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The Associated Press set out to examine the paths and mechanics of radicalization through case studies on two continents. One involves a 20-year-old man rescued from a Taliban training camp on Afghanistan’s border.
FILE – This photo provided by Polk County (Iowa) Jail shows Doug Jensen. Authorities have arrested Jensen from Des Moines, Iowa, who allegedly took part in the riot at the U.S. Capitol building by supporters of President Donald Trump. America met Jensen via a video that ricocheted across the Internet that turned an officer into a hero and laid bare the mob mentality inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. (Polk County (Iowa) Jail via AP) 
FILE – In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, smoke fills the walkway outside the Senate Chamber as supporters of President Donald Trump, including Doug Jensen, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers inside the Capitol in Washington. America met Jensen via a video that ricocheted across the Internet that turned an officer into a hero and laid bare the mob mentality inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) 
FILE – In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, center, confront U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington. America met Jensen via a video that ricocheted across the Internet that turned an officer into a hero and laid bare the mob mentality inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) 
Renovation work is going on at the historical Mahabat Khan mosque, in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Wahab, the youngest son of four from a wealthy Pakistani family was rescued by his uncle, from a Taliban training camp on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan earlier this year. His uncle blamed his slide to radicalization on the neighborhood teens Wahab socialized with in their northwest Pakistan hometown, plus video games and Internet sites that his friends introduced to him. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 
Students of an Islamic seminary play with soccer ball in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021. Wahab, the youngest son of four from a wealthy Pakistani family was rescued by his uncle, from a Taliban training camp on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan earlier this year. His uncle blamed his slide to radicalization on the neighborhood teens Wahab socialized with in their northwest Pakistan hometown, plus video games and Internet sites his friends introduced to him. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 
People walk while vehicle move through historical Khyber Pass in Jamrud, the main town of Pakistan’s Khyber district bordering Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. Wahab, the youngest son of four from a wealthy Pakistani family was rescued by his uncle, from a Taliban training camp on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan earlier this year. His uncle blamed his slide to radicalization on the neighborhood teens Wahab socialized with in their northwest Pakistan hometown, plus video games and Internet sites his friends introduced to him. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 
People and motorcyclists drive through Qissa Khwani market in the downtown of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. Wahab, the youngest son of four from a wealthy Pakistani family was rescued by his uncle, from a Taliban training camp on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan earlier this year. His uncle blamed his slide to radicalization on the neighborhood teens Wahab socialized with in their northwest Pakistan hometown, plus video games and Internet sites his friends introduced to him. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
The other is an Iowa man whose brother watched him fall sway to nonsensical conspiracy theories and ultimately play a visible role in the mob of Donald Trump loyalists that stormed the Capitol.
Though the stories are different, experts say there are similarities that span ethnicities and geography in terms of how people gravitate toward extremist ideologies.
