When members of the exclusively male right-wing group known as the Proud Boys are talking amongst themselves in obscure online forums, there is a good chance that a woman named Emily Kaufman \u201916 (CLAS) is watching them.<\/p>\n
A proud Husky alumna, Kaufman works as an investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s Center on Extremism<\/a>. A leading authority on hate, extremism, antisemitism and terrorism, the center\u2019s researchers, including Kaufman, monitor the online presence of groups and organizations in order to expose and disrupt them, to educate law enforcement about the workings and actions of the groups, and to help the public identify and deal with extremist threats.<\/p>\n Kaufman herself is responsible for watching the online actions and interactions of five different groups, organizations, or movements. Day in and out, she logs into an ever-changing assortment of online platforms \u2013 sites known for the kind of low or no-moderation access that attracts the worst that the internet has to offer \u2013 in order to build her expert knowledge of the groups.<\/p>\n And, to spot trouble, hopefully before it happens.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory has proven that violence is core to right-wing extremist group activity in the United States,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Proud Boys, a group that I monitor, are quite willing to engage with their fists \u2013 violence is an expression of their ideology. When you look at another disparate movement, such as neo-Nazi accelerationists, adherents embrace violence and militancy. So, it\u2019s imperative that we remain vigilant in monitoring, exposing, and disrupting these bad actors whose ideology can often manifest into real-life violence.\u201d<\/p>\n The world was witness to that violence on January 6, 2021, when violent insurrectionists \u2013 including known members of the Proud Boys \u2013 stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, when what began as rhetoric escalated into violence.<\/p>\n The inherent power of language is one factor that has drawn Kaufman to what she calls her \u201cdream job\u201d with the ADL.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my time at UConn, having had amazing experiences of historically seeing this language \u2013 dangerous language \u2013 and what it can lead to, I think looking into language and the actions of these groups, and looking at the climate of increasingly violent rhetoric across our society, is one of the most important things that anyone could be doing,\u201d Kaufman says.<\/p>\n Kaufman came to UConn as part of the inaugural cohort of Human Rights majors through UConn\u2019s Human Rights Institute (HRI)<\/a> ; she double majored in Cognitive Sciences<\/a> to further her understanding of language\u2019s power.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I’ve always really been inspired by people around me who stood up to hate,\u201d she says, \u201cand I had just this natural interest in language \u2013 how language can be used in really positive ways to uplift people, but also how dangerous language and rhetoric can be. I’ve always been really interested in this phenomenon.\u201d<\/p>\n As an undergraduate, she studied abroad in South Africa with support from a U.S. State Department Gilman Scholarship and funding from HRI, and spent her time there with an HIV\/AIDS advocacy organization, learning from anti-apartheid activists and getting an introduction to grassroots mobilizing. She attended international conferences, and worked with organizations that promote human rights in business practices, meeting with global human rights leaders as she sought out her own place in the human rights landscape.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an amazing community of people at the Human Rights Institute who are so dedicated to fighting injustice in a variety of ways. — Emily Kaufman '16<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n After graduating in 2016, Kaufman traveled to The Netherlands for an eight-month-long HRI fellowship with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague<\/a>. While there, she assisted prosecutors with research in the trial of Ratko Mladic \u2013 also known as \u201cthe butcher of Bosnia\u201d \u2013 which was the final trial of a tribunal that lasted from 1993 to 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cI was there at the culmination of the trial,\u201d she says, \u201cand I was immersed in this really amazing and powerful experience of doing research leading up to the final trial brief and closing arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n