How serious was the White Domestic Terrorism threat during the Bush years after 9/11?
“The Secret Service took the unprecedented step of assigning Barack Obama a protective detail in May 2007, mere months into his campaign and long before candidates typically receive protection.”
TL;DR:
- Over the past decade Republicans and later Trump knew about the increase in hate crimes committed by White Supremacists Groups.
- Instead of dealing with the National Security threat, Republicans and Trump took away funding and resources from the FBI and Homeland Security to combat Domestic Terrorism - White Domestic Terrorism
- After Trump took office, he ended Obama’s counterterrorism efforts and “redirected federal resources on Islamist terrorism”
- FBI agents are reluctant to pursue white nationalist extremists because they don't want to target Trump's base, former FBI counterterrorism agent, Dave Gomez
- “Even if there was a crackdown right now, it’s going to take years for the momentum of these groups to fade,” Daryl Johnson, a former senior analyst at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who is a Conservative Republican
“White supremacy is a greater threat than international terrorism right now,” David Hickton, a former U.S. Attorney
The FBI has warned about the rising domestic threat for years, but has not had a receptive audience in the White House. #TrumpBase #TrumpsTerrorists
Daryl Johnson led a six-person group at DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis, began working on a report about the rise of right-wing extremism.
“The Modern Militia Movement” report linked members of these militias to fundamentalist Christian, anti-abortion or anti-immigration movements.
It warned that white nationalists, antigovernment extremists and members of other far-right groups were seizing on the economic crisis and Obama’s ascension to recruit new members. Johnson was preparing to release his report when a similar study by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, meant for law-enforcement officers, was leaked to the public in February 2009.
“The report was pilloried by GOP groups and politicians for singling out conservatives as possible criminals.” #RepublicansTerrorists
Missouri officials warned Johnson about the blowback he could expect for publishing a similar analysis. But Johnson, who describes himself as a conservative Republican, says he thought the DHS lawyers and editors who worked on the report would provide a layer of protection from GOP criticism. “I didn’t think the whole Republican Party would basically throw a hissy fit,” he recalls.
Stats:
- From 2009 through 2018, the far right has been responsible for 73% of domestic extremist-related fatalities, according to a 2019 study by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
- More people–49–were murdered by far-right extremists in the U.S. last year than in any other year since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress in July that a majority of the bureau’s domestic-terrorism investigations since October were linked to white supremacy.
“Over the past decade, multiple attempts to refocus federal resources on the issue have been thwarted. Entire offices meant to coordinate an interagency response to right-wing extremism were funded, staffed and then defunded in the face of legal, constitutional and political concerns.” #WhitePrivilege
Today, FBI officials say just 20% of the bureau’s counterterrorism field agents are focused on domestic probes. This year alone, those agents’ caseload has included an investigation into an Ohio militia allegedly stockpiling explosives to build pipe bombs; a self-professed white-supremacist Coast Guard officer who amassed an arsenal in his apartment in the greater Washington, D.C., area; an attack in April at a synagogue outside San Diego that killed one; and the July 28 assault at a garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif., that killed three. Cesar Sayoc, a 57-year-old man from Florida, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Aug. 5 after pleading guilty to mailing 16 pipe bombs to Democrats and critics of President Donald Trump.
“Then there is the problem of a Commander in Chief whose rhetoric appears to mirror, validate and potentially inspire that of far-right extremists.”
- 'No Blame?' ABC News finds 36 cases invoking 'Trump' in connection with violence, threats, alleged assaults., ABC News
- Counties that hosted a 2016 Trump rally saw a 226 percent increase in hate crimes, Washington Post
- Hate Crime Expert: Crimes Spike Around Trump's Election, Rhetoric, MSNBC
- After El Paso, We Can No Longer Ignore Trump’s Role in Inspiring Mass Shootings, The Intercept
#trump#republicans#gop#mass shootings#domestic terrorism#domestic terrorists#white supremacy#white supermacists#gop base#trump base#militia groups#white militia#trump militia#right wing extremism#far right#neo-nazis#nazis#trumpsterrorists#whitesupremacistinchief#tre45on#counterterrorism#natsec#fbi#homeland security#barack obama#potus44
