Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions for September 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2024 the government reported 77 new terrorism-domestic prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 83.3 percent over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).
When monthly 2024 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (3.4%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 311.8 percent from levels reported in 2019.
The substantial growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in terrorism-domestic prosecutions is 196 percent instead of 311.8 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions
The increase from the levels five years ago in terrorism-domestic prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of terrorism-domestic prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
The lead investigative agency for terrorism-domestic prosecutions in September 2024 was FBI accounting for 97 percent of prosecutions referred. Other agencies with substantial numbers of terrorism-domestic referrals were: DEA (1% ). See Figure 3.
Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2024, 50 defendants were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in September the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1752 involving "Temporary residence and office of President, etc.". This was the lead charge for 66 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers" (10%).
Terrorism-Domestic Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2024, 27 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 10 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during September.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of terrorism-domestic matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 18 USC 1752 - Temporary residence and office of President, etc. 19 1 More 18 USC 111 - Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers 8 2 More 18 USC 231 - Civil Disorders 2 3 More 18 USC 875 - Interstate Communications 2 3 More 26 USC 5861 - Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts 2 3 More 18 USC 115 - Influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a Federal official 1 7 More 18 USC 879 - Threats against former Presidents and certain othe 1 7 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"Temporary residence and office of President, etc." (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1752) was the most frequent recorded lead charge.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Assaulting, resisting, impeding certain officers" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 111.
Ranked 3rd were "Other US Code Section" under Title U.S.C Section, "Civil Disorders" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 231, "Interstate Communications" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 875 and "Tax on Making Firearms - Prohibited acts" under Title 26 U.S.C Section 5861.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
In September 2024 the Justice Department's case-by-case records show that the government brought 13.3 terrorism-domestic prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.
Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of terrorism-domestic prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3. Districts must have at least 5 terrorism-domestic prosecutions to receive a ranking.
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago D. C. 5,359 30 1 1 1 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts (per ten million people)
The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) — with 5359 prosecutions as compared with 13.3 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States — was the most active during September 2024. The District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in the rate of terrorism-domestic prosecutions — 1.9 percent — was Washington, D.C. (Washington). But over the past five years, showed the largest drop — percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new terrorism-domestic crime cases of this type during September 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank Moss, Randolph Daniel D. C. 4 1 More Bates, John D. D. C. 3 2 More Chutkan, Tanya Sue D. C. 3 2 More Friedrich, Dabney Langhorne D. C. 3 2 More Walton, Reggie B. D. C. 2 5 More Contreras, Rudolph D. C. 2 5 More McFadden, Trevor Neil D. C. 2 5 More Johnson, Herman N., Jr. Ala, N 1 8 More Kollar-Kotelly, Colleen D. C. 1 8 More Boasberg, James Emanuel D. C. 1 8 More Jackson, Amy Berman D. C. 1 8 More Cooper, Christopher Reid D. C. 1 8 More Kelly, Timothy James D. C. 1 8 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
A total of 12 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of terrorism-domestic filings per capita, while the remaining 1 judges were from other districts. (Because of ties, there were a total of 13 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Randolph Daniel Moss in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 1st with 4 defendants in terrorism-domestic cases.
Judges John D. Bates in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington), Tanya Sue Chutkan in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) and Dabney Langhorne Friedrich in the District of Washington, D.C. (Washington) ranked 2nd with 3 defendants in terrorism-domestic cases.
Report Generated: November 1, 2024
