Report: Half of US Mass Attacks Motivated By Grievances

Facts

• A report issued on Wednesday by the US Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) found that half of the mass attacks in the US from 2016 to 2020 were sparked by personal, domestic, or workplace disputes.
• Researchers reviewed 173 incidents that resulted in three or more individuals injured or killed across public or semi-public spaces — including businesses, places of worship, and schools in 37 states and Washington, DC.
• National Threat Assessment Center chief Lina Alathari stressed at a press conference on Wednesday that about a quarter of attackers were motivated by some kind of belief in controversial theories or hateful ideologies, of which at least six were radicalized online.
• The US has experienced 39 mass shootings less than a month into 2023 — more than any other January since 2014 — according to the Gun Violence Archive, with 70 people being killed and 167 injured.
• It also highlighted that most attackers had experienced a significant personal challenge — financial, family, and health issues — in the year before they committed mass violence, with nearly two-thirds having a criminal history.
• The report encouraged communities to promote and facilitate early intervention, urging them not to wait for a direct and specific threat to be made before taking action and suggesting that workplaces should establish behavioral threat assessment programs.

Sources: Reuters, CBS, NBC, Washington Post, CNN and Axios.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by CNN. While each attack has a unique motive ranging from workplace disputes to mental health issues and hateful ideologies, it is indisputable that the widespread availability of firearms in the US is behind the country's epidemic of mass shootings. Given America's deep-rooted suspicion of authority and the inability of its political system to tackle this problem, there is little reason to believe that mass shootings will subside.
• Right narrative, as provided by Federalist. Despite homicides and gun ownership decreasing since the 1960s, mass attacks have been trending upward due to the erosion of traditional values and the social structure in the US. Liberals have turned US culture toxic by causing a harmful plunge in two-parent households, divisive gender issues, and excusing individuals from responsibility.