Left-wing terrorist attacks in the United States are on track to reach their highest level in three decades, according to a new study released by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
The analysis found that violent plots planned or carried out by far-left extremists represented a growing share of all terrorist incidents nationwide in the first half of 2025. If current trends continue, CSIS researchers said, the year could mark the highest percentage of left-wing incidents recorded since the mid-1990s.
As of July 4, 2025—before the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility—researchers identified five left-wing attacks or plots.
The findings come amid heightened political tensions, with critics warning that increasingly sharp rhetoric surrounding immigration, policing, and the Trump administration may be fueling extremist activity.
The number of incidents this year is already more than eight times higher than the annual average of 0.6 left-wing attacks recorded between 1995 and 2000, according to CSIS. The previous record, set in both 2020 and 2022, was eight incidents.
The researchers based their findings on a dataset of 750 terrorist attacks and plots in the United States spanning January 1, 1994, through July 4, 2025.
For the first time in three decades, the analysis found, far-left terrorist activity is outpacing attacks from far-right extremists, the New York Post reported, citing the organization’s study.
Researchers observed that the rise in left-wing violence since President Trump took office in 2016 has been primarily driven by anti-government and partisan extremism.
Since then, “all left-wing attacks through July 4, 2025, appeared to be motivated by one of these ideologies,” noted the study, adding that Kirk’s assassination appeared to fit the pattern.
Kirk’s alleged killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, wrote “Hey fascist, catch this” on a shell casing before fatally shooting him on September 10, according to law enforcement officials.
The CSIS study noted clearly that the dramatic increase in left-wing violence this year can be described “as opposition to the Trump administration fuels attacks against both its political leadership and the state institutions that carry out its agenda.”
The study also pointed to immigration as a driving issue in 2025, underscored by the recent shooting at an ICE detention facility in Dallas. President Trump attributed the attack to what he described as inflammatory rhetoric from “radical left Democrats.”
While political “leaders are not responsible for extremists in their midst,” the authors said, “they are responsible for how they behave towards extremism.”
Both sides were urged to condemn violence from their own side and to call for calm regarding the other side, though Democrats are not getting the message as they continue to label Trump officials and Republicans in the most vile terms including “Nazis,” “fascists,” and “threats to democracy.”
For instance, after alleged anti-ICE sniper Joshua Jahn shot three detainees before taking his own life in Dallas on Wednesday, the FBI said it recovered handwritten notes from his residence accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of “human trafficking.”
Similar language has been used by some Democratic lawmakers. In June, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) accused ICE of “kidnapping people” and “human trafficking.” The following month, the White House privately urged Democrats to moderate their criticism of the agency, though many continued their attacks.
This week, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, widely believed to be preparing for a 2028 presidential run, echoed those critiques during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” where he described ICE as a “private domestic army” advancing what he called the Trump administration’s “authoritarian tendencies.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a “modern-day Gestapo.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a member of the progressive “Squad,” earlier this month described President Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., as a “fascist takeover.”
And during the 2024 campaign, then–Vice President Kamala Harris characterized Trump as a “fascist” when asked about him on the trail.