Commentary: I study terrorism. A white supremacist attack in my neighborhood woke me up to dangers at home
It took an attack on a Jewish synagogue in my Pittsburgh neighborhood to wake me up to the dangers of violent white supremacy. And I'm a terrorism researcher who studies and analyzes the how and why of politically and ideologically motivated violence.
Yet because I focused on Salafi jihadists, groups in the Muslim world that believe in a return to "pure" Islam and the use of violence to make this happen, I failed to recognize the extremists in my midst - those who praise Hitler and speak openly on social media of hatred for Jewish people.
A year ago Oct. 27, I was
