U.S. authorities have issued their first warning of an increased threat from domestic extremists that, while not identifying a specific plan or group, clearly points to the threat of violence inspired by the January 6 storming of the Capitol and false claims that former President Donald Trump had won. in the elections in November.
As reported by Radio Free Europe (RSE) today, the writing of world media, the Americans were recently sent a rare warning about terrorism, which for the first time attributed the danger to violent domestic extremists, and not from abroad, writes the Times.
While the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) warning about an increased threat in the coming weeks from "ideologically motivated violent extremists" did not list a specific plan for violence, it indicated that some individuals may have been "emboldened by the January 6 storming of the Capitol building to attack elected officials and government facilities".
Many of those involved in the attack on the Capitol were Trump supporters who, according to the Times, believed his widely disputed claims that he had won the November election.
The "violent domestic extremists" mentioned in the DHS report are driving "a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the results of the 2020 election and the use of police force," as well as "long-standing racial and ethnic tensions, including opposition to immigration."
Researchers who monitor extremism and some members of the congressional staff say there are concerns about possible violence in connection with the impeachment proceedings of former President Trump, as well as in connection with March 4, which was originally the inauguration day of the new US president according to the Constitution, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Cuannon conspiracy theorists say March 4 could be the day Trump becomes president again.
The DHS report said violent extremists are being driven by "false narratives," which, the paper points out, is a clear nod to the conspiracy theories that motivated many of those who stormed the Capitol.
Many of them are Cunon followers who believe that Trump did not lose the election.
Researchers from the Soufan Group, which monitors extremism, say that since the Jan. 6 riots, far-right groups have been using increasingly violent rhetoric in online conversations, exchanging bomb-making materials and guerrilla tactics, calling for an asymmetric war with the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and DHS have publicly stated that domestic extremists, especially white supremacists, pose the most lethal threat in the US, based on multiple ideologically motivated killings in recent years, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Among so-called domestic violent extremists, white supremacists carried out half of all fatal attacks in 2018 and 2019 — eight out of 16, according to DHS.
DHS intelligence officials proposed releasing the report ahead of Joseph Biden's inauguration, but leaders at the time rejected it because of a lack of credible and concrete intelligence, according to people familiar with the discussions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The DHS warning is a significant change for the department, which during the previous administration was accused of being against releasing intelligence reports or public warnings about threats from domestic extremists and white supremacist groups fearful of Trump, the New York Times wrote, citing current and former national security officials.
When DHS singled out white supremacists as the top domestic terrorist threat in September 2019, analysts and officials say their warnings were watered down or delayed.
Former officials in the Trump administration also said that people from the White House asked that the phrase "domestic terrorism" be omitted.
While Wednesday's terror alert did not name specific groups that could be behind future attacks, it made clear that their motivations include anger at the change of president, as well as other alleged injustices fueled by false narratives, which the paper points out is a clear reference to allegations that the election was rigged by Trump and repeated by right-wing groups.
The report cites a number of reasons that cause dissatisfaction across the political spectrum, but, the newspaper points out, the warning with a specific reference to the attack on January 6, as well as the attack in El Paso on Hispanic Americans in 2019 in which 23 people were killed, made it clear that currently the deadliest threat comes from racist extremist groups.
DHS said it had no information indicating a specific plan for an attack and the alert was categorized as a warning about trends in terrorism rather than a warning of an imminent attack, according to the New York Times.
The paper added that an official involved in the drafting of the report said it concluded that a peaceful inauguration on January 20 could create a false sense of security as "the intent to engage in violence has not disappeared" among extremists angry over the outcome of the election.
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