Earlier this year U.S. Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., chaired three hearings on Islamic radicalization in the United States. One challenge was the lack of data in the public debate, which made it easy for critics to dismiss the hearings or the need to investigate this issue.
The Baker Institute Homeland Security and Terrorism Program recognized this deficiency, so I began the task of gathering the data on persons associated with Islamic extremist activities in the United States and on U.S. persons associated with Islamic extremist activities abroad from 2009 to the spring of 2011. After nine months of research on 104 individuals, questions posed by the hearings on radicalization can be answered in my paper, “Analyzing the Islamic Extremist Phenomenon in the United States: A Study of Recent Activity.” Some of those questions and answers are:
- Is radicalization occurring in the United States, or have the incidents been solely driven by overseas factors? Homegrown radicalization is an issue. Sixty percent of those arrested were U.S. citizens.
- Is there a threat of radicalization in our prison system? Yes. Of those known to have had a prior criminal record and to be converts, 55 percent had converted in prison.
- Has Al Shabbab, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, been involved in recruitment and radicalization? Thirty-four percent of the analysis group was associated with Al Shabaab. Another 28 percent were associated with Al Qaeda’s other affiliates.
- Is Internet radicalization an issue? The Internet played a role in the radicalization of a quarter of the persons in the analysis group.
- Is there a high proportion of “lone wolves?” Fewer than 10 percent of the group had no association with another person, organization or extremist internet activity.
- What threat was posed by Anwar al Awlaki, the American citizen killed in Yemen in September? Awlaki was a leading ideologue for Al Qaeda. A minimum of 16 percent of the analysis group was followers of Anwar al Awlaki.
In some cases the numbers may be understated, because the information was not publicly available.
- Download Baker Institute fellow Joan Neuhaus Schaan’s “Analyzing the Islamic Extremist Phenomenon in the United States: A Study of Recent Activity”
- Listen to a Nov. 17, 2011, American Family Radio interview with Joan Neuhaus Schaan about her research.
Joan Neuhaus Schaan is the fellow in homeland security and terrorism at the Baker Institute, coordinator of the Texas Security Forum, and serves on the advisory board of the Transborder International Police Association. She has served as the executive director of the Houston-Harris County Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council and on the board of Crime Stoppers of Houston, Inc.