2021 Saw No Mass Terrorist Attacks in the U.S., Despite Heightened Threat Environment

In a win for counterterrorism efforts, the U.S. experienced no mass terrorist attacks last year, despite the heightened threat environment. Indeed, 2021 was the first year since before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with no successful terrorist attacks perpetrated in the U.S. homeland, according to research from the New America Foundation. The most recent terrorist attack, connected to Islamic extremists, occurred in December 2019 at a naval airbase in Pensacola, Florida. And the last successful domestic violent extremist (DVE) attack in the U.S. occurred in 2019 at an El Paso Texas Walmart.

Of course, terrorist and violent extremist groups from across the political spectrum had the desire to conduct attacks in 2021, but these groups either lacked the operational capacity to execute an attack or counterterrorism efforts successfully thwarted potential mass-casualty events. Last year, Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at DHS John Cohen, told Congress “U.S.-based lone actors and small groups of individuals, including both HVEs and domestic violent extremists (DVEs), represent the most significant and persistent threat to our country.” Terrorist and other violent extremists will certainly continue posing a threat to the U.S. for the foreseeable future, but thanks to assiduous counterterrorism actions by the government the U.S. is better prepared to detect and disrupt future attacks. Read more at the Washington Post.