New Report Finds Left-Wing Violence Has Skyrocketed In Recent Years
Left-wing terrorist attacks in the United States are on pace to hit their highest level in three decades, according to new research from the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
The study found that far-left extremist plots and attacks accounted for a growing share of terrorism nationwide in the first half of 2025. If the pace continues, this year could mark the highest percentage of left-wing incidents since the mid-1990s.
As of July 4, before the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas, CSIS had already documented five left-wing terrorist incidents.
The escalation comes as Democrats ratchet up their attacks on law enforcement and President Donald J. Trump’s administration, rhetoric critics say is fueling violence against conservatives and government institutions.
The figures are staggering. Between 1995 and 2000, an average of just 0.6 left-wing attacks occurred annually. This year’s count has already surpassed that rate by more than eight times. The previous record of eight incidents, set in both 2020 and 2022, is expected to be broken.
The CSIS study examined 750 terrorist plots and attacks in the United States from January 1994 through July 2025. For the first time in decades, far-left terrorism is now outpacing far-right attacks, the New York Post reported.
Researchers noted that the surge in left-wing violence since Trump’s election in 2016 has been primarily driven by anti-government and hyper-partisan extremism. Every left-wing attack in 2025, they said, was motivated by these ideologies — including Kirk’s assassination.
Kirk’s alleged killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, scrawled “Hey fascist, catch this” on a shell casing before fatally shooting the Turning Point USA founder on Sept. 10, according to law enforcement officials.
The study explicitly tied the increase in leftist terrorism to opposition against the Trump administration and its policies.
Immigration was cited as a major flashpoint. The recent ICE facility attack in Dallas underscored the danger, with President Trump blaming the violent act on inflammatory rhetoric from “radical left Democrats.”
While the CSIS report urged leaders on both sides to condemn extremism, Democrats continue to pour fuel on the fire by smearing Republicans and Trump officials with language that demonizes them as “Nazis,” “fascists,” and “threats to democracy.”
The toxic climate has real-world consequences. In Dallas, suspected anti-ICE sniper Joshua Jahn shot three detainees before killing himself, leaving behind notes accusing ICE agents of “human trafficking.” Similar language has been echoed by Democratic lawmakers.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) accused ICE of “kidnapping people” in June, while Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) recently called the agency a “private domestic army” advancing Trump’s supposed “authoritarian tendencies.” Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) has gone so far as to brand ICE a “modern-day Gestapo.”
Members of the progressive “Squad” have joined the chorus. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) blasted Trump’s Washington, D.C. crime crackdown as a “fascist takeover.” And during the 2024 campaign, then–Vice President Kamala Harris herself called Trump a “fascist.”
With incendiary rhetoric continuing from the left, the surge in left-wing terrorism appears far from over.