FBI sees major rise in white supremacist terror: report

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The FBI has detected a significant increase in the amount of white supremacist domestic terror cases, according to a report published Thursday.

An anonymous counterterrorism official told CNN the bureau has been dealing with an increase in domestic terror in the past few months as international terrorism has held steady following the territorial defeat of the Daesh terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria.

The FBI arrested 150 individuals on charges stemming from domestic terror in 2017, 120 in 2018, and the unnamed official said the bureau is on track to match or even exceed those figures by the end of September.

That leaves roughly a quarter of the year in which additional arrests could occur.

Cases considered domestic terror by the FBI generally include anti-government violence, attacks on racial or religious groups and individuals, as well as anti-abortion and environmental extremism, according to CNN.

The FBI did not provide quantitative data to CNN to demonstrate the rise in white supremacist domestic terrorism cases.