EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Aug. 5 massacre at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., appears to be the latest in a rash of homicides by far-right extremists that have killed more than 300 people in the United States during the past two decades.
A research group that includes Michigan State University criminologist Steve Chermak reports that between 1990 and 2010, there were 145 homicide incidents committed by far-right extremists.
Those incidents killed 348 people, including 168 in the Oklahoma City bombing.
More than half of the victims were targeted because there were racial or ethnic minorities, according to the research group, which is known as the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.
A fact sheet on the report can be found here.
Authorities say Michael Page, 40, killed six people and wounded three others at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin before killing himself. Page was known to have ties with the white supremacist movement.
Chermak, professor in MSU’s School of Criminal Justice, is an expert on domestic terrorism, especially white supremacists, and effective strategies for reducing crime and violence.
Chermak can be reached at (517) 355-2210 or chermak@msu.edu.
Chermak is affiliated with START, which is supported in part by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.