Jon Lewis
Research Fellow, Program on Extremism
- Reposted by Jon LewisI can't help but think that the attack on Ilhan Omar is an extension of redbaiting and the age-old strategy of using the fear of leftists as a way to scapegoat minorities. More recently, redbaiting has been used as a way to shift the focus from Jews to Muslims, creating a new flavor of Islamophobia.
- Reposted by Jon LewisNEW: Within minutes of Alex Pretti being killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Saturday, the Trump administration, backed by right-wing influencers, launched a smear campaign against the victim, labelling him a ”terrorist” and a “lunatic.” @davidgilbert.bsky.social reports:
- Reposted by Jon Lewis“These are no longer dog whistles,” Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, said. “They’re bullhorns.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
- Reposted by Jon Lewis"They've become conspiratorial-minded people looking for the next thing to mobilize for." Read comments from our research fellow @jonlewis27.bsky.social in this @nytimes.com article on the enduring prominence of January 6 conspiracies👇
- Reposted by Jon LewisIf you've got an hour to kill today, consider tuning in to our webinar about prosecuting and holding 764 accountable. My colleague Barry Jonas—a retired federal prosecutor—will be moderating the event with our esteemed panelists.
- Reposted by Jon LewisResearch Fellow @jonlewis27.bsky.social was recently featured in an article from The Guardian that explores why some of the most recent acts of political violence exhibit the characteristic of leaving behind written messages on their weapons and ammunition.
- Reposted by Jon Lewis[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Jon LewisFBI has been steadily diverting resources away from domestic terrorism investigations, decimating specialized units & discontinuing tools used to track extremism. the admin also gutted millions in federal terrorism-prevention grants. it's effectively abandoned the fight against homegrown violence.
- Reposted by Jon LewisI wish things were at least less stupid if they had to be so dire
- Reposted by Jon LewisSpoke with @drewharwell.com over @washingtonpost.com about Internet culture, memes and how the rush to pin an ideology on Robinson was foolish. Happy to be quoted alongside other experts like @jaredlholt.bsky.social and @jmberger.com in this! They really know their stuff.
- Reposted by Jon LewisFar-right fight nights are events bringing together combat fighting, extremist bands and merch, in an attempt to bring in new recruits and solidify existing relationships. @colborne.bsky.social locates the latest event for a California-based group: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/09...
- Reposted by Jon Lewis
- Reposted by Jon LewisNEW from me: Toxic rhetoric, including calls for ‘civil war’ and retribution from the right, proliferates after Charlie Kirk killing www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
- Reposted by Jon LewisNEW @motherjones.com: Pardoned J6ers are using Kirk's killing to call for civil war Stewart Rhodes will rebuild Oath Keepers; Proud Boys call for "retribution"; & ex-insurrectionists are coming "out of retirement." Experts fear they could incite others to violence. W/ @kieraevebutler.bsky.social:
- Reposted by Jon Lewis“The singular message emerging from across the right is one of vengeance and retribution ... which only further increases the likelihood of retaliatory vigilante violence,” said @jonlewis27.bsky.social, a research fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.
- Reposted by Jon LewisI wrote for @msnbc.com about what the engravings on the shell casings of Kirk’s shooter represent and where the references originated. Given what we know so far, they suggest a young man who had his brain fried by the irony poisoned, anti-social nature of certain aspects of online culture. /1
- Reposted by Jon LewisA must-read by Jordan Green: “Some neo-Nazis are heralding Kirk’s death as an opportunity for accelerationism — the idea that a moment of heightened political tension can open the door to tit-for-tat violence, creating conditions for revolutionary upheaval.” www.alternet.org/amp/violence...
- Reposted by Jon Lewissaid it yesterday but the people who commit this violence increasingly show us that they deeply understand how our information ecosystems process it. It appears to be part of the appeal for them. And yet the response doesn't really change. www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
- Reposted by Jon LewisNEW: Bullets Found After the Charlie Kirk Shooting Carried Messages. Here’s What They Mean w/ @megannicolett.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/charli...
- Reposted by Jon LewisMost terminally online people who commit violence aren't connected to O9A or 764; these are fairly specific things and not just "violent people who spent too much time on the computer"
- Reposted by Jon LewisA lot of people who are generally smart and have good thoughts about internet culture have kinda filed 764 into just a more intense version of "internet culture" which doesn't really describe what they are and what they do, even if the internet is involved. It makes for misleading analysis.
- Reposted by Jon Lewis“The crusade to silence any voices that may not conform to the hagiography has unfolded quickly.”
- Reposted by Jon Lewis“Especially for people who already assaulted law enforcement on January 6 and were pardoned, there is certainly going to be an expectation that, if they answer the call again, they could have the same outcome," @jonlewis27.bsky.social said.
- NEW @motherjones.com: Pardoned J6ers are using Kirk's killing to call for civil war Stewart Rhodes will rebuild Oath Keepers; Proud Boys call for "retribution"; & ex-insurrectionists are coming "out of retirement." Experts fear they could incite others to violence. W/ @kieraevebutler.bsky.social:
- Reposted by Jon Lewis[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Jon LewisExperts see this as mostly more grifting from J6ers. But that doesn't mean it's not still dangerous. “They’re now being told that the same people who tried to steal this country away from you just killed Charlie Kirk,” @jonlewis27.bsky.social told me, "& someone has to do something about that.”
- Reposted by Jon LewisIn 2015, Alex Jones spent a year spinning paranoid stories of US troops planning to enact martial law, assist a Chinese invasion, and execute dissenters in "death domes." In 2025, troops are in the streets, and Alex Jones couldn't be happier. themikerothschild.com/2025/08/27/j...
- Reposted by Jon LewisOnce upon a time, there were these groups that we called Anti-Government Extremists, who would become violently exercised over things like this. Wonder what happened to those guys?* * They will be the federal police force now. They didn't object to tyranny, they objected to not being the tyrants.
- Reposted by Jon LewisI CAN'T BELIEVE THIS MEME IS ACTUALLY FUCKING REAL NOW ARE YOU KIDDING
- Reposted by Jon LewisWhat's gone unsaid in all this talk about homeless people in DC is that so many in the Capital are veterans who are now having the military aimed back at them for the crime of being poor.
- Reposted by Jon LewisWorth also noting that the federal government made substantial progress toward ending veteran homelessness, and Trump has announced via executive order that he's planning to reverse all of that progress. The new plan is just incarceration. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
- Reposted by Jon LewisI joined @jaredlholt.bsky.social and @michaelehayden.bsky.social to talk about a question that has followed me since 2018. Did the alt-right win and upend right-wing politics? I think the answer is: "Yes, but..." (With apologies to Depeche Mode.) www.patreon.com/posts/030-di...
- Reposted by Jon LewisExactly one type of guy thinks WW2 was caused by British imperialism AND that the Bismarck was a cool ship AND stormed the Capitol AND puts Ph.D. in his twitter handle.
- Reposted by Jon LewisLook back at the history of 20th century White supremacy, and there's an extraordinary amount of analysis about which people with White skin count as White. And when people start making fine distinctions about in-group eligibility, it's usually a bad sign.
- Reposted by Jon LewisUnless you were at the Capitol on Jan. 6
- Reposted by Jon Lewis“The guns help push the religion, & the religion helps push the guns,” said @jonlewis27.bsky.social. “You get these networks that are steeped in that kind of rhetoric, & when you combine that with offline mobilization & weapons training, it doesn’t really bode well.” www.wired.com/story/christ...
- Reposted by Jon LewisOUT NOW: We talked to @mehdirhasan.bsky.social about his Jubilee debate, how he manages to win so many arguments, and why he thinks so few people who square off with the far-right end up accomplishing nothing. Some of his answers might surprise you. postthroughit.substack.com/p/029-should...
- Reposted by Jon LewisThe thing about that Ken Klippenstein article is that he's not (just) a dumbass, he's willingly lying. The documents which he links to in the piece show that he directly contradicts what they say or twists their content to make them sound less legitimate when they are
- Reposted by Jon LewisSo Ken is either being willfully ignorant of what he's saying in this article, or he has just been driven insane by being online. Either way, he is intentionally or unintentionally putting quite a bit of spin on a very real issue. And I'm not sure to what end
- Reposted by Jon LewisAlright motherfucker let's talk about this article I have no idea how many posts will be in here but it's a thread
- The Trump administration is fighting a war on "nihilist extremists" drawing on the Army, FBI, NYPD and even State Department, new FOIA documents reveal: www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trump-agen...
- Reposted by Jon LewisNew numbers are up for the Domestic Extremism tracker! We've added over 100 new events to our dataset, including a few sovereign citizen cases!
- Reposted by Jon LewisAlways happy to provide commentary and analysis for the folks over at WIRED. Go support @dell.bsky.social and his colleagues.
- NEW: Four National Guard armories were breached weeks apart in incidents previously undisclosed, with evidence pointing toward a possible inside job. Sensitive equipment was taken. We learned FBI took point, but it declined to confirm its involvement. By me w/ records via @propertyofthepeople.org
- Reposted by Jon LewisDocuments obtained by WIRED show FEMA plans to direct states and tribes to halt activities intended to combat domestic violent extremism so as to align with "current administration priorities." www.wired.com/story/extrem...
- Reposted by Jon Lewis[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Jon Lewis🧵 As some of you may know, the former leader of Atomwaffen Division, Brandon Russell, is set to be sentenced on Thursday for his plot to destroy the Baltimore power grid. As such, the defense and the government each have an opportunity to lay out their arguments for sentencing. Here's what we have:
- Still time to register for today’s Program on Extremism event! Join us at 11 AM ET for a conversation w/ @maurolubrano.bsky.social to discuss his new book, “Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism”. Link below! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
- Join us next week for two powerful events: - Aug 4, 11AM: @maurolubrano.bsky.social and @jonlewis27.bsky.social on anti-tech extremism in Stop the Machines - Aug 5, 10AM (Arabic): Zhor Rehihil on preserving Jewish heritage in Morocco Register for these and other events here👇
- Reposted by Jon LewisJoin us next week for two powerful events: - Aug 4, 11AM: @maurolubrano.bsky.social and @jonlewis27.bsky.social on anti-tech extremism in Stop the Machines - Aug 5, 10AM (Arabic): Zhor Rehihil on preserving Jewish heritage in Morocco Register for these and other events here👇
- Reposted by Jon Lewis🚨 Join us for a book talk with Dr. @maurolubrano.bsky.social on Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism. From eco-fascists to anarchists, explore how this emerging threat is reshaping extremist violence. Moderated by @jonlewis27.bsky.social. 🗓️ 4 Aug | 🕚 11am ET Register here👇
- Reposted by Jon LewisWell, there we have it.
- Reposted by Jon LewisSo this is a crazy story: 55yo Long Island guy made a load of bombs. Last month, he planted 5 around Soho and left one on the Williamsburg bridge www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/n...
- Reposted by Jon Lewisgot this quote at a neo-Nazi event at the University of Florida in 2017, & in the nearly 8 years since it goes viral like this every few months — I suspect because it's a pretty good summation of where the GOP has gone
- I talked to @byellalee.bsky.social at @thehill.com about the normalization of political violence in 2025, and the threat posed by the casual acceptance of extremist narratives. thehill.com/policy/natio...
- Extremism expert @jonlewis27.bsky.social says the real threat isn’t just the violence - it’s how normalized it’s become. After the Trump scare, his warning hits hard: we’re getting used to something we should never accept. Read his comments in @thehill.com 👇 thehill.com/policy/natio...
- Reposted by Jon LewisExtremism expert @jonlewis27.bsky.social says the real threat isn’t just the violence - it’s how normalized it’s become. After the Trump scare, his warning hits hard: we’re getting used to something we should never accept. Read his comments in @thehill.com 👇 thehill.com/policy/natio...
