WASHINGTON – Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks focused U.S. fears on threats from abroad, Americans are now considerably more worried about attacks by domestic extremists than by foreign groups, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
When asked to name the biggest threat to the safety of average Americans, 33% of respondents picked “domestic terrorism,” while 20% picked foreign terrorism and 42% pointed to random acts of violence such as mass shootings, the Aug. 28-31 poll found.
The picture was much different a decade ago. Reuters/Ipsos polling from mid-2013 showed 21% of Americans viewed domestic terrorism as the top threat, less than the 28% who pointed to foreign terrorism and 51% who picked random acts of violence.
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