Project Lead: Dr. Megan K. McBride and Beth Daviess, CNA

Status: In Progress

As of May 2026, the FBI is investigating more than 450 people nationwide who may be involved in nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) such as The Com, 764, the True Crime Community. Critically, these investigations—and resulting arrests—capture only the most high-profile and severe cases where criminal activity has already occurred. However, most prevention work does—and should—occur in the pre-criminal space where concerning behavior has not yet met the threshold for law enforcement involvement.

This project examines how behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) teams, America’s frontline prevention practitioners, encounter these cases and distills from their experiences promising practices for identifying, assessing, and managing the threat posed by individuals who appear to be radicalizing to NVE. Identifying promising practices will help practitioners across sectors, including school administrators, community service providers, as well as law enforcement and school resource officers, approach NVE cases with greater clarity and confidence, improving the odds of better safety outcomes, and ensuring vulnerable individuals receive adequate support.