On 15 May, VOX-Pol Programme Manager Lisa McInerney participated in the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness’ (NJOHSP) Second Annual Domestic Terrorism Conference.
The conference brought together law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, and academics to discuss the rise of domestic extremism across the United States. The day was organised into two tracks: the Intelligence Track and the Law Enforcement Track.
Lisa provided an overview of VOX-Pol, along with a presentation entitled Violent Online Political Extremism: State of Play 2016/17, and Future Trends, where she compared the contemporary online activities of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ versus those of the extreme right online.
Former VOX-Pol colleague Dr. Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens also participated in the event, contributing a presentation entitled The English Defence League: A Case of Modern Domestic Extremism. Dr. Hitchens, who is now Research Director of the Program on Extremism at the George Washington University, is the co-author of the latest VOX-Pol report Research Perspectives on Online Radicalisation, which is available HERE.
“Our goal was to bring together a wide range of experts in order to better understand the phenomenon of domestic extremism,” said NJOHSP Deputy Director Steven Gutkin. “We heard from a variety of organizations, some as far away as California and Europe, demonstrating the need for continued study and research on this topic. VOX-Pol has been an important partner in enhancing our understanding of online violent extremism.”