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CSUSB professor Brian Levin discusses extremist ideas tied to two hate-motivated shootings
Spectrum News 1
May 20, 2022

“Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen speaks with criminal justice professor Brian Levin on extremism violence. Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, discussed the “great replacement” conspiracy theory that the suspect in the May 14 mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., allegedly wrote about in a manifesto. The idea has been cited as motivation in racist violence in the U.S. Other related topics were also discussed.

Watch the segment at “Inside the Issues: Extremist violence.”


Leaders host LA vigil in response to hate-fueled killings in Buffalo, Laguna Woods
Los Angeles Daily News/Southern California News Group
May 23, 2022

An article about a vigil in Los Angeles in response to the deadly, hate-inspired attacks in Buffalo and Laguna Woods included perspective from Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Experts such as Levin continue to decry the current spike in the number of hate-driven conflicts – from events as big and horrific as mass killings to as personally intimidating as name-calling – as nothing short of a national crime wave. In the most shocking incidents, residents have been targeted for mass murder because of their religion, ethnicity or race.

“What happened in Laguna Woods is part of a bigger story right now,” Levin said last week. “It’s everywhere.”

Some experts suggest that a new wave of hate is growing, propelled by the dark corners of the internet and the nation’s increasingly divisive political climate. Hate crime in the nation’s 10 biggest cities surged 24% during the first quarter of this year when compared with the first quarter of 2021, according to data collected by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

Read the complete article at “Leaders host LA vigil in response to hate-fueled killings in Buffalo, Laguna Woods.”


Violent hate crime surging, CSUSB professor says, amid U.S. Senate hearing for ATF nominee
USA Today
May 23, 2022

An article about the U.S. Senate hearing on President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives pointed out that it comes after the Buffalo, N.Y., mass shooting that killed 10 people. The Buffalo attack, the article said in part, highlighted the convergence of the growing threat posed by racially motivated attackers at a time when violent crime has been surging across the country. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, recently described the environment as unusually volatile.

"Nearly every social science data marker is flashing an undeniable warning sign," Levin told USA TODAY.

Read the complete article at “Biden's ATF nominee Dettelbach gets ex-directors' endorsement ahead of Senate confirmation hearing.”


These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”