Experts studied al-Qaeda and Isis for years, now they are turning their attention to extremists closer to home

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Martha Crenshaw, one of the foremost terror experts in the United States, wrote this week that the problem revealed by the Capitol attack “was not an inability to respond, but failure to anticipate the threat”. open image in gallery Supporters of US President Donald J Trump in the Capitol Rotunda after breaching Capitol security in Washington, DC, on 6 January 2021 ) “I was like ‘woah, there’s something going on here,’” Dr Clarke says of the rally, which culminated in the killing of 32-year-old Heather Heyer by one of the rally attendants after he drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. “For the last 20 years, the so-called global war on terror, we built this global architecture to deal specifically with Salafi jihadis – we didn’t treat all kinds of terrorism equally,” says Clarke. “It feels like the far right has serious momentum, and has been energised and emboldened by the last four years – the Capitol attacks being the seminal moment,” says Dr Clarke.