This paper describes the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States-Plots (PIRUS-Plots) dataset, a new data resource builds on previous National Institute of Justice (NIJ) investments in the PIRUS and Social Networks of American Radicals (SoNAR) datasets.
This study introduces a new data resource, the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States-Plots (PIRUS-Plots) dataset, which builds on previous NIJ investments in the PIRUS and Social Networks of American Radicals (SoNAR) datasets. PIRUS-Plots introduces new variables related to successful, failed, foiled, and nebulous extremist plots in the United States for 1,433 ideologically motivated crimes that occurred between 1990 and 2021. The new PIRUS-Plots dataset is designed to be used in conjunction with PIRUS and SoNAR, and contains plot ID, subject ID, and network ID keys that enable querying all three datasets as a relational database. The researchers’ primary motivation in designing PIRUS-Plots was to provide a robust set of variables across multiple domains (the event or plot-level, the subject or perpetrator level, and the social network level) so that distinct radicalization and mobilization pathways can be observed, modeled, and understood. The researchers also provide disaggregated information about the type of plots that goes beyond the non-violent/violent distinction to include observations about whether a plot was strictly non-violent, a low casualty plot, or a mass casualty plot.