Let's Talk Human Rights

By Eric Litterer

Chin Rodger’s son committed an act of targeted violence in 2014. He killed 6 and injured 14 others in Isla Vista, California, motivated by incel ideologies. His actions drastically changed the lives of many, including Chin herself. As part of her healing journey, she has started to share the story of how her son’s actions impacted her, as well as the warning signs she missed which could help to prevent a similar act of violence in the future. I was able to attend one of these talks, and hearing the raw emotion with which she spoke was incredibly moving.

In October, I had the opportunity to attend the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh with the PREVENTS-OH team. PREVENTS-OH (Preventing Radicalization to Extremist Violence through Education, Network-Building, and Training in Southwest Ohio) is a project at the University of Dayton’s Human Rights Center, and it is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grants Program. Over the course of three days, I attended several talks and breakout sessions, hearing from experts in the field of violence prevention. The event started in response to the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in 2018, and it has evolved to explore the many different ways we can prevent and respond to hate-fueled violence. Panels were held throughout each day in a large ballroom, with more focused breakout sessions being held around the convention center. Between in-person and online attendees, 1,321 people attended the conference, ranging from experts in the prevention field, journalists, corporate professionals, public servants, and students like myself.

Although the conference addressed many types of hate-fueled violence, the discussion of Islamophobia since the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict was notably lacking, with some of the keynote speakers focusing almost solely on antisemitism and criticizing student protestors. Addressing the rise in antisemitism is of course important, but I found the discussion to be lacking nuance and dismissive of Islamophobia and the concerns of Palestinians. Some of the panelists made references to this, but it was suggested that speakers were told by organizers to keep things “non-political” in a very politicized field. I still found the Eradicate Hate Global Summit to be a positive experience, but I would have liked to hear more voices and a more nuanced dialogue regarding this particular conflict.

One of the highlights of my week was getting to meet Sunny the therapy dog! Of course, the conference itself was exciting as well. A couple of the breakout sessions made me think about things I had never considered, such as how video games can be used to prevent radicalization, or the ethics of whether journalists should refer to targets of violence as “victims” or “survivors.” As an aspiring social researcher, it was also fascinating to hear how experts use data to track incidences of radicalization and extremist violence. The trend of rising targeted violence is concerning, but this research is very useful for prevention workers to identify who may be at risk of being radicalized.

One of the most powerful sessions during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit was the aforementioned panel including Chin Rodger, whose son had committed an act of targeted violence in 2014. Rodger’s insights about the warning signs she missed have been critical for preventing similar events in the future, but perhaps more powerful was her account of the grieving process. She spoke in-depth about the months leading up to the attack, including when she called for a welfare check on her son, and the police did not discover the guns in his bedroom. She also described the tragedy of first learning about the shooting, and later learning her son had been the perpetrator. Her courage to share her story gives voice to the loved ones of those killed by targeted violence, a pain I cannot even begin to imagine. 

The other session I found especially moving was the keynote address from former U.S. Congressperson Gabby Giffords. Giffords survived an assassination attempt at a campaign event in 2011, initially losing her ability to speak and walk after being shot in the head. Since then, she has recovered both abilities, and she has become a gun safety activist. During her keynote address, she shared this story, applauded prevention workers, and spoke about the need for continued prevention work.

Her speech, while brief, drew a standing ovation from the crowd in one of the most powerful moments of the week. Giffords’ resilience after such a horrific event is a reminder of humanity’s ability to overcome tragedy, but also our need to act to prevent these tragedies in the first place.

Gabby Giffords’ account of surviving political violence was a reminder of why preventing domestic violent extremism is so important to me. The events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, immediately made me passionate about the topic, making me want to do anything I could to stop another such event from occurring. Last fall, I was encouraged to apply for the Gendered Injustices and Violent Extremism (GIVE) Internship Program, which meant working on the PREVENTS-OH project. PREVENTS-OH looks to prevent cases of domestic violent extremism and radicalization through training individuals and community partners to identify and address potential warning signs of this violence in southwest Ohio. This includes dialogues and awareness briefings both on- and off-campus. In the spring, I helped with the project as a GIVE intern, and I’ve continued my involvement with PREVENTS-OH as a research assistant this semester. This experience has helped me make a difference in the Dayton metro area by building knowledge and community with local organizations, and it has also helped me learn much more about targeted violence.

Outside of the formal program at Eradicate Hate Global Summit, it was intriguing to hear what other attendees did in their sectors to prevent targeted violence. I met two elementary school teachers who were taking what they learned back to their school. A researcher who used his data to learn about and prevent anti-LGBTQ+ violence shared his career journey with me, which was very helpful as an aspiring social researcher myself. There were representatives from Public Safety Canada and the New Zealand government, among other countries, a reminder of the international scope of hate-fueled violence. These are just a few of the people I met representing numerous different disciplines at the summit. This highlights the fact that prevention work is for everyone, and that preventing targeted violence requires collaboration from multiple perspectives.

Eric Litterer is a senior Sociology major and Women’s and Gender Studies minor from Columbus, OH. He previously worked as a student intern on PREVENTS-OH through the Gendered Injustices and Violent Extremism program, and now works on the project as a student researcher. Eric is an executive board member of both College Democrats and the Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Student Organization (SASSO). In April 2024, he received the University of Dayton Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work’s Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Award in Human Relations.