

Nevertheless, the violent events in Washington, DC do not count only on the supporters of the Proud Boys, especially since Trump had previously stated that he did not know anything about them.

In October 2020, Radio Monte Carlo quoted the US Federal Police as saying that many of the extreme-right groups are armed and ready to engage in violence and form attacks against citizens. The most famous of these groups, along with the Proud Boys, are the Patriot Briar and the Three Percenters.