Sam Jackson - "Motivated by a desire to understand people who I think are bad for the world"

05/05/22 • 27 min

In this episode of extremely, Oren Segal speaks with Sam Jackson, assistant professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the State University of New York at Albany, and author of, “Oath Keepers: Patriotism and the Edge of Violence in a Right-Wing Antigovernment Group.”

When Sam was an undergrad religious studies major at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, he “accidentally” took a class on religion and violence that sparked his interest in antigovernment extremism. Today, Sam emphasizes the distinctions between leaders of anti-government groups like the Oath Keepers and their subordinates.

“Prominent people within the group are much more ideologically on point or ideologically disciplined,” Sam tells Oren. “They are thinking about a narrower set of ideas, and they are talking about them in a more cohesive and coherent way. Whereas rank and file members of the group might have any of a wide range of ideological motivations to join. Or even non-ideological motivations.”

You can follow Sam on Twitter @sjacks26

Stay engaged and follow along for more on Twitter at @OrenSegal @ADL and @PERIL_AU

You can follow Sam on Twitter @sjacks26

Stay engaged and follow along for more on Twitter at @OrenSegal @ADL and @PERIL_AU

Previous Episode

David Neiwert - "They are against something, and that something is democracy"

In this episode of extremely, Oren Segal speaks with David Neiwert, investigative journalist, and author of, “Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump.” David, who has been reporting on extremism for decades, provides his insight into the evolution of anti-democratic movements in the U.S. and how it culminated with the January 6th insurrection.

In addition to describing how he made extremism reporting a beat, David argues that to truly understand the impact of extremism on communities, media needs to “interview the people who are afraid to even raise their heads in their towns and who feel frightened and intimidated by this wave of thuggery that this tide of right-wing extremism has unleashed in their communities.”

You can follow David on Twitter @DavidNeiwert

Stay engaged and follow along for more on Twitter at @OrenSegal @ADL and @PERIL_AU

Next Episode

Elizabeth Williamson – “The results of this mass delusion”

In this episode of extremely, Oren Segal speaks with Elizabeth Williamson, feature writer for The New York Times and author of “Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth.”

Elizabeth and Oren discuss how disinformation and falsehoods inevitably follow mass shootings, and how conspiracies and lies - aided by super-spreaders like Alex Jones - increasingly lead to harassment of and threats against victims’ families. Elizabeth describes how the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting “was a foundational story of how these false narratives and misinformation have gained traction in society.”

“The arbiters of truth in our county,” Elizabeth says, “are still there but they are increasingly disbelieved, and people are making other choices than to listen to them. And so consequently, your arbiter of truth is the person who echoes your beliefs rather than someone who is legitimately interested in getting to the bottom of the situation and presenting facts.”

You can follow Elizabeth on Twitter @NYTLiz

Stay engaged and follow along for more on Twitter at @OrenSegal @ADL and @PERIL_AU