On a spring afternoon in 2022, an 18-year-old man, armed with a semi-automatic weapon, and driven by a manifesto fueled by hate, opened fire in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people. This act of mass violence wasn't just a random, hate-driven spree; it was a meticulously planned assault with a deeply rooted ideological purpose: white supremacist accelerationism (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shooting).
Accelerationism is the belief that societal collapse is necessary to accelerate the creation of a white ethnostate. Adherents view violence and chaos as tools to tear down democratic institutions, exploit racial divisions, and ultimately build a society dominated by their vision of racial purity.
It’s a toxic cocktail of hate, nihilism, and fear. But perhaps what makes it most dangerous is its spread into the mainstream, thanks to the power of the Internet, social media, and encrypted messaging apps. What was once a fringe movement lurking in the darker corners of the web, is now steadily seeping into the broader political discourse.
Accelorationism’s Ideological Roots
Accelerationism is a strategic concept used by white supremacist groups to accelerate racial warfare. The idea is simple: racial tensions are inevitable, and efforts to build multiracial democracies are doomed to fail. Instead of waiting for society to collapse, accelorationists aim to encourage and exacerbate it. Acts of terrorism, mass shootings, and targeted violence are seen as tactics to incite fear, divide communities, and ultimately create a self-fulfilling prophecy of societal breakdown.
The 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_mosque_shootings), which claimed 51 lives, was one of the most horrifying examples of this accelorationist strategy. The shooter left behind a manifesto that explicitly referenced accelerationist thinking, arguing that such violence would "accelerate" a larger conflict between races (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/5/16/23074812/buffalo-shooting-accelerationism-great-replacement-neo-nazi).
It was the same ideology that inspired the El Paso shooting later that year, where a man killed 23 people in a predominantly Latino neighborhood, blaming immigration for the so-called “replacement” of white Americans
An Evolving Threat
The accelerationist threat has evolved and grown; shape shifting political landscapes. Since 2020, it has intertwined with a range of conspiracies and disinformation campaigns, from COVID-19 denialism to QAnon fantasies. The January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol saw a convergence of white supremacists, far-right militia groups, far-right religious fanatics and conspiracy theorists united by a common belief: that the system was rigged, broken, and needed to be violently overthrown.
This isn’t just happening in isolated incidents. Experts are warning that white supremacist groups are increasingly using these narratives to radicalize new followers. Kathleen Belew, an expert on the white power movement, has noted that "What defines white accelorationists is their belief that violence is the only way to pursue their political goals. To put it most simply, accelorationiss embrace terrorism” (https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/06/23/there-no-political-solution-accelerationism-white-power-movement).
White supremacist accelerationism isn't just about inciting violence—it's about fracturing society so thoroughly that authoritarianism, or even fascism, becomes a viable alternative to democracy."
The movement’s rise has been furthered by online echo chambers, where young men, often isolated and disillusioned, are drawn into communities that stoke their anger and fear. Platforms like 8chan, Telegram, and more recently, niche websites known for hosting hate speech, have become breeding grounds. Inside these digital spaces, accelerationist rhetoric is rampant, with users regularly sharing manifestos, discussing tactical gear, and openly celebrating acts of mass violence.
A Domestic Terrorism Crisis
In recent years, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have consistently identified white supremacist violence as the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States. Writing for Vanity Fair, Ali Winston recently pointed out that “According to a February 2023 Government Accountability Office report, the FBI tallied 9,049 cases related to domestic terrorism in 2021, up from 5,557 in 2020, 4,092 such cases in 2019, and 3,714 in 2018. In 2017, the year of Unite the Right, there were 1,890 domestic-terrorism-related cases, on par with the preceding four years, during which time the FBI was largely focused on Muslim jihadis” (https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2024/10/15/prisons-have-become-finishing-schools-for-the-alt-right/).
FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned Congress that racially motivated violent extremists, represent the most lethal threat to the homeland (https://www.npr.org/2021/03/02/972539274/fbi-director-wray-testifies-before-congress-for-1st-time-since-capitol-attack).
Yet, despite these warnings, there remains a troubling underestimation of the scope of this threat. Some political leaders continue to downplay the seriousness of white supremacist violence, labeling it as the work of “lone wolves” or isolated “mentally ill” individuals. But this framing ignores the reality: these perpetrators are often deeply embedded in a larger ideological movement, one that actively encourages such acts of terror as a means to a more violent endgame.
The Way Forward
The rise of white supremacist accelerationism clearly requires a response from law enforcement. But addressing the threat requires not only disrupting the networks that facilitate radicalization and violence but also confronting the larger ideological forces that fuel white supremacy (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/23/2272353/-White-Supremacists-Accelerationist-Violent-Crime-Advanced-by-Telegram-s-Social-Media-Channels).
Tech companies should be held accountable for hate proliferating on their platforms. Politicians and media figures should be called out when stoking racial division, whether through dog whistles or outright endorsements of extremist ideas. White supremacist accelerationism thrives on despair, division, and violence. Its goal is to undermine the very fabric of democracy, to fracture communities beyond repair. Failing to address this growing menace, could cost us democracy itself.
