In Europe and US, Homegrown Jihadists the Main Threat

Albert Ford was quoted in an Agence France-Presse story about homegrown extremism in the United States:

While returning IS fighters are definitely a threat, "it's not a primary concern," said Albert Ford of the New America think tank.

"The attacks in this country were made by people who were in the country for years. The real danger is with these not very sophisticated but deadly attacks that we saw lately in New York."

According to New America data, 85 percent of the 415 people accused of Islamist-related crimes in the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks have been American citizens. Of them, 207 were born in the United States.

They also were not known to law enforcement: only one fourth had a police record.

"None of the deadly jihadist attacks in the United States since 2014 had a known operational connection to ISIS or its networks," a New America report says, using another acronym for the Islamic State group.