Last month, START Director William Braniff provided testimony to the Maryland General Assembly on the topic of domestic violent extremism. Drawing on various START datasets, Braniff highlighted the relatively higher threat from domestic terrorism than international terrorism, and highlighted the importance of accounting for ideologically-motivated hate crime as well as terrorism when addressing domestic violent extremism.
Braniff also recommended the State take a multidisciplinary, public health approach to violence prevention, and not just a law enforcement-centric approach to the issue, and encouraged the State to take advantage of research-based resources provided by the National Governors Association in the form of the Governors Roadmap to Preventing Targeted Violence.