A way to bring angry young men back from the brink

The recent mass shootings have terrified the nation. It’s not just the ferocity of the attacks. It’s the randomness of the victims, whether elementary school children or elderly women shopping at the neighborhood supermarket. People doing normal things find themselves attacked by a heavily armed man with a powerful, rapidly firing gun.

The shootings have reminded us that we could all be their targets. This is especially true when even the most disturbed and the most extreme among us have easy access to weapons.

Some of the most disturbing threats in our society come from disaffected and violent young men whose alienation makes them prime recruits by extremist political or religious movements. Social media encourages those who see no other answer to their grievances except violence.

Even before the anti-semitic attack on the Tree of Life, this region was fertile soil for antiimmigrant and racist sentiment. The FBI has identified Pittsburgh as a “hub” for extremist groups.

A Berlin-based nonprofit that has had much success in deradicalizing disaffected young men on the far right, as well as committed Islamic extremists, recently announced that its flagship American operation will be located here in Pittsburgh. The Violence Prevention Network believes it can deprogram those attracted to groups like the Sovereign Citizens

and Patriot Front.

According to Michele Leaman, a director at VPN, the key to the group’s success has been its telephone and digital hotline operation that helps friends and family members of potential extremists. The network advises them to deepen their connections with the at-risk person, not cut them off. If the at-risk person escalates their behavior, the group works with law enforcement to monitor their activity. It also trains law enforcement in what to look for and how to deal with extremists.

So far, VPN has secured $100,000 in funding to operate in Pittsburgh, but that is far short of what is required. The network will set up hotlines to start and plans to hire at least 15 staff specialists to work with those being radicalized.

If what VPN proposes to do in the Pittsburgh area works here, it can probably work anywhere in America. It’s one of the most practical and most hopeful signs that America may be able to change the young men who have made so many Americans so afraid.