Extremist Views Lower Among Vets than in General Population, RAND Finds

May 24, 2023

There is “no evidence to support the notion that the veteran community, as a whole, manifests higher rates of support for violent extremist groups or extremist beliefs than the American public,” RAND wrote in a report released this week.

RAND talked with about 1,000 veterans to assess their views.

“Support for extremist groups — including white supremacism, Proud Boys, black nationalism, and Antifa — ranged from 1 percent (White supremacists) to 5.5 percent (Antifa) and was generally lower than rates derived from previous representative surveys of the general population.”

Of those who supported extremist views, a majority of them did not endorse political violence, the authors wrote.

Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Jonathan Young

May 24, 2023

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