Stern Comments on Capitol Hill Riot & Path to Extremism
Jessica Stern, Research Professor at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, was interviewed for a Boston Globe article on one of the January 6 rioters and the path to extremism.
The article, titled “This suburban gynecologist treated the downtrodden. US prosecutors say she punched a Capitol officer on Jan. 6,” explores the story of Dr. Jacquelyn Starer, a Massachusetts resident, OB-GYN interested in addiction medicine, and one of the rioters who stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Starer’s tale is not an uncommon one among the Capitol rioters; while there were a number of colorful characters and card-carrying extremists, “many of those charged in the Capitol riot were…older working professionals from urban communities with a lot to lose, according to researchers at the University of Chicago’s Project on Security and Threats.”
In her research on violent extremists, Stern has found that there are a number of factors that can radicalize individuals or drive them to violence, including feelings of anger and humiliation. In discussing Starer and the January 6 rioters, Stern notes that “the claimed rationale for violent extremism, which is a wish to protect people from some injustice – in this case, the injustice of a stolen election – often masks a deeper sort of pain. For instance, a fear of being outclassed, outnumbered, or humiliated.”
The full article can be read on the Boston Globe‘s website.
Professor Jessica Stern is a Research Professor at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies. She is the co-author of ISIS: The State of Terror and the author of Denial: A Memoir of Terror, Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill, as well as The Ultimate Terrorists. Learn more about Professor Stern on her faculty profile.