ADL quietly downplays left-wing hate crimes as antisemitic violence soars

Internal data reveals that the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) widely cited “heat map” for hate incidents consistently fails to categorize left-wing hate crimes, even when groups involved are openly far-left, while right-wing incidents are always labeled.

The ADL’s Washington state data, analyzed by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, shows the discrepancy is especially glaring in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, which triggered a wave of antisemitic incidents from left-wing activists across U.S. college campuses and cities.

A source inside the ADL previously told Hoffman that the agency does not rely on FBI or local law enforcement statistics to compile its heat map. Instead, it uses unverified submissions through its website, a practice critics say opens the door to bias and misclassification.

For example, a June incident at the University of Washington described an anti-Israel rally organized by ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Protesters displayed signs such as “Unite against Imperialism, Zionism and Genocide.” Both groups are far-left activist organizations, yet the ADL left the “ideology” field blank on the map.

The map technically includes a category for “Islamist” incidents, but rarely applies it. After October 7, left-wing groups increasingly embraced and amplified Hamas propaganda, yet their actions often went uncategorized. Incidents left blank include:
 

• A Western Washington University student posting “Hamas did nothing wrong” on YikYak.
• A UW law school graduation protest where a student displayed a banner supporting “armed resistance.”
• Vandalism of the UW president’s car with “Free Palestine” and Hamas-linked red triangles — an act claimed by the far-left group Escalate Seattle.

None of these incidents were labeled as left-wing or Islamist on the ADL’s map.

This pattern isn’t unique to the ADL. A recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), highlighted by The Washington Examiner, contained a section titled “What is Excluded,” which listed numerous acts of left-wing violence intentionally left out of their dataset.

Among the omitted incidents:
 

• The arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s mansion.
• The murder of Israeli Embassy staff in Washington, D.C.
• A firebombing in Boulder, Colorado targeting pro-Israel supporters.
• Multiple violent anti-ICE actions across the country, including murders and assaults on law enforcement.
• The so-called “Tesla terrorists,” whose attack was reclassified as “economic vandalism” rather than terrorism.

The authors admitted they are not counting acts of left-wing violence when calculating the number of left-wing violent incidents, a methodological flaw that dramatically underreports the true scale.

Even with these exclusions, the CSIS study admitted that 2025 marked the first time in over 30 years that left-wing terrorist attacks outnumbered those from the violent far right. The authors, however, appeared to downplay this reality, claiming the violence has “risen from very low levels” and largely blaming the rise on “contentious politics” surrounding Donald Trump.

This framing ignores major waves of left-wing political violence since the early 2000s, from the 2001 inauguration protests to Occupy Wall Street, BLM riots, and years of organized Antifa attacks.

The FBI has now cut ties with the ADL, following revelations that the organization’s internal “Glossary of Extremism” included conservative groups like Turning Point USA. The controversy intensified following the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, which renewed scrutiny of how organizations and law enforcement categorize political extremism. FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News the previous collaboration was “activism dressed up as counterterrorism” and put Americans at risk.

The ADL subsequently retired its 1,000-entry glossary, claiming many entries were outdated or misused.