Domestic terrorism a growing U.S. threat
Lawmakers hear chilling warnings about a ‘high likelihood’ of violence
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers are coming to grips with what experts warned Thursday is a dangerous and escalating threat of homegrown violent extremism following last month’s riots on Capitol Hill.
Members of the House committee on homeland security heard chilling warnings about a “high likelihood” of domestic terror attacks fuelled by the divisions that were on such stark display on Jan. 6.
That date was an inflection point in the nature of the terror threats faced by the U.S., said Elizabeth Neumann, a counterterrorism expert and former Department of Homeland Security official.
Prior to the riots, terrorism was largely an international threat, Neumann said. Afterward, it became a domestic one.
“There is a high likelihood of violence in the coming months on a range of softer targets associated with their perception of the deep state, including infrastructure, mainstream media, law enforcement, big tech and elected officials,” Neumann told the committee.
“Sadly, I do believe that we will be fighting domestic terrorism that has its roots and inspiration points from Jan. 6 for the next 10 to 20 years.”
Neumann called it “paramount” that Congress establish a bipartisan commission on domestic terrorism to establish a “shared understanding” of the threat and to prevent discussions from being co-opted and manipulated by the very people they are meant to target.
Extremist ideology, she said, has been “mainstreamed and normalized” as a result of political rhetoric, conspiracy theories and social media communications that exploit humour and memes “to mask the danger of those ideas present.”
On Wednesday, Canada got out ahead of that idea when the federal government designated the white-supremacist Proud Boys, who played a prominent role in last month’s storming of the Capitol, as a terrorist organization.
Also among the 13 groups added to the list were The Base, the Atomwaffen Division and the Russian Imperial Movement, all described as neo-nazi and white-supremacy organizations.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-defamation League, laid the blame for the rise of right-wing extremism squarely at the feet of former president Donald Trump and the social media platforms that have provided shelter to dangerous rhetoric.
“No longer does a person have to decamp to a clandestine compound in the woods; today, you can find hate 24-7 with just a few clicks on your phone,” Greenblatt said.
Of the 17 U.S. deaths last year that the ADL has tied to extremist activity, 16 of them were caused by groups or individuals espousing a right-wing ideology, he added.
Greenblatt called the Capitol riots “the most predictable terror attack in American history” and a “watershed moment” for the U.S. white-supremacy movement.