The Department of Justice has been publishing incomplete and conflicting data on domestic terrorism, thwarting effective policymaking and accountability on an issue it claims to prioritize. In December, the Brennan Center sent a letter to the department urging it to augment its data collection methods to ensure more accurate reporting in the future.
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that month, FBI Director Christopher Wray repeated what has become a Justice Department mantra since the al-Qaeda terror attacks on September 11, 2001: “Protecting the American people from terrorism remains the FBI’s number one priority.” Certainly, international terrorism remains a danger. But Congress and the American public have increasingly raised concerns about a seemingly deficient response to white supremacist and far-right militant violence, pointing to a series of white supremacist mass killings in Charleston, South Carolina; El Paso, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York, as well as white supremacist riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Though the Biden administration in 2021 described domestic terrorism as “the most urgent terrorism threat the United States faces today,” the DOJ and the FBI have failed to provide accurate data regarding their use of counterterrorism resources to ensure they are targeting the greatest threats. In his testimony, for instance, Wray indicated that though the bureau has doubled the number of domestic terrorism investigations since 2020, primarily against groups the FBI categorizes as “racially motivated violent extremists” and “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists,” it still considers “homegrown violent extremists” — typically Muslim Americans it treats as foreign terrorists — as the greater threat.
In a report submitted to Congress last June, the FBI said it did not know how many domestic terrorism incidents occur in the United States each year, nor the total number of fatalities resulting from these attacks. The FBI further indicated it could not detail the number or type of successful domestic terrorism prosecutions that result from its investigations, producing instead a selective list of examples.
One might think that keeping complete and accurate data about domestic terrorism incidents, particularly ones resulting in fatalities, would be essential to assessing threats and ensuring that resources are distributed properly to address the most serious and deadly perpetrators. Tracking domestic terrorism prosecutions would ensure that investigative resources are properly targeted at genuine threats. But it has proven surprisingly difficult to detail the scope of racist violence in the United States and the Justice Department’s use of domestic terrorism resources.
You see, the problem is that white supremacists have long since infiltrated the ranks of the FBI and other DOJ agencies and telling on terrorists that you work with is just so AWKWARD!
So is admitting that many if not even MOST of your convictions on terrorism charges are protesters getting in the way of corporate profits and other people who aren’t actually terrorists, whereas most white supremacist are either convicted on lesser charges or walk away scott free. Totally AWKS!
This is just speculation, of course, but if I was a betting man, I would be a man who bets.
Fuck you mean infiltrated? They were FOUNDED by white supremacists. J Edgar Hoover was a blatant paranoid racist. Police forces were created to catch runaway slaves.
This country was founded on facism, racism, genocide and slavery. In its entire history it has never tried to amend any of it. So why would they stop terrorizing now when that’s how they’ve functioned since it’s inception?
Only difference now is this shit actually impacting white ppl
Not only speculation, but wild speculation. I wish you were a betting man, too
Nah, there’s actually extensive documentation of white supremacists infiltrating law enforcement including the FBI.
It’s also a fact that protesters are charged with terrorism in spite of not being terrorists.
As for white supremacist domestic terrorists getting off on lesser charges or scot free, you need look no further than the kid gloves the vast majority of the Jan 6 insurrectionists are treated with.
It’s in the military, too. Which tbh isn’t all that surprising, considering that Fox became the default mess hall news channel at the vast majority of bases quite a while ago.
The military isn’t conservative because of Fox News. It’s conservative because most militaries are conservative institutions by nature.
By design, they are hierarchical systems with a rigid chain of command and it would be unusual if that type of organization didn’t primarily attract people more conservative in nature.
None of that is inherently negative, or positive. It’s just an objective statement of fact.
Breh modern US police forces have a direct lineage to slave catchers. I know we’re talking pedantics at this point but I genuinely think founded is the more appropriate word.
Oh you were replying to the other one got it my bad.