Site icon NJTODAY.NET

Most Americans see extreme right-wing militia groups as a threat

Oathkeeper militia members are confronted by demonstrators protesting the lack of criminal charges in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, in downtown Louisville, Kentucky on September 24, 2020. - More than 1,000 people defied a second night of curfew in the US city of Louisville to protest over the lack of criminal charges in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, with some seeking refuge in a church. Two officers were shot during clashes in Louisville a day earlier, after authorities announced a grand jury had decided not to charge anyone in connection with the death of Taylor -- a 26-year-old black woman shot dead in her apartment by police earlier this year. (Photo by Jeff Dean / AFP) (Photo by JEFF DEAN/AFP via Getty Images)

More than half of Americans view right-wing militia groups as a threat to the U.S., with a third saying they pose an “immediate and serious threat” to the country, according to a poll from The Economist/YouGov.

The poll was taken following the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.

Members of known right-wing extremist groups including the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters have been charged in connection with the attack.

The poll also found that 81 percent of those surveyed view domestic terrorism as a threat.

Sixty-six percent view right-wing militia groups as at least a minor threat, according to the poll, which surveyed 1,500 people in mid-January.

Of that number, 13 percent view the militia groups as a minor threat, 20 percent as a somewhat serious threat and 33 percent as an immediate and serious threat.

Broken down by party affiliation, 57 percent of Democrats polled said they view right-wing militia groups as a serious and immediate threat, while just 15 percent of Republican respondents said the same.

But the majority of Republicans — 53 percent of those polled — did say that right-wing militia groups posed at least a minor threat to the U.S., with 17 percent saying they viewed them as a somewhat serious threat and 21 saying they viewed them as a minor threat.

Thirty-one percent of Republicans who responded to the poll said that such groups posed no threat to the country, however, compared with just 1 percent of Democrats.

The Oath Keepers are among the more well-known right-wing militia groups in the U.S. The group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, was recently arrested and, along with other members, charged with seditious conspiracy for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 uprising.

The poll found 52 percent of Americans surveyed had a very unfavorable opinion of the Oath Keepers.

Exit mobile version