How many Islamist-motivated plots or arrests have U.S. law enforcement disrupted since 2020?

1. What the best public count shows: CSIS’s 10 disrupted plots (2020–Jan 1, 2025)

CSIS analyzed jihadist attacks and plots against targets in the United States and reported 8 jihadist attacks and 10 disrupted plots between the beginning of 2020 and New Year’s Day 2025, which the organization frames as an average of roughly three attacks or plots per year ^[1]. That figure is the clearest, directly stated numerical answer in the reporting provided and explicitly labels those events “jihadist” or Islamist-motivated disruptions ^[1].

2. Why a single definitive number is elusive: definitions, time windows and sources differ

Counting “how many” disruptions or arrests depends on definitional choices—whether to count only formally “disrupted plots,” to count every arrest where Islamist motivation is alleged, or to include incidents later judged politically or criminally motivated with only tenuous extremist links; sources vary in those definitions ^{[4] [5]}. Federal agencies and think tanks sometimes aggregate “plots disrupted,” while advocacy groups and the Department of Homeland Security may report incidents, attacks, or Iranian-backed conspiracies in different categories, so totals are not directly commensurable without standardized methodology ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Other reporting documents additional Islamist-motivated incidents and arrests but without a single consolidated tally

DHS’s June 2025 National Terrorism Advisory Bulletin states that U.S. law enforcement “has disrupted multiple potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots in the United States since 2020,” but it does not provide a precise count in the bulletin excerpt provided ^[2]. The Anti-Defamation League reported multiple Islamist-motivated incidents in 2024 and characterized a rise in such incidents that year, describing specific arrests and plots but not offering a cumulative post-2020 total that supplements CSIS’s figure ^[3]. Those reports corroborate continued disruptions and arrests but stop short of producing a unified, updated number ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Context matters: scale, lethality and community reporting

Analysts stress that most disrupted Islamist plots in the U.S. since 2020 have not resembled the scale of 9/11, and that community reporting and law enforcement cooperation have often been key to detection—points emphasized by CSIS and longstanding reporting on post-9/11 counterterrorism ^{[1] [6]}. The FBI and DHS documentation emphasize disruptive and investigative activity across ideological threats, underscoring that Islamist-motivated plots are one strand of a broader domestic terrorism picture ^[5].

5. Competing narratives, agendas and what the sources imply, not assert

Some sources emphasize the relative rarity of large-scale Islamist attacks to argue against excessive focus on Muslim communities, while others warn of persistent international sponsorship and evolving homegrown risks; both perspectives appear in the material provided ^{[1] [6] [2]}. Think tanks, government bulletins and advocacy groups carry implicit agendas—CSIS focuses on analytical counts and trends ^[1], DHS frames current advisories for policy and public safety ^[2], and the ADL highlights incidents that affect targeted communities ^[3]—meaning readers and policymakers should weigh methodology and motive when interpreting any single figure.

6. Bottom line for the question asked

Based on the reporting assembled here, the most directly cited and rigorous public count is CSIS’s finding of 10 jihadist (Islamist-motivated) disrupted plots in the United States between January 2020 and January 1, 2025 ^[1]. Additional arrests and incidents tied to Islamist motivations have been documented by DHS and civil-society monitors since 2020, but the provided sources do not offer a single, consolidated numeric total that supersedes or extends the CSIS tally ^{[2] [3]}.