Initiative

The NVE Tracker and Dashboard

Nihilistic Violent Extremism: International Crimes Dataset

About the NVE Tracker

The NVE Tracker is a research tool developed by PERIL’s Director of Research, Michael Jensen to document, analyze, and visualize the global landscape of nihilistic violent extremism. The dataset captures incidents from 2011 to the present, spanning 42 countries and tracing the movement’s evolution from its accelerationist roots through its contemporary manifestations.

Designed for researchers, journalists, and policymakers, the tracker provides a structured, searchable dataset with interactive visualizations of nearly 600 individually coded incidents, each with source citations, outcome data, and perpetrator information.

A Note for Users

The NVE Tracker contains information and links to documents that describe acts of self-harm, the exploitation of children, and mass violence. The tool is intended for academic, journalistic, and policy use. User discretion is advised.

Launch the NVE Tracker

NVE dashboard screenshot

What is Nihilistic Violent extremism?

Nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) is a form of targeted violence characterized by a deep rejection of existing social, political, and moral structures, often accompanied by a desire to accelerate their collapse. Unlike ideologically coherent movements that pursue a specific political end state, NVE actors are typically driven by destructive nihilism: the belief that society is irredeemably corrupt and that mass violence, chaos, or societal breakdown is an end in itself.

NVE spans a wide range of actors and incidents, from organized plots to school shooters, online radicalization networks, and transnational extremist cells. What unites them is a shared orientation toward destruction over construction and the glorification of violence as a purifying or transformative act.

The Problem

NVE actors rarely share a single coherent ideology. They draw from far-right and neo-Nazi extremism, the incel movement, mass shooter mythology, and the fringe corners of the True Crime Community, united by a shared hatred of society and an embrace of violence as a pathway to personal gratification and notoriety. Digital platforms, imageboards, and encrypted messaging apps act as incubators for recruitment, where manifestos, “Saints Culture,” and accelerationist content circulate freely and create transnational networks for the radicalization of vulnerable youth.

Our Approach

PERIL built the NVE Tracker to give the field a comprehensive, evidence-based view of this threat landscape. By coding incidents systematically and situating each within the broader ideological trajectory, the tracker enables researchers, policymakers, and journalists to identify emerging trends, trace ideological lineages, and understand how accelerationist tactics and messaging have evolved, diversified, and spread across borders and subcultures.

Why This Matters

1

A spectrum of violence. The tracker captures the full range of NVE-related crimes, including successful attacks, foiled plots, weapons offenses, hate crimes, material support, and the exploitation of children, providing a comprehensive view that single-incident reporting cannot offer.

2

A global phenomenon. While concentrated in the United States, NVE is a transnational challenge. The dataset documents incidents across 42 countries on six continents, reflecting the global reach of militant accelerationism.

3

A foundation for prevention. Reliable data is the precondition for effective response. The NVE Tracker supports the academic, journalistic, and policy communities working to understand, expose, and counter this threat.

The NVE Dashboard

What You Can Explore

The dashboard offers researchers, journalists, and policymakers a set of structured tools for analyzing the dataset:

  • Interactive Map. Visualize incidents geographically, from global overview to street-level detail.
  • Temporal Trends. Track how incident frequency has changed over time, filtered by year, date range, or incident type.
  • Legal Outcomes. Explore how cases were resolved across jurisdictions, including guilty pleas, convictions, acquittals, and ongoing prosecutions.
  • Country and Region Filters. Run comparative analysis across 42 countries.
  • Perpetrator Profiles. Access data on group affiliations, military or law enforcement backgrounds, and demographic information where available.
  • Incident Type Breakdown. Categorize incidents by crime type with detailed summaries for each.
  • Full-Text Search. Surface relevant cases by description, location, or group name.
  • Data Export. Download filtered results as CSV for use in independent analysis or publication.

NVE Dashboard screenshot

Open the NVE Dashboard

Featured Resources

From Atomwaffen to 764: The New Wave of Militant Accelerationism in the United States

Publication

Schools Under Siege: Accelerationist Violence at Educational Sites in the United States

Publication

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The NVE Tracker and Dashboard

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