Top law enforcement officials say the biggest domestic terror threat comes from white supremacists.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas testified to senators about the threat of domestic terrorism and extremism, which they both said is often racially or ethically motivated.
“Combating domestic violent extremism and domestic terrorism has long been a core part of the Justice Department’s mission. Immediately upon its founding more than 150 years ago, the department pursued white supremacists who had sought to deny newly freed slaves their rights under the Constitution, including the right to vote. Unfortunately, the horror of domestic violent extremism is still with us. Indeed, the F.B.I. assessed that 2019 was the deadliest year for violent domestic extremism since 1995. In March of this year, the intelligence community, in a report drafted by D.H.S., the F.B.I. and the National Counterterrorism Center, under the auspices of the Director of National Intelligence, assessed that domestic violent extremists pose a elevated threat in 2021. And in the F.B.I.’s view, the top domestic violent extremist threat we face comes from racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white race.” “The terrorism-related threats we face as a nation have significantly evolved since the department’s creation in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The threat landscape is now more complex, more dynamic and more diversified. Today, racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists are the most likely to conduct mass casualty attacks against civilians and anti-government or anti anti-authority violent extremists, specifically militia violent extremists, are the most likely to target law enforcement, government personnel and government facilities. The threats posed by domestic violent extremism are often fueled by false narratives, conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric spread throughout social media and other online platforms.”
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas testified to senators about the threat of domestic terrorism and extremism, which they both said is often racially or ethically motivated.CreditCredit...Pool photo by Alex Wong
By
Eileen Sullivan and
Katie Benner
- Published May 12, 2021Updated June 15, 2021
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas told senators on Wednesday that the greatest
domestic threat facing the United States came from what they both called “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.”
“Specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the white race,” Mr. Garland told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The cabinet secretaries’ comments reflected a dramatic shift in tone from the Trump administration, which deliberately downplayed the threat from white supremacists and similar groups, in part to elevate the profile of what former President Donald J. Trump described as
violent threats from radical left-wing groups.
Last year, a former head of the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence branch
filed a whistle-blower complaint in which he accused the department of blocking a report about the threat of violent extremism and described white supremacists as having been “exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent targeted attacks in recent years.”
Mr. Mayorkas told senators on Wednesday, “The department is taking a new approach to addressing domestic violent extremism, both internally and externally.”
As Mr. Garland and Mr. Mayorkas testified before the Appropriations Committee, former members of the Trump administration told the House Oversight Committee that Mr. Trump’s false claims to have won the 2020 election had fueled the domestic terrorism threat, a point many Republican lawmakers have rejected. Earlier on Wednesday,
House Republicans ousted Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her leadership position for publicly pushing back on Mr. Trump’s claims, in the latest sign of Mr. Trump’s continued hold on the party.
While the Justice and Homeland Security Departments have long been involved in countering violent extremism inside the country, Biden administration officials have said the
Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot at the Capitol showed an urgent need to focus more on domestic extremism.
Senate Republicans did not share that focus on Wednesday and instead grilled Mr. Garland and Mr. Mayorkas on border security issues.
The top Republican on the committee, Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, said that Democrats were politicizing the issue by describing violent domestic extremists as coming from the far right. He equated the Capitol riot to the protests against police violence last summer, and asked Mr. Garland why the Justice Department seemed to be prioritizing pursuing the perpetrators of the Jan. 6 attack over those who looted shops and attacked law enforcement during racial justice protests.
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