Radicalization of those already in America has been a major concern for the lovely folks on /r/the_donald and 4chan. To them “just 3 skittles” of the many Muslims in the United States want to kill us all and sow our fields with salt, as they are members of ISIS. Let’s take a look at the issue and what factors cause the kind of radicalization that leads to someone committing an act of terror or violence. Remember: you don’t have a solution if you don’t understand the problem. As wise Sun Tzu once wrote: y’all some dumb motherfuckers.

For starters let’s define what I’m talking about with home-grown terrorism. I include any person born in or who lived in the United States for an extended period of time and, for all intents and purposes, are “American.” Examples include the Tsarnaev brothers (Boston Bombing), Dylann Roof (The Charleston Church shooter), and Omar Mateen (Pulse Nightclub Shooter).

Radicalization happens when you’re put in an environment where your more extreme views are validated and expanded. Everyone has their personal "out there" views, but interaction with people of differing views often serves to soften or moderate those views. I think sushi is gross, but I recognize other people like it, etc. Radicalization is what happens when you’re a religious person and your place of worship advocates radical action, this is what happens when cults require you to only interact with other cult members, this is what happens when you’re on reddit or 4chan all day. Isolation is the key to radicalizing someone, when their social interactions are largely restricted to this one mindset or belief system, and the internet allows a drastic expansion of one’s ability to find a community that will accept their views, regardless of how harmless or harmful they might be. This allows people to grow their perceived grievances, rather than what is actually the case. Look at Dylann Roof, who federal authorities claim was “self-radicalized” via the internet. The internet (while awesome) allows people to find their group and make people of differing opinions out to be “the other” particularly when they’re defined on the internet by their opinions more than any other factor. That person is a patriot, this person is a shill, I know because what view they express.

So what we have are a bunch of different people with different ideologies becoming increasingly radicalized on the internet. You’ve got racists, anti-Semites, cults, bronies, terrorist groups, /r/malefashionadvice, anarchists, vegans, etc. all with their own echo chambers and communities that only engage in one perspective. Increased engagement with this one group leads one to see everyone else as “the other,” Omar Mateen started posting radical shit on twitter after his co-workers were teasing him, /r/the_donald is filled with stories of people mad at their friends and family because they have differing political opinions, tumblr is full of opinions about gender and privilege and such after their parents made fun of their slam poetry. These groups are all different in their ends but it’s important to recognize that the mechanism by which radicalization happens is largely the same regardless of the degree of radicalization that you end up with.

To this end, the behavior of the alt-right is a direct threat to the safety of Americans because they confirm the perceived grievance of home-grown terrorists both in terms of white supremacy and Islamic terrorism. A Muslim person who’s told by an ISIS twitter account that he’s hated by "the west" only needs to see a speech by Donald Trump or A youtube video by Milo or every post on /pol/ for the idea spread by that Twitter account to take root. Similarly a white supremacist feels validated in their belief that affirmative action and black lives matter are disadvantaging them, and are vulnerable to stormfront and who the fuck knows else. The hatefulness and divisiveness preached by the alt-right is a godsend to ISIS and White Supremacist Groups. These terrorist groups excel at taking people who are mad and saying “we feel the same as you do, come hang with us we’re going to do something about it.”

The hatred of reactionaries does no good at stopping acts of terror at home. It isolates people, divides them, makes them distrust each other, and undermines the sense of community and patriotism that brings people together. They are hurting themselves, they are hurting us, and they’re really shit at making memes.

That's not to say home-grown terrorism shouldn't be fought, criticized, discussed out of fear of alienating people, but we must be smart about it, and consider the broader ramifications of what we say. We gain nothing by telling millions of people that they are our enemy.

That’s really all I have to say about that

TL;DR: The alt-right confirms to potential terrorists (Islamic AND white supremacist) that their respective views are valid and pushes them further towards violent action.