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A Research Review of Public Figure Threats, Approaches, Attacks, and Assassinations in the United States
Abstract
The authors review extant research on threats, approaches, attacks, and assassinations of public figures in the United States. Despite the limited number of studies, data exist concerning: 1) threatening letters and approaches to celebrities; 2) attacks and assassinations of public figures, usually the President of the United States; 3) threats and approaches to legislative members of state and federal governments; and 4) threats, approaches, and attacks against federal judicial officials. Similarities and differences across the various studies are discussed. Consistent findings across the studies indicate that direct threats toward the target are unusual and are often correlated negatively with an approach or attack; a significant proportion of subjects are mentally ill and have criminal histories; many subjects evidenced a downward spiral in their lives in the months or year before their approach or attack; and if an attack occurred, it was predatory (instrumental, premeditated) rather than affective (emotional, reactive), and the weapon of choice was a firearm, usually a handgun. Operational guidance and further research recommendations are made.
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“Studies consistently show that while many perpetrators of concerning fixated behaviours had previous involvement with mental health services, many of these were not under mental health care at the time of the referral or concerning behaviour (Meloy et al., 2004;Pathé, 2017).”
From Unmet needs: analysing the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre’s fulfilment of the public health approach, and its value for violence prevention (2025) · cites this paper as Meloy et al., 2004
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Research works printed but not linked: 29
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Cited by
Seaward, A., Marchment, Z., Wilson, S., Elfituri, S., Farnham, F., Plumb, T., Rose, K., Taylor, A., Corner, E., & Gill, P. (2025) · Psychology, Crime & Law · doi:10.1080/1068316x.2025.2581795 · Cited by 1
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Metadata
- Authors
- Meloy, Jr., James, D., Farnham, F., Mullen, P., Pathe, M., Darnley, B., & Preston, L.
- Affiliations
- Forensis, Inc. 1 , P.O. Box 90699, San Diego, CA
- North London Forensic Service 2 , The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JL, UK
- North London Forensic Service 3 , The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JL, UK
- Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health 4 , Fairfield, Victoria3078Australia
- The Royal Melbourne Hospital 5 , Victoria3050Australia
- North London Forensic Service 6 , The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JL, UK
- North London Forensic Service 7 , The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JL, UK
- Venue
- Journal of Forensic Sciences
- Publisher
- ASTM International
- Published
- 2004-09-01
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- JFS2004102-8
- ISSN
- 0022-1198
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 0
- Language
- en
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