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Americans are being radicalized faster than ever before as politicians and community leaders continue mainstreaming far-right values, like white supremacy and anti-government rhetoric.

The ideas incubated by white nationalists are being pulled from the backwoods of Ku Klux Klan rallies and militia meetings and into the mainstream through the internet, so much so that nearly 25% of the American public has been exposed to them on a fairly regular basis, according to Devin Burghart, executive director for the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights.

Not all of them have been radicalized. Not all of them decided to invade the Capitol, Burghart said. But its a reminder that we have a deep and growing problem and that you are undoubtedly likely to encounter someone who shares these ideas.

Far-right extremist values have always played a role in America. Burgharts first encounter with white supremacy was at age 14 when neo-Nazi Robert Matthews held a rally in downtown Spokane, Washington, to recruit families into his far-right group. Burgharts run-ins with extremism didnt end there. As a teenager involved in the local music scene, Burghart watched white power skinheads try to recruit his friends to bridge the gap between healthy youth rebellion and hardcore white supremacy.

Like gun rights or religion, extremists used music to bond with people and gradually radicalize them by re-introducing far-right values such as white nationalism. The radicalization process hasnt changed significantly, but Burghart said leaders who act as facilitators of misinformation online and on-air have unprecedentedly sped it up.

What used to take years now takes months in terms of exposure to the ideas and involvement in more extreme, radical far-right organizations, Burghart said. A persons path to radicalization moves from early exposure to ideas based on crass stereotypes and concerns of status into a place in their mind where violence is justified.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified domestic violent extremists as the primary threat to Americans in 2020, and predicted those groups will continue to target individuals institutions. An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies of 893 terrorist attacks in the U.S. dating back to January 1994, found right-wing extremists perpetrated two-thirds of the attacks and plots in 2019 and over 90% between Jan. 1 and May 8, 2020. Both agencies predicted violence would intensify during the general election.

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Allendale Township Planning Commissioner Ryan Kelley speaks on stage with his wife and children in Allendale Township on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. The American Patriot Council held a rally at Allendale Community Park to support President Donald Trump and resist socialism while Justice for Black Lives held an opposing rally outside Allendale Township Hall to demand the removal of Kelley from the commission because of his alleged ties to militia members charged in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com

Today, people are introduced to core far-right values through an online post shared by their family or community members. Some of these values, like white supremacy, dominated American society at one point and are considered sacred, withstanding time and societal changes. Other values, like gun rights and anti-immigration, are being sacralized right now, according to Scott Atran, a former research professor at the University of Michigan who has interviewed domestic extremists and international terrorists.

Most people who join extremist movements are normal people who have felt disfranchised, experts say. In America, these are people who fear white dispossession and changing demographics.

A movement can have many different kinds of people, but usually for it to sustain itself it has to have a core social dynamic and core values, Atran said.

Those identified in the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 came from a variety of backgrounds, including a Chicago real estate agent; a Dallas-area lawyer, a CEO, a West Virginia state representative and a Florida firefighter, according to reports.

Americans widely accepted far-right values like white supremacy until World War I and the Civil Rights Movement. As the nation shifted its focus on lifting Black people and women, Atran said federal agencies fairly had far-right extremism under control. Still, racist and fascist core values were strong among some people, who Atran said were forced to hide their views.

It was fairly under control because the public space didnt allow for extremists to come out into the open back then. They were in the closet and had to hide, Atran said. But thats not the case now, (the FBI) lost the tread and allowed it to grow to the point where it is now, where it has metastasized.

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Members of the Proud Boys stand on the front lawn of the Capitol while open carry gun activist rally in Lansing on Thursday Sep. 17, 2020. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com

Far-right beliefs began spreading rapidly again after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, only this time they had the internet to project their values on the masses, according to Burghart. This was the initial indicator of Americas lasting challenge of accepting a changing demographic.

You didnt need the Aryan nation members at that point to start talking badly about immigrants because you had members of Congress use ideas once confined to the backwoods Klan rallies and militia meetings as justification for legislation, Burghart said.

Political involvement in spreading far-right values escalated in 2008, during the recession and when Barack Obama was elected as the first Black president. Extremist-led movements are typically sparked at times of economic and social uncertainty, like during a global pandemic, said Ryan Scrivens, a Michigan State University professor whose research is focused on extremism.

These are during times people feel that theyre disenfranchised or that their voices arent being heard, Scrivens said. Its when they feel like something of theirs, whether its land or resources, is being threatened. Thats when you start seeing violence.

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White nationalism and politics overlapped in 2009 when the Tea Party, a new far-right group, emerged. On its surface, the Tea Party lured members in by talking about debt and taxes as a rationalization to undermine democratic processes, like removing Senate terms. Still, Burghart said research found the primary values driving the group were fears of white dispossession and racism. The study found the longer people were involved with the Tea Party, the more racist they became.

The movement didnt just reflect their racism; it worsened it, Burghart said.

The Tea Party movement is an example of how the internet and facilitators of far-right values can quickly radicalize people in the 21st Century, according to Burghart. At its apex in 2015, Burghart said national polling showed the Tea Party had 16% to 18% of the American adult populations support, which would put the number of sympathizers at tens of millions. Closer to its core, millions of people attended Tea Party meetings and protests, as well as bought party literature. At one point, the Tea Party had more than 250,000 members nationwide who signed up on the websites of six national organizations that formed at the inception of the movement.

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Michigan Capitol ahead of potential protests

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Once far-right values are normalized by the masses, people on the path to radicalization may find themselves in an echo chamber. Whether its through Facebook groups, Twitter or YouTube, far-right sympathizers find themselves in a situation in which extreme beliefs are being amplified, according to JoEllen Vinyard, an Eastern Michigan University professor who studies extremism.

People have selective perceptions, Vinyard said. They watch the channels that they agree with, they read the internet sites that agree with them, and they dont see another side to the issues. These people really believe theyre right about their concerns and that they need to take actions on behalf of the government.

People are fully radicalized when their sacred values infuse their identifies with a movement, said Atran. Extremists dont negotiate sacred values, like white supremacy; they risk their lives and others lives to preserve them.

Thats when we find a maximum willingness to sacrifice and do virtually anything from killing children to suicide bombings, Atran said.

Research shows that once a person is radicalized, it is tough bringing them back.

Thats because your life is so narrow at that point, Burghart said. We have had people come out on their own, but it was a tough road for them. They had to reconstruct how they think of the world after being involved in the movement for so long.

Thats why experts believe the best intervention to extremism is addressing it as a community and not fully through legislation or law enforcement.

Formally, governments have tried deploying counter-narratives to extremism but found little success, according to Atran. Thats partly because far-right values have been treated as ideas floating in free space.

Theyre ideas that are embedded in particular social networks in particular ecologies. And the only way to deal with them at all is to go into those ecologies or develop alternate ecologies, Atran said. If you just work in the realm of ideas, you will get absolutely nowhere.

Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, right, speaks next to members of the Michigan Liberty Militia during the "American Patriot Rally-Sheriffs speak out" event at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids on Monday, May 18, 2020. The crowd is protesting against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com

The far-right movement in America is a leaderless resistance. Atran said the KKK, which developed the idea, started a grassroots movement that couldnt be stopped by law enforcement because responsibility would be diffused. No one would assume responsibility, and white supremacy values would keep spreading until someone took extreme action.

The internet has allowed that to happen at a much more massive scale, Atran said. Its very, very hard to control hate speech. If a platform like Facebook or Twitter tries to shut them down, they proliferate across different platforms.

Law enforcement also has its limits, and Scrivens said arresting people wont stop them from being radicalized.

I believe we, as a community, need to be having these conversations and not allow these extreme views to be normalized, Scrivens said.

Atran said the constitution had kept the country together in times of American division, but that worked partly because communities worked together.

A great threat to this nation is the ties of community that allowed ideas to be deliberated, that allowed them to bubble up and be agreed up, that social space just doesnt exist, Atran said. The internet promised to recreate those ties, but its done the exact opposite because algorithms encourage anger and division to bring in advertising revenue. So, how do we create those community bonds institutionally?

That is a challenge that will require the community and leaders to be deeply involved in pushing back far-right values, Burghart said.

We have to start rebuilding the strength of a multi-racial, pluralistic democracy that we should be so proud of instead of the deeply troubling anti-democratic resistance that we saw help lead people to rush the Capitol, Burghart said.

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Extremists have gone mainstream. Lawyers, realtors and every-day folks make up their ranks. - mlive.com