What inspires veterans or service members to carry out violence and extremism?

Amna Nawaz:

As we have now heard, the suspect in Las Vegas and the man who committed the terrorist attack in New Orleans both served in the military.

To examine that side of the story, we turn now to Nick Schifrin — Nick.

Nick Schifrin:

Amna, as we have said, there is no connection, according to law enforcement, between the two men, but their military services did overlap.

So is there a pattern we can discern? And what are some of the possible reasons that veterans or active-duty soldiers could turn to extremism?

For perspective, we turn to Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

Heidi Beirich, thanks very much. Welcome back to the "News Hour."

Let's focus on New Orleans for a second, Shamsud-Din Jabbar. Does his history, in your opinion, fit a pattern of men who become radicalized?

Heidi Beirich, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism: There — yes, there are parts of his recent history that are very common to all kinds of types of folks that have been radicalized, whether white supremacists or Islamic extremists or otherwise.

What I'm talking about is the collapse of his family background, his multiple divorces, financial problems. We find a lot of times that mass attackers have this kind of collapse in their family life going on. And then there's the issue of him being a veteran and if that might have played a role.That's also something that comes up in a lot of mass attacks.

Nick Schifrin:

I'm going to examine the veteran aspect in a second, but let's just listen to how Jabbar described himself back when he was selling real estate.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, New Orleans Attack Suspect:

So not only do I brilliantly market your property to make sure it gets sold as quickly as possible or gets leased as quickly as possible, but I'm also going to take every ounce of energy and put it into negotiating for you and for your property to get the best deal that you can possibly get for it.

Nick Schifrin:

And let me read a statement on X today from Rich Groen, Jabbar's former commander.

He wrote — quote — "He," Jabbar, "was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication. To think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking. Please watch out for one another. Don't let hate take root, either in your own heart or in the hearts of those around you."

How do you explain when you hear the tone of that statement and watch the tone of that video with what he ended up doing?

Heidi Beirich:

I know it's hard for a lot of people to believe that someone who is acting completely normally, even praiseworthy, as the commander said about Jabbar, could unravel to the point of committing violence.

But it does happen. It's often precipitated with some sort of online radicalization that drives people down a rabbit hole. They're already desperate for various reasons, and a particular extremist ideology calls to them in some way. And that looks like what might have happened in this case.

And I know how incongruous it is, but it really does happen.

Nick Schifrin:

So, let's talk about the veterans angle now.

Data from the University of Maryland shows that, since 2010, a larger number of veterans have been arrested, charged, or died in an extremist attack than before 2010. Do we know why?

Heidi Beirich:

Well, I think it has to do with a few things.

One, extremist groups are recruiting online in a way that they couldn't before, so they suck people into these movements. They're targeting veterans as well specifically. And, also, the military has, frankly, not done a good job of rooting out extremism in its ranks in recent years.

Nick Schifrin:

Let's bring now the explosion in Las Vegas.

The suspect there, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, was an active-duty sergeant in Special Forces. Again, there is no known connection with Jabbar, but both Jabbar and Livelsberger served in Afghanistan in 2009, although in different areas, and both served at Fort Bragg, now known as Fort Liberty, but, again, at different times.

Is there any evidence that soldiers or veterans turn to violence in rates or ways that are different than those with no connection to the military?

Heidi Beirich:

The rate of extremism is around the same within the military as outside of the military, according to research that's been done.

The problem is that somebody who has military training who gets radicalized can be far more deadly. And we know that mass attacks that are perpetrated by active-duty military or veterans are more lethal than those that aren't. That's really what the problem is. And that's what needs to be focused on.

We don't want to unleash people with military skills who then are radicalized or have already been radicalized on the American public.

Nick Schifrin:

Heidi Beirich, thank you very much.

Heidi Beirich:

Thanks.