New Report Warns of Rising Threat of Domestic Terrorism

Admin
March 18, 2021

Washington [US], March 18 (ANI): The US intelligence in a new report said that there is a rising terror
threat in the country by domestic terrorists, particularly militia groups and white supremacist extremists
after the January 6 riot at the Capitol building.
The report comes after President Joe Biden ordered a sweeping review of domestic terror threats just
days after assuming presidential office. It has been crafted by the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Justice, reported The
Hill.
“Narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of
the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting
violence–will almost certainly spur some [domestic violent extremists] to try to engage in violence this
year,” said the report.
Lone wolf actors and small groups of extremists are most likely to carry out attacks, warning that they
often ‘radicalise independently by consuming violent extremist material online and mobilise without
direction from a violent extremist organisation, making detection and disruption difficult’, said the report.
White supremacist extremists have the most concerning connections outside of the US, because of likeminded views in other countries, the report finds, adding that a “small number of US (racially or
ethnically motivated violent extremists) have traveled abroad to network with like-minded individuals.
The report comes as DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday issued a similar warning to
lawmakers of the risks posed by small groups of extremists, according to The Hill.
“At this point in time, domestic violent extremism, the lone wolf, the loose affiliation of individuals
following ideologies of hate and other ideologies of extremism that are willing and able to take those
ideologies and execute on them in unlawful, illegal, violent ways is our greatest threat in the homeland
right now,” he said.
On January 6, a group of former President Donald Trump’s supporters breached the US Capitol to
protest lawmakers accepting electoral states from several US states that Trump claims were invalid and
robbed him of election victory.
US House Democrats impeached Trump for inciting insurrection, but he was acquitted in the Senate.
Since the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections, Trump had alleged widespread voter fraud and
had led many efforts to overcome the results. (ANI)