White supremacists, anti-government extremists, radical Islamist extremists, and other ideologically inspired domestic violent extremists have been active in the United States for decades. Examples of attacks include the 1993 World Trade Center bombing by radical Islamists, in which 6 persons were killed; and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building by anti-government far right individuals, in which 168 lives were lost. The September 11, 2001, attacks account for the largest number of fatalities in the United States in a single or closely- related attack resulting from violent extremism in recent decades. While the September 11, 2001, attacks were perpetrated by foreign violent extremists, from September 12, 2001 through December 31, 2016, attacks by domestic or “homegrown” violent extremists in the United States resulted in 225 fatalities, according to the ECDB. Of these, 106 were killed by far right violent extremists in 62 separate incidents, and 119 were victims of radical Islamist violent extremists in 23 separate incidents. Figure 1 shows the locations and number of fatalities involved in these incidents. A detailed list of the incidents can be found in appendix II. According to the ECDB, activities of far left wing violent extremist groups did not result in any fatalities during this period. Since September 12, 2001, the number of fatalities caused by domestic violent extremists has ranged from 1 to 49 in a given year. As shown in figure 2, fatalities resulting from attacks by far right wing violet extremists have exceeded those caused by radical Islamist violent extremists in 10 of the 15 years, and were the same in 3 of the years since September 12, 2001. Of the 85 violent extremist incidents that resulted in death since September 12, 2001, far right wing violent extremist groups were responsible for 62 (73 percent) while radical Islamist violent extremists were responsible for 23 (27 percent). The total number of fatalities is about the same for far right wing violent extremists and radical Islamist violent extremists over the approximately 15-year period (106 and 119, respectively). However, 41 percent of the deaths attributable to radical Islamist violent extremists occurred in a single event—an attack at an Orlando, Florida night club in 2016 (see fig. 2). Details on the locations and dates of the attacks can be found in appendix II. In October 2016, the federal government defined the U.S. approach to countering violent extremism as proactive actions to counter efforts by extremists to recruit, radicalize, and mobilize followers to violence. The three parts of the U.S. approach to CVE efforts are: (1) empowering communities and civil society; (2) messaging and counter–messaging; and (3) addressing causes and driving factors. CVE activities are different from traditional counterterrorism efforts, such as collecting intelligence, gathering evidence, making arrests, and responding to incidents, in that they generally focus on preventing an individual from finding or acting out on a motive for committing a crime, as shown in figure 3. In February 2015, the White House released a fact sheet stating that CVE encompasses the preventative aspects of counterterrorism as well as interventions to undermine the attraction of violent extremist movements and ideologies that seek to promote violence. According to the national strategy, CVE actions intend to address the conditions and reduce the factors that most likely contribute to recruitment and radicalization by violent extremists. CVE efforts, as defined by the White House, are not to include gathering intelligence or performing investigations for the purpose of criminal prosecution. CVE efforts aim to address the root causes of violent extremism through community engagement, including: Building awareness—through briefings on the drivers and indicators of radicalization and recruitment to violence. For example, U.S. Attorney’s and DHS offices host community outreach meetings in which they provide information on identifying suspicious activity. Countering violent extremist narratives—directly addressing and countering violent extremist recruitment messages, such as encouraging alternative messages from community groups online. For example, DOJ partnered with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to produce awareness briefs on countering online radicalization. Emphasizing community led intervention—supporting community efforts to disrupt the radicalization process before an individual engages in criminal activity. For example, the FBI aims to provide tools and resources to communities to help them identify social workers and mental health professionals who can help support at-risk individuals and prevent them from becoming radicalized. Recognizing that most CVE activities occur at the community level, DHS and DOJ officials leading the CVE Task Force describe the federal role in CVE as a combination of providing research funding and training materials, and educating the public through activities such as DHS or DOJ hosted community briefings in which specific threats and warning signs of violent extremism are shared. According to FBI officials, these outreach efforts also provide an opportunity to build relationships in the community and help clarify the FBI’s role in engaging community organizations. According to DHS officials, DHS also conducts regular community engagement roundtables in multiple cities that provide a forum for communities to comment on and hear information about Department activities, including CVE. In addition to community meetings, education of the public is to occur through a multiplicity of outreach channels, including websites, social media, conferences, and communications to state and local governments, including law enforcement entities. Since 2010, federal agencies have initiated several steps towards countering violent extremism. In November 2010, a National Engagement Task Force, led by DHS and DOJ, was established to help coordinate community engagement efforts to counter violent extremism. The task force was to include all departments and agencies involved in relevant community engagement efforts and focus on compiling local, national, and international best practices and disseminating these out to the field, especially to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. The task force was also responsible for connecting field-based federal components involved in community engagement to maximize partnerships, coordination, and resource- sharing. According to DHS officials, the National Engagement Task Force disbanded in 2013. In September 2015, DHS recognized that its CVE efforts were scattered across a number of components and lacked specific goals and tangible measures of success. DHS created the Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) to consolidate its programs, foster greater involvement of the technology sector and philanthropic efforts to support private CVE efforts, and to enhance DHS grant-making in the area. At the same time, federal agencies involved in CVE recognized that the CVE landscape had changed since the issuance of the national strategy and SIP in late 2011. According to DHS and DOJ officials, ISIS had emerged as a threat, and an increase in internet recruiting by violent extremist groups since 2011 required an update to the SIP. In 2015, NCTC led a review to ensure that the federal government was optimally organized to carry out the CVE mission. According to DOJ and DHS officials leading CVE activities, the review validated the objectives of the 2011 strategy, but identified gaps in its implementation. Specifically, representatives from 10 departments and agencies contributing to CVE efforts identified four needs: infrastructure to coordinate and prioritize CVE activities across the federal government and with stakeholders; clear responsibility, accountability, and communication internally and with the public; broad participation of departments and agencies outside national security lanes; and a process to assess, prioritize, and allocate resources to maximize impact. In response, in January 2016, a new CVE task force was created to coordinate government efforts and partnerships to prevent violent extremism in the United States. The CVE Task Force is a permanent interagency task force hosted by DHS with overall leadership provided by DHS and DOJ. Staffing is to be provided by representatives from DHS, DOJ, FBI, NCTC, and other supporting departments and agencies. The Task Force is administratively housed at DHS and is to rotate leadership between DHS and DOJ bi-annually. The interagency CVE Task Force was established to: (1) synchronize and integrate whole-of-government CVE programs and activities; (2) conduct ongoing strategic planning; and (3) assess and evaluate CVE efforts. In October 2016, the Task Force, through the White House, issued an updated SIP for the 2011 national strategy. The 2016 SIP outlines the general lines of effort that partnering agencies will aim to undertake to guide their coordination of federal efforts and implement the national strategy. These lines of effort include: Research and Analysis: The Task Force is to coordinate federal support for ongoing and future CVE research. Since 2011, DHS has funded 98 CVE related research projects and DOJ has funded 25. Coordination through this line of effort aims to prevent overlap and duplication while identifying guidelines for future evaluations. This line of effort also aims to identify and share guidelines for designing, implementing, and evaluating CVE programs. Engagements and Technical Assistance: The Task Force is to coordinate federal outreach to and engagement with communities. DHS, FBI, U.S. Attorneys, and other departments regularly provide information to local community and law enforcement leaders. To date, much of the information provided has been from the individual perspective of each agency and its mission rather than a coordinated CVE mission. This line of effort aims to coordinate these outreach efforts to synchronize the messages that are reaching the communities. Interventions: This line of effort aims to develop intervention options to include alternative pathways or “off-ramps” for individuals who appear to be moving toward violent action but who have not yet engaged in criminal activity. Law enforcement officials are looking for ways to support community led programs, particularly when they focus on juveniles and others who have the potential to be redirected away from violence. The CVE Task Force, in coordination with DOJ and the FBI, aim to support local multidisciplinary intervention approaches.