Left-wing terror attacks are on track to reach record highs this year — as Democrats have been accused of ramping up their harmful rhetoric in their opposition to the Trump administration, a disturbing new study has found.
Violent plots planned or perpetrated by the far-left in the US, as a percentage of all terrorist attacks and plots, hit a record high in first half 2025, and is on pace to reach a three-decade high, according to a study from the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
Through July 4, 2025 — thus excluding the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the attack on the Dallas ICE facility — there were five left-wing attacks or plots, the study found.
This is more than eight times higher than the average of 0.6 left-wing incidents annually from 1995 to 2000.
CSIS researchers compiled and analyzed a dataset of 750 terrorist attacks and plots in the United States between January 1, 1994, and July 4, 2025.
For the first time in 30 years, terrorist attacks from the far-left are outpacing attacks from the extreme right, the analysis also shows.
The CSIS study found that the increase in left-wing violence since President Trump first took office in 2016 has been largely motivated by anti-government extremism or partisan extremism.
“All left-wing attacks through July 4, 2025, appeared to be motivated by one of these ideologies,” the study found, noting that Charlie Kirk’s assassination appears to fit the pattern.
Kirk’s alleged killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, scrawled “hey fascist, catch this” on a shell casing before shooting him dead on Sept. 10, law enforcement officials said.
The CSIS study found the rise in left-wing violence this year can be explained “as opposition to the Trump administration fuels attacks against both its political leadership and the state institutions that carry out its agenda.”
The study notes immigration has also emerged as a major issue this year, highlighted by this week’s attack at an ICE detention center in Dallas.
While political “leaders are not responsible for extremists in their midst,” the authors wrote, “they are responsible for how they behave towards extremism.” They called for both sides to condemn violence from their side and call for calm when it involves the other.
“The celebrations among some on the left of Luigi Mangione is a failure to undermine support for left-wing violence,” the study said.
Meanwhile, one possible explanation for the decline in right-wing terrorism is that “some extremists do not feel the need to act violently if their concerns are being addressed” since Trump took office, the study noted.
