Monthly regional updates
Update
United States and Canada Overview - January 2025
Analysis of demonstration and extremist group trends in the United States and Canada for January 2025.
Demonstration trends
This section provides key figures on demonstration events, which includes incidents categorized as 'Protests,' and 'Violent demonstrations' as recorded by ACLED. For more information on event and sub-event types, see the ACLED Codebook
United States
508 demonstration events
19% decrease
compared to last month
Canada
123 demonstration events
47% decrease
compared to last month
United States and Canada: Pro-Palestine events dominate demonstration activity in 2024
Last year in the United States, demonstration events decreased by about 10% compared to the previous year, amid an ongoing decline in demonstrations following years of mass mobilization in major movements in support of Black Lives Matter, access to abortion, labor rights, and other issues. As a result, overall demonstration levels reached their lowest recorded rates since ACLED began collecting data on the US in 2020. Despite this clear overall decline, demonstration events rose in 17 states — which share few common political or demographic features — compared to 2023. In each of these states, over a quarter of all demonstration activity was motivated by pro-Palestine or anti-Israel sentiment. More broadly, demonstrations with a pro-Palestine or anti-Israel element constituted 28% of all demonstration activity in the US and Canada during 2024. This was driven largely by demonstrations on university campuses, where around 40% of these demonstrations occurred.
Radical group trends
This section provides key figures on far-right and white nationalist groups.
Far-right groups:
ACLED uses this term to refer to a variety of actors, from 'traditional' militias to militant street movements. Though they are also analyzed separately, this figure also accounts for white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups.
White nationalists:
ACLED uses this term to refer to groups that openly describe themselves as white nationalist, white supremacist, or neo-Nazi.
- 30 events, of which 22 involve white nationalist groups
- 9 radical groups active, of which 5 are white nationalist
Radical groups were most active in Arizona
White nationalist groups were most active in North Carolina
Spotlight: A comeback on the horizon for extremist groups?
Extremist group activity peaked twice this year as a result of specific mobilization efforts against immigration and the LGBTQ+ community, though overall extremist activity declined significantly compared to 2023. The first took place in February, during which white nationalist groups such as the White Knights, White Lives Matter, Patriot Front, and the Rise Above Movement participated in a multi-day “Take Back the Border” convoy through border states to express opposition to immigration. Around 40% of all anti-immigration demonstrations in the US in 2024 involved extremist groups — nearly double their share in anti-immigration activity in 2023 — coinciding with virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric during the presidential campaign.1 The second spike in extremist activity took place during June 2024, which is Pride Month in the US. Anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations were organized against Pride Month events across the country, although at a significantly lower rate than the year before.
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Methodology
See the Codebook and the User Guide for an overview of ACLED’s core methodology. For additional documentation, check the Knowledge Base. Region-specific methodology briefs can be accessed below.
Links:
Regional Special Projects
For additional resources and in-depth coverage of demonstration and political violence trends across the US, check our dedicated US Crisis Monitor.
