'Lone Wolves' Spotlighted in the Fight Against Violent Extremism by Brad Knickerbocker, Christian Science Monitor
The White House this week hosts a summit on countering violent extremism, coincidentally just days after murderous attacks with multiple victims in the United States and Europe.
The meeting, featuring speakers and participants from the US and abroad, has been in the works for months, part of a program the Obama administration began in 2011. But it comes just as a new report warns of a rise in violence by “lone wolves” or “leaderless resistance” groups composed of no more than two people.
Although the White House program has a broad mandate, recent events at first glance are connected to Islam: The shooting deaths last week of three young Muslims in Chapel Hill, N.C., by a suspect who may have been motivated by religious hatred as well as other issues, and the shooting attacks on a free speech event and a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, over the weekend, believed to have been inspired by Islamic radicalism. Two people were killed and five police officers wounded in those attacks…