Which years have seen the most violence from left-wing and right-wing groups according to FBI data?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the FBI data and analyses provided, right-wing extremist violence has historically dominated domestic terrorism statistics in the United States. The data reveals a stark disparity in the lethality and frequency of attacks between ideological groups ^[1].

Since 2001, approximately 75% to 80% of U.S. domestic terrorism deaths have been attributed to right-wing extremism ^[1]. When examining a longer historical timeframe from 1975 onwards, the picture becomes more complex but still shows right-wing violence as significantly more deadly than left-wing violence. Since 1975, 3,599 people have been murdered in politically motivated terrorist attacks in the United States, with right-wing terrorists accounting for 11% of the total deaths, while left-wing terrorists murdered 65 people, representing only about 2% of the total ^[2].

The data indicates that Islamist terrorists were responsible for 87% of politically motivated murders since 1975, which dramatically skews the overall statistics due to major incidents like 9/11 ^[2]. However, when focusing specifically on domestic ideological violence, right-wing extremism has been the predominant threat.

Recent developments suggest a potential shift in this pattern. One source reports that for the first time in 30 years, political violence linked to the far left has surpassed attacks by the far right, citing recent incidents including the assassinations of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson ^[3]. This represents a significant departure from historical trends.

The FBI's hate crime statistics show 11,679 hate crime incidents involving 14,243 victims in 2024, with a 1.5 percent decrease from 2023 ^{[4] [5]}. However, these sources do not provide the specific year-by-year breakdown requested in the original question.

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The analyses reveal several critical gaps in addressing the specific question about which years saw the most violence. The FBI sources provided focus primarily on hate crime statistics rather than comprehensive domestic terrorism data ^{[6] [4] [5]}. This creates a significant limitation in fully answering the question about peak years of ideological violence.

The timeframes analyzed vary significantly across sources, creating challenges in establishing consistent trends. While some data covers the period since 2001 ^[1], other analyses extend back to 1975 ^[2], and recent reports suggest dramatic changes occurring in 2024 ^[3].

There's conflicting information about current trends. While multiple sources confirm that right-wing violence has historically been more prevalent and deadly ^{[1] [7]}, one source claims a recent reversal where left-wing attacks have surpassed right-wing violence for the first time in three decades ^[3]. This contradiction highlights the importance of examining the most current data and understanding that patterns can shift rapidly.

The definition and categorization of "political violence" may vary between sources, potentially affecting comparisons. Some analyses focus specifically on domestic terrorism deaths, while others examine broader categories of politically motivated violence or hate crimes.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself appears neutral and fact-seeking, requesting specific FBI data about years with peak violence from different ideological groups. However, the question assumes that FBI data provides clear year-by-year breakdowns of left-wing versus right-wing violence, which the available sources do not fully support ^{[6] [4] [5]}.

The framing may inadvertently promote false equivalency between left-wing and right-wing violence. The overwhelming evidence shows that right-wing extremism has been responsible for significantly more deaths and attacks historically ^{[1] [2]}. Studies and datasets consistently indicate that right-wing extremist violence is more prevalent than left-wing violence ^[7].

Recent claims about left-wing violence surpassing right-wing attacks should be viewed with caution ^[3], as this contradicts decades of established data patterns. The assertion that "radical-left" violence is not actually on the rise, despite isolated high-profile incidents, suggests that single events may be misrepresented as broader trends ^[7].

The question's focus on FBI data specifically may also be limiting, as comprehensive domestic terrorism statistics often come from multiple agencies and research institutions, not exclusively from FBI hate crime databases.