U.S. intelligence agencies believe domestic terrorism poses an “increased threat” to the homeland in 2021, and predict in a new joint report that social and political factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, and ” an encouraging impact of the violent intrusion on the American Capitol ” will almost certainly be. “incites violent extremists to engage in further violence.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on Wednesday issued an unclassified summary of a joint assessment of the threat to national security by violent extremism.
The comprehensive threat assessment provided to the White House and Congress by ODNI, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security is led by President Biden, who requested the report following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol .
The ODNI official sent the full classified report – described by an ODNI official as a ‘facts-based analysis’ that can communicate strategy and policy development – to the White House and Congress.
On the same day, DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called domestic violent extremism the ‘biggest’ and ‘most persistent’ threat to the fatherland.
Newer socio-political developments – such as stories of fraud in the recent general election, the encouraging impact of the violent capitulation of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and conspiracy theories promoting violence – are likely to spur some ( household) violent extremists) to try to use violence this year, ”reads the unclassified summary.
The report separates domestic violent extremists into different groups, including racist or ethnically motivated extremists, anti-government extremists, animal rights and environmental extremists, and abortion-related extremists.
Intelligence agencies found that violent extremists and militarily violent extremists were racially or ethnically motivated as the “most deadly threats.” According to the unclassified summary, it was determined that most moderate extremists would give rise to massive casualties against civilians. In contrast, the threat assessment found that militarily violent extremists usually target law enforcement and government personnel and facilities.
In some cases, white supremacists have built networks of support outside the U.S., revealing the unclassified summary and adding a “small number” to travel to the “network of like-minded individuals.”
Social media platforms, including smaller sites and encrypted chat applications, have been identified as emerging tools for recruiting, planning, and distributing material that ultimately contributes to violent acts.
The review also noted that “lone perpetrators” or “small cells” of violent extremists who adhere to different ideologies are more likely to carry out violent attacks than organizations that adhere to a particular ideology.
Mayorkas appeared before Congress on Tuesday, warning that extremists who are lone wolves explicitly “loose” with ideologies of hatred and extremism “are prepared to execute them in illegal, violent and illegal ways.”
According to an ODNI official, the full classified assessment was coordinated across the entire intelligence community and law enforcement, used by government and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate.
House Speaker Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, in a statement underlined the “transnational element to the threat of domestic violent extremism.”
“The threat of white nationalism in particular has become a worldwide phenomenon,” he said.
Schiff called Wednesday’s assessment “a good first step” but called on intelligence agencies to release additional details as ordered by Congress, including “specific information on incidents, investigations, prosecutions, analysis, prioritization, staffing”. and resources’.
According to an ODNI official, the full classified assessment was coordinated across the entire intelligence community and law enforcement, used by government and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate.
Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.