Homeland Security warns of further US terror risk
In this file photo taken on January 17, 2021, a member of the Boogaloo Boys stands armed with an assault rifle, gas mask and combat helmet outside of the Oregon State Capitol building in Salem, during a nationwide protest called by anti-government and far-right groups supporting Donald Trump.
The US Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin on Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election, suggesting the January 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks.
The department did not cite any specific plots, but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden’s inauguration.
It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins about the prospect for violence tied to a particular event or date.
But this bulletin, issued through the department’s National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively drags the Biden administration into the politically-charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology, and suggests it regards violence like the kind that overwhelmed the Capitol as akin to terrorism.
The bulletin is an indication national security officials see a thread between different episodes of violence in the last year motivated by anti-government grievances, including over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results and police use of force. The document singles out crimes motivated by racial or ethnic hatred, such as the 2019 rampage targeting Hispanics in El Paso, Texas, as well as the threat posed by extremists motivated by foreign terror groups.
A DHS statement that accompanied the bulletin noted the potential for violence from “a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors.”
“Information suggests some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” the bulletin said.
