The Department of Homeland Security has issued a nationwide terror warning in the United States.
Due to extremist groups, there is currently an "increased threat environment".
The
Department of Homeland Security
of the
United States
has a nationwide on Wednesday (01/27/2021)
Terrorwarnung
proclaimed.
Due to the
storming of the Capitol, there
is currently an “
increased threat environment
”.
Right-wing extremist groups
are seen as a massive
threat
.
Washington DC - The pictures of the
storming of the Capitol *
by radical supporters of
former President Donald Trump
and
right-wing extremist groups
went around the world in early January.
One policeman was killed in the attack.
A total of five people were killed.
By storming the residence of the American Congress, the final
confirmation of Biden's election victory was to be
prevented.
The event illustrated what radical circles among Trump supporters are willing and able to do.
The
US authorities
have now drawn a momentous conclusion three weeks after the storming of the Capitol.
A
nationwide terrorist alert was
issued in light of the January 6th events and warnings of renewed violence
.
The responsible
Ministry of Homeland Security
named the reason for this decision on Wednesday that “ideologically motivated violent extremists” could incite or commit violent acts.
Therefore, there is currently an "
increased threat environment
".
Nationwide terror alert: radical Trump supporters and conspiracy ideologues massive threat
The ministry did not precisely identify the “violent extremists”.
The
terror alert
mentions “ideologically motivated violent extremists who object to the exercise of government authority and the handover of the presidency”.
There is also talk of extremists who are spurred on by misinformation.
Two indirect descriptions by
radical Trump supporters
and
conspiracy ideologues
.
Since the storming of the Capitol, new
excesses of violence
by
right-wing extremist militias and supporters of conspiracy theories have been
feared.
According to the Ministry of Homeland Security, there is currently no indication of impending attacks, but there is still an "increased threat environment" throughout the country.
In the next few weeks and months, therefore, there may be new violence.
Therefore, the
terror warning
applies
up to and including April
.
Today Acting Secretary Pekoske issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin: https://t.co/e1vnghZulO.
There is currently a heightened threat environment across the US that is likely to persist over the coming weeks.
- Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 27, 2021
Domestic terror: increased violence from extremist circles
Attacks on politicians and government buildings
are
particularly
feared by the ministry.
The events on January 6th could
motivate
extremists
to do so.
Already last year there was increased violence by extremist circles in the country.
The main triggers in these cases were frustration with the
Corona *
measures
, the
outcome of the presidential election *
in November and individual cases of
police violence
.
Due to the excess of violence at the beginning of this year, the
inauguration of the new President Joe Biden *
was
carried out
under the strictest
security precautions
.
Around 25,000 National Guardsmen were deployed in
Washington DC
and protect the largely cordoned off Congress.
According to the
New York Times
, an intelligence official who was involved in the decision to issue the terrorist alert said that the peaceful inauguration could create a false sense of security: "The intention to use violence" has "not disappeared."
Donald Trump: downplaying right-wing violence during his presidency
During
Donald Trump's tenure
, the threat posed by extremist groups domestically was downplayed.
For example, after the deadly extremist
protest in Charlottesville Virginia *
in 2017,
Donald Trump said
that there were “very good people on both sides”.
Last year, in the course of the
Black Lives Matter
movement,
Donald Trump declared
the “radical left” to be the real threat, while he did not denounce right-wing extremist groups.
Even after the
Department of
Homeland Security named
right-wing extremist groups as the primary threat to
domestic
security
in September 2019
, ex-President
Trump *
did not change course.
In this context, there are currently even allegations that individual secret service employees have been urged to emphasize the threat posed by the left and to downplay the danger posed by right-wing extremist groups.
Terror warning: Storming of the Capitol and mass murder in El Paso
In addition to the
storming of the Capitol
, a
mass shooting in El Paso
, which was directed against Hispanic residents, was
carried out for the declaration of the terror warning
.
According to the Ministry of Homeland Security, both events clearly show that the currently racist extremist group
poses
the greatest threat to
internal security
.
National security: domestic and foreign terrorists
After the
terrorist attack of September 11, 2001
, predominantly foreign terrorists were seen as a threat to internal security.
Over the years, however, this shifted to an increased perception of radical groups domestically as a serious threat.
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