The Threats and Harassment Dataset (THD), BDI’s event-level dataset on hostility towards local public officials in the United States, is now updated through August 2024. The latest update adds 45 new threat and harassment events to the dataset, including over 20 for the month of August, bringing the total number of events captured since the start of data collection to nearly 1,200.* The number of events reported for August marks a return to levels recorded earlier in the year following a surge in July in the wake of multiple high-profile incidents around the country, including a spike in threats against local officials in Pennsylvania after the shooting at former President Trump’s campaign rally.
Latest Trends
- So far this year, over 360 threat and harassment events have been reported across more than 40 states and the District of Columbia.
- Events are up 14% compared to the first eight months of 2023, and 73% compared to the same time period in 2022.
- At the current pace, 2024 is on track to surpass 2023 in total number of threat and harassment events.
- While events declined overall from July to August, this downward trend is unlikely to continue.
- Hyperlocal drivers have a substantial impact on threat and harassment patterns, and further upticks may occur as new hyperlocal dynamics emerge and/or interact with national political dynamics ahead of the election (see below).
- A significant level of threat and harassment activity is driven by hyperlocal motivations — i.e. grievances associated with decisions made by local government bodies or associated with community-specific issues. Examples of hyperlocal motivations include reactions to use of force by local police, disagreement with local laws or the handling of decisions by local officials, and more.
- Approximately 70% of events in August were driven by hyperlocal motivations, similar to levels recorded in July.
- National political dynamics can also play out at the local level or interact with hyperlocal drivers. For example, an individual affiliated with the hate group Blood Tribe attended a city commission meeting in Ohio and intimidated local elected officials over immigration issues in late August.
- A series of threat and harassment events targeting judicial and law enforcement officials in the aftermath of fatal police shootings and high-profile court proceedings were also reported in and around August, including:
- Death threats against a sheriff in Illinois following the fatal police shooting of Sonya Massey. The sheriff later announced his retirement, citing threats amid wider scrutiny and calls to resign over the shooting.
- Death threats against two judicial officials in New York related to their role in a criminal case against a law enforcement official.
The THD will continue to be updated monthly to provide users with near-real-time data on the evolving threat and harassment landscape going into the election and beyond, in order to better support evidence-based decision-making to protect civic spaces.
The THD is part of BDI’s Understanding Threats and Harassment Against Local Officials (UTH) project, a mixed methods approach to systematically monitor the full scope of threats and harassment facing local officials across the United States, and is made possible by the UTH consortium. Current members of the consortium include the Anti-Defamation League, the Brennan Center for Justice, CivicPulse, the Prosecution Project, the National League of Cities, and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, among others. BDI regularly works to expand data contributions to address gaps in coverage. If you believe your organization has relevant data to contribute, please reach out to [email protected].
The project is supported by the Brennan Center for Justice, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and generous flexible support from BDI’s core funders, following essential start-up funds from the Anti-Defamation League and Stand Together Trust.
*Please note that the THD is a ‘living dataset,’ meaning that each month events are updated to account for new or better information, including for past time periods. As a result, trends are subject to change from update to update. Review the THD codebook for more detail about methodology and the process for tracking changes to the data.