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White supremacism is the 'deadliest threat' to the US, according to preliminary assessment by the Department of Homeland Security

2020-09-08T22:15:20.475Z


The most recent draft of a Department of Homeland Security report predicts a "high threat environment at least until" early next year, and concludes that some extremists see ...


(CNN) -

White supremacists will continue to be the most "persistent and deadly" threat in the United States through 2021, according to preliminary documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The most recent draft of a report predicts a "high threat environment at least until" early next year, and concludes that some violent extremists based in the United States have capitalized on rising social and political tensions in 2020.

Although foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for attacks on the United States, the report says, "they will likely remain limited in their ability to direct such schemes over the next year."

The threat assessment - which also warns of ongoing disinformation efforts by Russia - is especially noteworthy as President Donald Trump has often employed racially provocative tactics in his quest for re-election and frequently downplayed the threat of white supremacists during his tenure.

The Trump administration has portrayed Antifa and anarchists as one of the main threats to the country, and the president tweeted this summer that the United States will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.

Recently released draft reports, which were published by Lawfare's editor-in-chief Benjamin Wittes and first reported by Politico, assess a number of threats, including cyber threats, foreign influence and irregular migration.

All three drafts claim that white supremacist extremists are the deadliest threat.

However, the location and language for referring to white supremacism in three versions of the DHS draft documents differ slightly.

The first available version of the drafts of the "2020 State Threat Assessment to the Homeland" reads: "We believe that ideologically motivated lone criminals and small groups will represent the greatest terrorist threat to the Homeland until 2021, and supremacist extremists targets will present the deadliest threat. '

The main section on terrorist threats to the homeland has a change in the last two drafts, where it replaces "white supremacist extremists" with "Domestic Violent Extremists posing the most persistent and deadly threat."

Twitter removes account of supremacists who incited violence 0:43

However, all reports contain this language: “Among DVEs (violent domestic extremists), we judge that white supremacist extremists (WSEs) will remain the most persistent and deadly threat in the Homeland until 2021 ».

Wittes published the documents because he wanted there to be a "benchmark on what career people at DHS actually assessed (about) the threats against" the final product the department publishes.

Wittes told CNN that "the most surprising thing is (that) in this political atmosphere they said what they said," meaning that white supremacist violence is the threat they are most concerned about.

I don't want to criticize them when that language is there.

That said, it is somewhat different in the first draft than in the next two and I think the nature of the change is remarkable as a reflection of the political pressure they are under, "he said.

CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.

The final 2020 threat assessment has not been made public.

The 2020 draft report also finds that actors affiliated with the Russian state will continue to target American industry and all levels of government with "intrusive cyber espionage."

According to the draft, China and Russia are the most capable cyber adversaries within the nation-state category, but Iran and North Korea also pose a threat to the United States.

One of the "key conclusions" of the report is that "Russia will likely be the main actor of covert foreign influence and provider of misinformation and misinformation in the Homeland."

Moscow's main goal is to undermine the American electoral process and weaken the United States.

Some disinformation linked to the Kremlin could also motivate acts of violence in the United States, says the draft report.

Trump has regularly downplayed the threat of violence from white supremacists during his presidency, especially when he said there were some "good people" among the extremists who provoked the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. He also called Blacks Lives Matter a "Symbol of hatred" and has regularly promoted narratives on Twitter that emphasize violence against white Americans as he seeks support in the suburbs.

His government officials, however, have warned against white supremacist extremism.

Last year, CNN reported that White House officials rebuffed the efforts of their DHS colleagues for more than a year to make fighting domestic terrorist threats, such as those from white supremacists, a higher priority, such as it is specifically explained in the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Then-Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said last year that white supremacist extremism is one of the "most powerful ideologies" driving violence in the United States when he published the department's counterterrorism strategy, outlining the threats. ongoing foreign terrorism and focusing on domestic terrorist threats, particularly white supremacism.

"In our modern age, the continuing threat of racially based violent extremism, particularly white supremacist extremism, is an abominable affront to the nation, the struggle, and the unity of its diverse population," he said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. almost a year ago.

The threat assessment was prompted by a 2019 DHS counterterrorism strategy that required annual reports to inform government officials and the public.

white supremacists internal terrorism

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-09-08

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