Almost two months after two teenagers shot and killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont, a key question still doesn’t have a clear answer: Was enough done to try to stop the teens’ path to extremism?
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A full accounting of which interventions were or were not attempted with the alleged shooters, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, has not been publicized.
Experts stressed that hate-based violence like the Islamic Center shooting can be prevented and has been stopped before. But to do so requires a paradigm shift in how radicalization is often viewed, they argue.
Experts say radicalization should be viewed as a public health crisis, similar to how we have come to view drug addiction.
Radicalization is a targeted effort by extremists to indoctrinate and recruit members, especially the young and emotionally vulnerable. It is not effectively solved with one-time, forcible interventions, experts argue, but with empathy and rebuilding relationships with the radicalized person.
“Do we think that these things can be prevented? Absolutely,” said Humera Khan, president of Muflehun, a think tank focused on countering violent extremism. “There are years of opportunities to work on prevention.”
Everybody needs a sense of identity, belonging and purpose, and when those needs aren’t fulfilled in a healthy way, that can lead some people to seek them in extremist networks and hateful ideologies, experts said.
“These individuals are self-medicating on hate the way other individuals self-medicate on drugs and alcohol or porn or other antisocial behaviors and addictions,” said Bill Braniff, executive director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab, or PERIL.
Approaching the issue as a public health problem means talking about it openly, rather than denying it or staying silent, and educating the public about how it can be treated, said Myrieme Churchill, executive director of Parents for Peace, a nonprofit that provides a national helpline, support groups and counseling for families of people being radicalized.
Churchill, who has led hundreds of interventions with extremists and their families, said she has seen families and schools miss chances for intervention because of fear, denial or because they haven’t been taught how to recognize radicalization. Family members with a loved one in extremism often feel like they’re the only one, which is not true, Churchill said.
“Radicalization happens when family members are isolated by shame, fear and lack of resources,” Churchill said. “Parents don’t call the cops on their kids. And when they do, it’s too late.”
Red flags
Clark’s mother called 911 on the morning of May 18, three hours after he had disappeared from the family house, according to San Diego police. She reported that he had left with a man maybe named Caleb, wearing camouflage, and a gun was missing from the home.
An hour later she called again to report more weapons were missing, and she found a possible suicide note with “hate-filled writings” near Clark’s computer, police said. Officers urgently began searching for the teen until the shooting at the Islamic Center occurred about an hour later.
In Vazquez’ case, friends, teachers and the assistant principal at his former school, High Tech High Chula Vista, all had concerns about the teen’s behavior more than a year before the shooting, according to a gun violence restraining order filed by Chula Vista police for Vazquez in January 2025.
In addition to making social media posts idolizing mass shooters and violence, Vazquez complained about being bullied and feeling depressed after a recent break-up, according to court records. The school told police it had “conducted multiple threat assessments and wellness checks” on Vazquez.
The assistant principal called police in January 2025 to report Vazquez’ behavior, the petition said. When police arrived at Vazquez’ family’s door, Vazquez’ father did not fully cooperate, police said — he had 12 firearms registered and told police they were stored in a safe, but refused to show officers. Vazquez and his father denied that he had made concerning social media posts, and the father wouldn’t let police see his son’s social media, according to the petition.
Vazquez was issued a gun restraining order by the court and placed on an involuntary 72-hour hold for a mental health evaluation. His parents said in a statement after the shooting that they had repeatedly encouraged him to seek help and he voluntarily spent time in rehab centers.
“We will forever live with the burden of wondering whether there was more we could have done to help prevent this senseless tragedy,” his parents said.
Experts stressed that just because not all acts of extremist violence are stopped, it doesn’t mean they’re not preventable. Still, it can be complex, and it’s far from easy.
The type and manner of intervention matter — temporary actions such as a mental health hold or restraining order alone are not enough, and interventions that are forced and aren’t built on a loving relationship aren’t likely to stop the person’s path to extremism, experts said.
“We don’t prevent every heart attack, any complex human phenomenon. But we … can get better at intervention over time and go from these temporary interdictions … and actually create a more longitudinal intervention involving real case management,” said Braniff, with the extremism research group.
Building trust
In the vast majority of cases, experts said, mass shooters leak their plans to others before they commit violence.
Warning signs include: fixation on violence and shootings, idolizing and imitation of mass shooters, collecting weapons, posting violent content on social media and hatred toward broad groups of people, such as Jewish people, immigrants, people of color in general, women and LGBTQ+ people.
Extremist networks flourish in the vast ubiquity of online spaces and use even mainstream platforms to spread their propaganda, including gaming platforms such as Roblox and Minecraft and social media platforms like X and Discord. Hateful content on mainstream platforms can usher people to obscure, dark-web forums where extremism campaigns thrive more explicitly.
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PERIL notes that common extremist recruitment tactics include blaming personal troubles on broad groups of people, offering simple solutions to complex problems, and disguising hate propaganda as humor.
If someone makes a specific or immediate threat of violence, bystanders should call law enforcement immediately, experts said. But there are often chances to intervene before an extremist’s radicalization develops to the point of carrying out violence.
One of the best steps someone can take — as long as it’s safe — is to simply reach out to the person and “ask a caring question,” Braniff said.
For those who know somebody showing signs of extremist beliefs, experts said it’s important that they do not alienate the person by arguing with or condemning them, as that may lead them to shut down or shut loved ones out. That person still needs a positive relationship in their life; otherwise they can be driven further into the hateful ideology.
“One of the most important things is listening with curiosity,” said Brette Steele, president of Eradicate Hate, a nonprofit that works on countering hate-based violence. “You can start to better maintain that connection to the individual and find those opportunities for intervention and support.”
Steele said one question people can ask is: “Why do you believe that? Tell me more.” PERIL suggests parents can ask their children — from a place of curiosity, not monitoring — what they do online, what platforms they spend time on, what they are learning, or open-ended questions like, “What kind of person do you want to be?”
Khan, of the anti-extremism think tank, said one person who had taken Muflehun’s bystander training noticed that her coworker’s behavior was strange. So she said hi and asked if he was OK. He then confessed to her that he had a hit list and was planning a workplace shooting. The woman told human resources, and law enforcement was called.
She recalled another young man with a rough home life who was thinking about killing others and himself, but decided not to because he had a friend whose family kept asking how he was doing.
“The first thing they should do is talk to the person, have that relationship, because that personal relationship is a huge protective factor,” Khan said. “It can make the difference in if someone thinks they’re alone or not.”
Hard work
The path away from extremism often takes years. Experts said having a long-term case management plan is key.
That can come from the person’s school or workplace if they have a threat assessment and management team — a multidisciplinary group that can include mental health professionals, the individual’s parents, law enforcement officers, social workers and adults the person trusts, such asa coach or teacher.
That team comes up with a plan to coordinate support for the person, ensures they get involved in positive activities and monitors the individual’s progress over time. Such teams are crucial because they allow communication and coordination across all aspects of the person’s life, experts said.
Case management services are also offered by some nonprofits, such as Parents for Peace and Life After Hate, that help turn people away from extremist ideologies. They work with both the person and their family to build positive “protective factors” in the person’s life that help reduce their reliance on extremism as a coping mechanism.
That includes rebuilding relationships with loved ones, working with a counselor, developing social and emotional skills such as anger management, and finding positive social outlets, such as school extracurriculars, sports groups, church, service organizations or other community involvement.
“These are things that all of us benefit from, so that when you come across someone online selling violent empowerment or hate, it’s not interesting to you because you have nine other sources of non-violent empowerment in your life,” Braniff said. “You know that just because you had a bad day doesn’t mean the world is stacked against you.”
Churchill recalls working with one mother whose son’s path into White supremacy had stemmed from being bullied and humiliated at school. The mother had tried to change his mind by lecturing him about history and equality, but the harder she pushed, the more the son turned away, Churchill said.
The first thing Churchill said she told the mother was to stop lecturing him. “Stop fighting the ideology, because you won’t win,” she said.
Churchill said she asked the mom: Does your son sound like a radio when he talks? Like there’s no dialogue, but somebody is speaking through him? The mom said yes.
Parents for Peace first worked to get buy-in from all family members on intervention, Churchill said. They had the parents make amends with their son by apologizing for not hearing him about his suffering at school, Churchill said.
The son wouldn’t talk to a Parents for Peace counselor at first, but the parents did, and they kept their door open so he could overhear them talking, Churchill said. They offered to introduce him to the counselor, and eventually he started doing sessions. The parents suggested he could write a letter to the principal about the bullying, and he eventually did, Churchill said.
It took years to turn the son around, Churchill said. He had a relapse, and at one point the parents said they wanted to give up, she said. But since then he has gotten a job, started a relationship and returned to school.
“Just because it’s preventable doesn’t mean it’s not a journey … doesn’t mean it’s not hard work,” Churchill said.
Resources
If you have concerns that someone you know may be involved with extremism, experts recommend consulting the following resources:
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- Parents for Peace: A nonprofit that runs a confidential helpline for loved ones of individuals who are showing signs of radicalization that can help them identify warning signs and decide next steps. It also provides intervention and support groups for parents of children who are being radicalized. Helpline (844) 497-3223, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. After hours, leave a voicemail or email [email protected].
- Life After Hate: A nonprofit that helps individuals who are at high risk of committing extremist violence to exit the movement by providing case management, as well as support for the individuals’ families. The group connects individuals with a former extremist who serves as a mentor and as an example of how people can leave extremism. People who are seeking help for themselves, or those who are seeking help for a loved one, can submit a confidential request at lifeafterhate.org.
- Reach Out Resource Hub: A searchable database of resources for extremists and their loved ones, offered by the Prevention Practitioners Network, which trains mental health professionals and others on how to work with radicalized individuals.
- Multiple organizations have guides, toolkits and other education materials on what to do if you know somebody who has been radicalized. PERIL has guides on its website for parents and caregivers, educators and counselors and others, as well as a free digital literacy curriculum that teaches children how to think critically online.