Monthly regional updates
Update
United States and Canada Overview: July 2026
An incel ideology-motivated shooting drove record numbers of deadly political violence in Canada, and extremist activity increased around anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in the US.
This update covers ACLED data on events in North America through 29 June. Data for 30 June will be available 8 July.
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 States599 demonstration events 32% decrease compared to the same period last month |
Canada110 demonstration events 31% decrease compared to the same period last month |
Radical group trends
This section provides key figures on far-right and white nationalist groups.
| 556 events, of which 44 involve white nationalist groups | 10 radical groups active, of which 4 are white nationalist | White nationalist groups were most active in Texas | Other radical groups were most active in Arizona |
More information
Extremist 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.
United States: Amid Pride month, anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations drive an increase in extremist activity
Extremist groups participated in more anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in June, which is commemorated as Pride month in the United States, than the entirety of 2025. Though extremist groups in the United States have seen a precipitous decline in their overall public activity over the past few years, members of Patriot Front, White Lives Matter, the Active Club Network, and the neo-Nazi Blood Tribe participated in anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in at least four states last month. Though extremist groups often mobilize to counter spikes in demonstration activity from groups they ideologically oppose, this increase in activity took place despite only a moderate increase in pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in June. The majority of these demonstrations were held in opposition to local Pride events.
This spike reflects only a modest boost in extremist group activity and pales in comparison to their activity in the early 2020s. Yet, it represents a worrying sign of resurgence in these groups’ anti-LGBTQ+ demonstration activity. ACLED has previously pointed to anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment as a driver of extremist group demonstrations. Last year, extremist groups participated in less than 5% of all anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations, but this year, this figure stands at roughly 23%, similar to their peak activity at the beginning of the 2020s.
Canada: Shooting motivated by incel ideology makes 2026 the deadliest year for political violence in Canada
A 22 June shooting in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Montreal resulted in three people killed, including the shooter, who police believe was motivated by incel ideology. As a result of this attack and the February school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, 2026 has seen the highest number of fatalities stemming from political violence in Canada since ACLED began recording data on the country in 2021.
The shooter began his attack outside the headquarters of Aylo, a pornographic conglomerate, and left behind a document that police said was his manifesto. The document’s incel-linked rhetoric cast the shooter as a victim of modern gender relations and claimed he had been unfairly denied access to intimacy. It cited pornography as a source of suffering for men, called for the overthrow of capitalism, employed antisemitic language, and expressed hatred for women, as well as plastic surgeons and proponents of cryptocurrency.
The document echoed themes tied to incel and other fringe ideologies in a manifesto linked to the 18 May shooting at a mosque in San Diego. The authors of both manifestos explicitly identified as incels and cited a litany of ideological influences. These attacks reflect North America’s signature brand of political violence: attacks carried out by individuals without operational structure or hierarchy, motivated by fringe ideologies brewed in online spaces.
One of these online spaces, a global incel internet forum, celebrated the Côte-des-Neiges attack, linking it to previous deadly attacks motivated by incel and anti-feminist ideology in Canada, including a 2018 van attack in Vancouver in which 11 people were killed and a 1989 shooting at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in which 14 women were killed. In Canada, incel ideology has been a recognized form of terrorism since a knife attack at a Toronto massage parlor in 2020.
