Indictments against a top extremism researcher and the SPLC force a reckoning on research ethics – an extremism scholar reflects on the field’s challenges

White nationalist demonstrators clash with counterdemonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12, 2017. AP Photo/Steve Helber

The August 2026 federal indictment of Heidi Beirich, a longtime researcher who studies political violence and the American far right, has provoked strong reactions within the professional community of extremism scholars.

I am one of those researchers. Beirich is a longtime colleague. In her work, she testified before Congress, shaped the understanding of journalists and politicians regarding organized hate groups in the United States, and collaborated with many scholars in the field.