EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
- Earlier in the year, RMS International’s Intelligence Services forecasted continued and possible escalations in vigilantism and domestic terrorism throughout 2025.
- Since June 2025, there have been at least four high-profile incidents of domestic terrorism resulting in deaths and injuries.
- Consider contacting RMSI’s Intelligence Services for access to analysts and a customized threat assessments on the threats posed by vigilantism and lone-actor terrorism.
SITUATION REPORT (SITREP):
Following two assassination attempts on then–Presidential Candidate Donald Trump and the murder of the UnitedHealth Group CEO, RMS International’s Intelligence Services forecasted continued and potentially escalating incidents of vigilantism and domestic terrorism throughout 2025. Tragically, this projection has proven accurate.
On June 14, 2025, Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman was assassinated in a shooting at her home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Hortman, the leader of the state House Democratic caucus, was killed alongside her husband, Mark. Earlier that same morning, State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot and seriously wounded in their home in nearby Champlin. On August 27, 2025, a 23-year-old trans activist opened fire inside the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a school-wide Mass, killing two children and injuring 29 others before dying by suicide. On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk, a prominent American political commentator, was assassinated while speaking at a college event by a politically motivated assailant. Later that month, on September 28, 2025, a mass shooting and arson attack occurred at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. The attacker drove a truck into the building, opened fire on congregants, and then set the structure ablaze—killing four and injuring eight.
IMPACT ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION:
The causes of this alarming surge in politically and ideologically motivated violence remain complex and deeply rooted. Dr. Reid Meloy, a board-certified forensic psychologist and developer of the Terrorist Radicalization Assessment Protocol (TRAP-18), warns against the inadvertent glorification of offenders through terminology such as “lone wolf.” His research advocates using the term “lone actor” to accurately convey the isolation and pathology that often precede extremist violence, avoiding the romanticism that can inspire copycats. In alignment with this framework, this report identifies only the victims, withholding the names of perpetrators.
Unfortunately, broader societal trends have moved in the opposite direction. The media and segments of the public have increasingly fetishized and mythologized violent offenders, transforming them into cultural antiheroes. This phenomenon dates back to the sensationalized Rolling Stone cover of the surviving Boston Marathon bomber and persists through modern streaming series that glamorize killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and Ed Gein. More disturbingly, online communities have begun celebrating the death of assassinated individuals who have a different political ideology, reinforcing polarization and desensitization to human suffering.
The persistence of these acts underscores a societal breakdown in empathy, civility, and the sanctity of human life. Political extremism, algorithm-driven echo chambers, and the media’s appetite for sensationalism have created an environment where violence is not only normalized but, in some circles, revered. Combating this trend will require a coordinated effort between intelligence agencies, social-media platforms, policymakers, and educators to reestablish moral boundaries, rebuild trust in civil discourse, and counteract the digital radicalization cycle. Until society reaffirms a collective respect for human dignity and the rule of law, domestic terrorism and ideological violence will remain a defining threat to national stability.
ABOUT RMS INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 2012, RMS International provides ad hoc and contracted executive and close protection services, corporate and residential security, travel security management programs, cyber security, and full-scale intelligence services. RMS International operates a state-of-the-art Risk Operations Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, providing 24/7/365 overwatch of global operations throughout the Americas, Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Africa. RMS International delivers peace of mind in a chaotic world. Connect with us at: www.RMSIUSA.com.