Category: domestic terrorism

DHS Official Defends Monitoring Trucker Protests, Linking Terrorism to Misinfo

Recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decisions to monitor trucker protests and link domestic terrorism to misinformation have prompted backlash from some conservatives and civil libertarians, but DHS Counterterrorism Coordinator John Cohen defended his department’s actions at a Feb. 15 online event. The DHS’s Feb. 7 bulletin warned of a heightened terrorism threat because of…


Congressional Committee Presented With Incomplete Terrorism Data

House Homeland Security Committee members were told at a Feb. 2 hearing that right-wing violent extremism represents the greatest terrorism threat to the country. The evidence presented? A study that tracked terrorism plots and attacks in the United States from January 1994 to May 2020—the month left-wing violence began erupting around the country in response…


Contradicting the DHS, DOJ Repeats Unfounded Claim of Rising School Board Violence

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said during the Jan. 11 congressional hearing on domestic terrorism that there has been an increase in violence against educators—directly contradicting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data. The Jan. 11 congressional hearing captured headlines due to Department of Justice (DOJ) officials refusing to answer questions about Ray Epps, the controversial…


Justice Department Makes Special Unit to Tackle Domestic Terrorism

The Justice Department is establishing a specialized unit focused on domestic terrorism, its top national security official said Tuesday. Matthew Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the department’s National Security Division, told a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that, based on the assessment of the Intelligence Community, the United States faces “an elevated threat…


Justice Department Creates Special Unit to Tackle Domestic Terrorism

The Justice Department is establishing a specialized unit focused on domestic terrorism, its top national security official said Tuesday. Matthew Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the department’s National Security Division, told a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that, based on the assessment of the Intelligence Community, the United States faces “an elevated threat…


Georgia School Boards Association Withdraws From National Group Over ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Letter

The Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) has joined a growing list of state chapters severing ties from the National School Board Association (NSBA) after the national group called for federal intervention in parental protests. In a widely criticized Sept. 29 letter to President Joe Biden, the NSBA characterized disruptions at school board meetings as “a…


The Significance of FBI Whistleblower Documents on Parents and Domestic Terrorism: Marc Ruskin

FBI documents apparently leaked by a bureau whistleblower suggest that federal law enforcement is treating threats against school board members as potential acts of domestic terrorism. Retired FBI agent Marc Ruskin spoke with The Epoch Times about what the documents mean and why they matter. Though the FBI whistleblower’s revelations have sparked outrage by parents,…


From Nixon to Biden, U.S. Domestic Counterterrorism Policy Plagued by Politics: Historians

The Biden administration’s assessment that domestic violent extremism is one of the greatest threats facing the United States isn’t the first time the federal government has made such a declaration. Some 50 years ago, President Richard Nixon made a similar statement, deeming “revolutionary terrorism” as the gravest threat facing the homeland. Counterterrorism historians discussed the…


From Nixon to Biden, US Domestic Counterterrorism Policy Plagued by Politics: Historians

The Biden administration’s assessment that domestic violent extremism is one of the greatest threats facing the United States isn’t the first time the federal government has made such a declaration. Some 50 years ago, President Richard Nixon made a similar statement, deeming “revolutionary terrorism” as the gravest threat facing the homeland. Counterterrorism historians discussed the…


AG Garland: School Board ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Letter Underpinned Decision to Launch Probe

On Oct. 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland launched an investigation into violence against educators, declaring that there has been a “disturbing spike” in threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff in recent months. According to information revealed on Oct. 21 during a House Committee on the Judiciary oversight hearing, Garland’s assertion…