Recent attackers often do not align with traditional ideological categories, instead engaging with multiple online spaces and lacking clear motives. In NPR’s “Consider This”, Katherine Keneally, Director of Threat Analysis and Prevention at ISD US, addresses this new profile of extremist perpetrators and the need to adapt prevention and response models.

“We’re seeing attacks where the motivation is unclear, and people aren’t fitting into these traditional ideological categories,” she said. “We can’t be reliant upon our existing systems that are based on that to do anything about it.”

Keneally highlighted the role of social media in influencing violence and questioned whether this is an acceptable tradeoff for these platforms’ existence. She also stressed the importance of bystander reporting, though key information is not always shared with law enforcement. “The see something, say something model is also important to addressing this threat,” she added.

The full episode is available on NPR.