The Colorado Wake-Up Call: Why the Muslim Brotherhood’s Ideology Can’t Be Ignored Anymore

The tragic Colorado terrorist attack has once again forced us to confront an uncomfortable truth: radical violence doesn’t come out of nowhere. Behind the attacker’s actions was a trail of extremist content—glorifying jihad, echoing anti-Western rhetoric, and aligning disturbingly with the ideological tenets of the Muslim Brotherhood. For years, this group has cloaked itself in the narrative of political Islam and non-violence, while quietly spreading supremacist ideas that serve as a gateway to radicalization.

What makes the Muslim Brotherhood especially dangerous isn’t just its past links to violent offshoots like Hamas or Al-Qaeda—it’s how effectively it has embedded itself into civic life in the West. Through student organizations, online preachers, cultural centers, and even registered charities, the Brotherhood has created an ecosystem that introduces young minds to a worldview that frames the West as the enemy, glorifies martyrdom, and justifies violence in the name of resistance. Many lone-wolf attackers in the U.S. and Europe didn’t start off radical—they were groomed by content and networks rooted in Brotherhood literature.

The Colorado case is a sobering example of what happens when ideological extremism is allowed to flourish under the radar. It’s not just about catching terrorists—it’s about preventing the ideas that create them. That means policy responses must go deeper: regulating ideological imports, auditing foreign influence in mosques and schools, and holding tech platforms accountable for hosting radicalizing content. Counterterrorism must finally include counter-ideology. Otherwise, we are only treating the symptoms, not the disease.

It’s time to stop tiptoeing around the Brotherhood just because they don’t carry guns themselves. Their influence is ideological, not operational—but just as lethal. Colorado isn’t an isolated tragedy. It’s part of a pattern. And unless we treat it as such, we’re only waiting for the next attack.