Police officers arrive at the scene of the October 2017 terror attack in New York City. (Don Emmert | AFP | Getty Images)

By S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

When Sayfullo Saipov allegedly drove a rented truck through a New York City bike path last fall, authorities say, he underscored the most pressing homeland security threat New Jerseyans face.

Officials at the state Office of Homeland Security say Saipov, a Paterson resident, is the perfect example of a homegrown violent extremist — terrorists who, while inspired by far-flung extremist groups, live here in New Jersey and become radicalized online.

The office's annual terror "threat assessment," released this week, ranks homegrown extremists as the single group earning a high threat-level rating. Another six received moderate ratings and more than a dozen more were classified as low-level threats.

Here's a closer look at this year's assessment.

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High-level threat: Homegrown violent extremists

The Halloween attack that left eight people dead, including one New Jersey man, was the latest example of what experts have described as a troubling and growing trend.

Just a year before, another New Jersey man, Ahmad Khan Rahimi, executed a string of improvised bomb attacks in New York and allegedly in New Jersey. He was sentenced to multiple terms of life in prison for his actions in New York, and is awaiting trial on the New Jersey charges.

Authorities said Rahimi and Saipov were both radicalized online by propaganda from foreign terror groups including the Islamic State, known as ISIS or ISIL, and al-Qaida.

Jared Maples, the homeland security office's director, said in the report that the Saipov case "demonstrated that while groups like ISIS are suffering battlefield losses overseas, they are still capable of inspiring individuals here.

"In the year ahead, homegrown violent extremists will remain our most persistent adversary," Maples wrote. "This is largely due to the fact that the violence these individuals are committed to carrying out is so challenging for homeland security professionals and law enforcement officials to detect and deter."

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This undated photo provided by St. Charles County Department of Corrections via KMOV shows Sayfullo Saipov. A man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017, killing several.(St. Charles County Department of Corrections/KMOV via AP)

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'Dramatic rise' in domestic extremism

Maples said analysts at his office had tracked a "dramatic rise in violence between race-based, single-issue, and anti-government extremists," adding that "it is clear that our threat landscape has become more diverse than ever before."

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Moderate threat: White supremacist extremists

In April, dozens of federal agents raided the Phillipsburg home of Josh "Hatchet" Steever, the leader of Aryan Strikeforce, which authorities have deemed a white supremacist group.

He and four others allegedly associated with the Aryan Brotherhood were indicted on racketeering, gun possession and drug distribution charges.

In 2018, the homeland security office warns, white supremacists will continue to "commit crimes, distribute propaganda to recruit new members, and intimidate minority populations."

A 2017 review from the homeland security office found white supremacist extremists activity in 14 of New Jersey's 21 counties, according to the report.

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Federal agents enter the home of Josh "Hatchet" Steever. (Tim Wynkoop | Lehighvalleylive.com contributor)

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Moderate threat: al-Qaida and the Islamic State

Terror experts make a distinction between homegrown violent extremists and the terror groups that inspire them, saying that homegrown extremists rarely are given resources, support or direction from those organizations.

But two foreign groups do present a "moderate" threat, according to the 2018 report: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP, a militant organization in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and the Islamic State.

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Moderate threat: Militia and anarchist extremists

Activity from militia groups has quieted since the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016 and New Jersey terror analysts noted little activity in New Jersey over the last year.

Anti-fascist groups, or "Antifa," a subset of the anarchist movement, also had limited presence in New Jersey, though the state report noted a March brawl between antifa activists and supporters of President Donald Trump during a pro-Trump rally in Seaside Heights. Police described the incident at the time as minor.

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Moderate threat: Sovereign citizens

Sovereign citizens ideologically reject the legitimacy of governments and have engaged in counterfeiting, unlawful property occupation scams and financial fraud to seize assets and interfere with government business. Last year, police in Rochelle Park pepper-sprayed a man who, after a physical struggle that started when he refused to hand over his license, registration and insurance.

Groups tied to the sovereign citizen movement have also been associated with violence against public officials, including police officers, elsewhere in the U.S.

In a slight change from its 2017 report, the homeland security office downgraded "black separatist extremists" from a moderate threat assessment to a low one.

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Low-level threats

Homeland security officials listed a wide array of groups as presenting a low-level threat.

They include:

• al-Qaida

• al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent

• al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb

• Al-Shabaab

• Animal rights extremists

• Anti-abortion extremists

• Boko Haram

• Environmental extremists

• HAMAS

• Hizballah

• Lashkar-e-Tayyiba

• Nusrah Front

• Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan

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Patrick Rigby, a spokesman for the homeland security office, said the wide range of groups on the annual assessment "reflect the diverse threat environment that we're now operating in."

He said the office this year is "doubling down" on its "see something, say something" campaign to encourage members of the public to report suspicious activity.

"Reporting suspicious behavior could help stop the next incident," Rigby said.

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.