美国国家公共电台 NPR--Domestic terrorism cases doubled in the past year. It could threaten midterms

Domestic terrorism cases doubled in the past year. It could threaten midterms

Transcript¹

NPR's Morning Edition speaks with Michael Jensen of the University of Maryland about the rise in political violence and extremist rhetoric² in the US.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, two news items spread over the weekend. One, federal agencies warned of possible political violence at election time. And police arrested a man who entered the house of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacked her husband. Paul Pelosi was hospitalized. Michael Jensen joins us next. He leads a team on domestic radicalization for the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

Good morning.

MICHAEL JENSEN: Good morning.

INSKEEP: I'm trying to keep this in perspective. Political violence happens. Disturbed individuals lash³ out. How much worse is the threat, though, than normal?

JENSEN: Yeah. We've in recent years witnessed a tremendous increase in the amount of extremism and extremism-motivated crime in the United States. So just last week, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a joint⁴ report in which the FBI noted⁵ that they did more than double the number of domestic terrorism investigations⁷ in 2021 than they did in 2020. In 2020, less than 200 individuals were arrested for domestic terrorism crimes. And in 2021, it was more than 800.

A lot of that is due to the January 6 investigation⁶, which remains⁸ the largest domestic terrorism investigation in U.S. history. But even outside sources, like the one that we maintain at University of Maryland, has shown that in recent years, we're looking at, on average, about a 200% increase in the number of individuals being arrested for extremist crimes.

INSKEEP: You mentioned January 6. Are these mainly people who sincerely believe the lies they've been told about the election and Donald Trump⁹'s defeat in that election?

JENSEN: Some - others have known links to extremist organizations. So, of course, there's the high-profile cases of Stewart Rhodes and Enrique Tarrio, the leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. But our research has shown that more than 300 of the defendants¹⁰ that are being tried in the January 6 investigation have links to known extremist organizations. So that's over, you know, a third of the individuals. That's an incredibly large number. Those individuals are motivated by more than just election denialism or the belief that the election was stolen. They have broader political goals, you know, evolving from anti-immigration, the protection of the Second Amendment¹¹ or anti-authority, antigovernment views.

INSKEEP: Oh, now, this is very interesting because we know the facts here. We know that dozens of courts upheld the election results. We know that thousands of election officials from both political parties upheld the election results. But you're telling me that there are some individuals who have a specific other agenda, other political interest to push this narrative¹² that Trump was somehow robbed?

JENSEN: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, what we see is a real mixing of ideologies¹³ here. So it's not just election denialism or conspiracy¹⁴ theories around the election. That's being mixed in with antisemitic narratives¹⁵. It's being mixed in with broader antigovernment goals around education policy, public health policy, immigration policy. These are groups that have been around long before January 6, and their goals predate the 2020 election. And so the election just mixes in with their broader set of goals.

INSKEEP: Where does David DePape fit into this? And I'll remind people, he is the individual has been arrested for entering the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, somehow attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer. He was quoted saying, "where is Nancy?" He had zip ties, reportedly. And there were - a search of his internet history showed election denial and various other things. Where does he fit into what you're saying?

JENSEN: Well, what we know from his posting behavior is that he really, you know, symbolizes¹⁶ this mix of ideological¹⁷ commitment. So we know that he was posting conspiracy theories about the election, about COVID-19, but that he was also posting antisemitic statements on the platform or white supremacist statements on various platforms. So he was really mixing these extreme ideologies that apparently¹⁸ motivated his behavior.

But I think the - you know, the more important thing to recognize about this individual is that this is happening within the context of a tremendous increase in threats being made against public officials and our elected representatives. So the FBI has been warning since the 2020 election that they are seeing more and more of these cases of individuals threatening not only the highest-ranking elected representatives of public officials, but very low-level ones - school board members, health board members, local representatives.

INSKEEP: Are low-level election officials properly protected, do you think, in the coming days?

JENSEN: No, they aren't. You have to imagine that the average school board member or the average, you know, local county election official isn't walking around with something like the Secret Service or Marshals Service protecting them. They don't have any protection at all. And so if an individual sets their sights on one of these targets, there's not a lot stopping them from accessing these individuals. These are public individuals that have to be public in order to do their job. So they are accessible targets, but they don't have the level of protection of somebody like the president or another high-ranking official.

INSKEEP: Michael Jensen, senior researcher into domestic terrorism at the University of Maryland.

Thanks so much.

JENSEN: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

3 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

12 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

13 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

14 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

15 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

16 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

18 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。