De-radicalizing the Extremists

Parents for Peace enlists ex-believers to help families win back loved ones drawn to Islamism, QAnon, and other ideologies. Demand has never been higher

- By David Yaffe-Bellany and Sophia Cai

One morning in November 2018, Amy awoke before dawn to the sound of pounding on her front door. Clad in a T-shirt and underwear, she leaped from bed and rushed outside with her husband. On the front steps stood three FBI agents; behind them were several others, armed with guns. The agents pulled Amy and her husband away from the house and ordered them to stand underneath a raised deck that overlooks the front yard. They’d come for the couple’s teenage son.

Jack had been diagnosed with autism at age 3, and like many children on the spectrum, he was prone to obsessions: He loved learning about snakes and tried to catch them whenever he could. His parents were protective; they limited his access to the internet and wouldn’t let him play violent video games. But in seventh grade a group of classmates had started showing Jack videos of Islamic State fighters beheading prisoners, and the clips piqued his interest. Soon he grew fascinated with radical Islam. He purchased a copy of the Koran and asked his teacher to find a place for him to pray. He found more videos online and used material from Amy’s sewing kit to make an IS flag.