CAH Presents Research Findings on Veteran Extremism to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency

The Collaboratory Against Hate (CAH) met with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's Deputy Director, Daniel J. Lecce, and Sara Stewart of the Department of Defense on April 6, 2023. This was part of a 2 hour presentation and discussion on research being conducted at University of Pittsburgh related to the question of veteran extremism. Presenters and their respective presentations included:

• Dr. Lisa Nelson and Dr. Ron Poropatich, CAH Work Group Co-chairs, and Noah Fair, CAH Researcher; "Extremism and Hate-motivated Violence Among Active Duty Military and Veterans"
• Dr Michael Kenney, Posvar Chair in International Security Studies, Director of
  the Ridgway Center, Pitt GSPIA; “Violent Veterans: Pathways to Terrorism
  and Violent Extremism”
• LTC Kurt Page, Army War College fellow; “Perceptions of Extremism, Fatalism
  and Military Culture”
  
• Dr Jack Rozel, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Adjunct Professor of Law,
  Medical Director of resolve Crisis Network; “Behavioral Threat Assessment and
  Management: Building Bridges to Service”
• Susan Baida, Executive Director of the Collaboratory Against Hate; "Collaboratory Against Hate Mission, Vision and Research Strategy"

Dr. Nelson, Dr. Poropatich and Noah Fair presented initial research findings on the question of extremism in the veteran community.  The team presented preliminary findings from an evaluation of the databases (PRIUS and CSIS)  that  are often used to support the finding that veterans are more likely than the general population to engage in politically motivated violence. The evaluation of these databases revealed that there is disparity in the statistical evidence among the databases used to support the claim that veterans are more likely than the general population to engage in politically motivated violence. The statistical variation is driven by several factors, including the use of indeterminate definitions of extremism used to capture the data, selective inclusion and exclusion of extremist events as well as reliance on internet reporting of events that is inconsistent across the time period that purports to support the rise in veteran extremism. Ultimately, the team did not find that veterans are any more likely than the general population to engage in politically motivated violence and that continued promotion of this narrative is damaging to the veteran community and is not productive for understanding the rise in political violence that is occurring more generally in society.

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Mr. Lecce's visit to the University of Pittsburgh was organized and coordinated by Dr. John Christman, Director, Office of Veteran Services, Steven Hernandez, Office of Veteran Services, and Dr. Josh Cannon, Honors College.