April 14, 2009 3:38 PM

DHS Report Warns Of Right Wing Extremists

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
In The News
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Conservatives are up in arms about a report from the Department Of Homeland Security entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic And Political Climate Fueling Resurgence In Radicalization And Recruitment." (Here it is, in PDF form.)

The report is "one of the most embarrassingly shoddy pieces of propaganda I'd ever read out of DHS," writes Michelle Malkin, who deems it a "piece of crap report" that serves as "a sweeping indictment of conservatives."

Coverage of the report presently occupies both the top spot on the Drudge Report and a prime second location on the site, where it comes with a picture of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and the words "SHE IS WATCHING YOU."

The "Key Findings" section of the report opens with these words: "The DHS/Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) has no specific information that domestic rightwing* terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment."

More from the report:
  • Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans likely would attract new members into the ranks of rightwing extremist groups, as well as potentially spur some of them to begin planning and training for violence against the government. The high volume of purchases and stockpiling of weapons and ammunition by rightwing extremists in anticipation of restrictions and bans in some parts of the country continue to be a primary concern to law enforcement.

  • Rightwing extremist chatter on the Internet continues to focus on the economy, the perceived loss of U.S. jobs in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and home foreclosures. Anti-Semitic extremists attribute these losses to a deliberate conspiracy conducted by a cabal of Jewish "financial elites." These "accusatory" tactics are employed to draw new recruits into rightwing extremist groups and further radicalize
    those already subscribing to extremist beliefs.

  • DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremist groups' frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence.

  • Rightwing extremist paranoia of foreign regimes could escalate or be magnified in the event of an economic crisis or military confrontation, harkening back to the "New World Order" conspiracy theories of the 1990s.
    • DHS, as Fox News notes, pointed out in response to critics that it released a similar report about left-wing extremists in January.

    "This is the job of DHS, to assess what is happening in this country, with regard to homegrown terrorism, and determine whether it's an actual threat or not, and that's what these assessments do," an official said. "This is nothing unusual. These assessments are done all the time. This is about awareness."

    Think Progress also points out that the Department of Energy released a report in 2001 entitled "Left-Wing Extremism: The Current Threat."

    Malkin writes in response that the previous reports "have always been very specific in identifying the exact groups, causes, and targets of domestic terrorism." In this report, she argues, there is no such specific threat – and, she adds, "no hackneyed left-wing stereotype of conservatives left behind."

    As The Washington Times reports, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro, asked about the report, said this: "The president is focused not on politics but rather taking the steps necessary to protect all Americans from the threat of violence and terrorism regardless of its origins."

    Homeland Security spokeswoman Sara Kuban, meanwhile, told the paper that the report is part of a series designed to "facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the U.S."

    She also noted that "These types of reports are published all the time."

    Past terrorists who could be labeled right-wing extremists include Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who were convicted of bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and Eric Rudolph, who confessed to bombing a gay bar, abortion clinic, and Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.

    Add a Comment See all 191 Comments
    by Michigander007 June 24, 2009 8:59 PM EDT
    If the DHS had written a report about Left Wing radicals on the rise, you know the press would be screaming "McCarthyism!!!"
    Reply to this comment
    by quark01 April 15, 2009 10:44 PM EDT
    What concerns me most is this statement: "rightwing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat." Google "Terrorist training camps in the U.S." and see who's operating them. If DHS (and Congress) think the biggest threat is the rightwing, that implies they know nothing about Jihadist camps right here in America!?? How can we ask foreign countries like Pakistan to shut down their camps when we allow them to continue operating on our own soil? How can we call the ?greatest? threat rightwing Americans when the report is full of speculation on what ?may? or ?could? increase recruitment, while Jihadist camps are operating in full swing across the nation? How can they afford the effort to worry about what "may" be when they should be countering know threats right here on U.S. soil?

    I?ve written all of my representatives expressing my concern over the Islamic training camps. I suggest everyone reading this do the same. Our nation?s resources should be directed toward addressing known threats, not making up threats based on very, very poor evidence.
    Reply to this comment
    by chitown639 April 15, 2009 3:19 PM EDT
    Of course, as usual, I am right. When the majority lets 29% of voting age Americans elect, you see what we got. A freaking arabic/muslim communist.

    I don't suppose we'll be making that mistake ever again.
    Posted by Rowdy106

    LMAO!!!!!

    That's HILARIOUS!!!

    Rowdy,

    Are you sure you don't work for the Obama campaign or the DNC, because your posts always portrays the conservatives in such a wickedly bad light. You've probably done more with your posts to get Obama and the other Democrats elected than all of us combined.

    As long as we have Republicans like Rowdy consistently alienating groups of Americans, the Democrats will stay in power.....thanks for all your hard work, Rowdy!!!!
    Reply to this comment
    by flreason April 15, 2009 1:24 PM EDT
    Rowdy,

    You choose to ignore the critical mass of jobs that were/are being exported to maximize Wall Street gains and inflate CEOs salaries. Companies move their headquarters off-shore to further avoid taxes that support the infrastructure that allows them to do business here. The majority of Americans have progressively seen their pay and standard of living stagnate or deteriorate over the last two decades. And don't get me going on the theft of Social Security funds that began in the Nixon Administration.

    Neocons did a great job of convincing Americans that all taxes are evil. They told us that government services are inefficient and should be privatized. Of course, when you do that, you also remove a lot of the accountability. Corporate schools, operated for profit, can be opened quickly and closed when the profit margin narrows. Ditto for utilities, road maintenance, health care, etc., etc., etc.

    You can't destroy an economy the size of ours in less than two years. If you have half a brain you know that. So I can only assume that you are a corporate troll, or that you have been deluded into thinking that corporations have your best interests at heart. Unregulated capitalism will always justify the sacrifice of freedoms and public good to the personal interest of profit. Ditto for unchecked bureaucracies. Americans' collective interests are served best by public officials who are willing to sacrifice their personal interest for the good of the Republic. It isn't coincidental that most of the Founding Fathers lost personal fortunes to gain our freedoms.

    "Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains." T. Jefferson
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 April 15, 2009 1:10 PM EDT
    "...This report is yet another transparent attempt with no factual documentation to scare the average citizen into believing that the right is the one to fear..." Posted by historydude2

    Fear? you must be kidding, no one is afraid of a bunch of fairies in white robes, those days are gone, and will never return. It is just a heads up to those who advocated their garbage in the first place that should they survive any racially motivated confrontation they spark, the Government, for the first time in history, won't be on their side.

    It is the neos that should be afraid.
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 April 15, 2009 1:01 PM EDT
    "...Bernanke and Geither meet secretly with Congress on Septembere 15th and convinced them of their nice HOAX. Was Bernanke/Geither and Congress that insisted this HAD to be done." Posted by Rowdy106

    LOL! So now the great BSE Rowdy is privy to information that the rest of America isn't, positing secret meetings without any evidence, but still claiming it as truth.

    You know there are vaccinations for this, you should have taken your shots a few years ago, now I fear it is too late.
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 April 15, 2009 12:58 PM EDT
    "I don't suppose we'll be making that mistake ever again."
    Posted by Rowdy106

    It is great when you make predictions, as you have been 100% wrong so far, that means we can look forward to at least 8 years of Obama, perhaps four of Biden, then, who knows, maybe yet another (dare I say it? Dare, dare.) another Black President.
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 April 15, 2009 12:55 PM EDT
    Posted by historydude2

    You must have missed the plethora of articles that came out as Mr. Obama was about to be elected, quoting the Grand Sphincter of the kkk and others of such ilk, advocating just the very thing that the DHS is warning about.

    Maybe you haven't seen the posters on these threads, like Ol' BSE Rowdy positing such drivel, and even yourself, who implies you have not seen such. You may be the only one who hasn't.
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 April 15, 2009 12:49 PM EDT
    " Well, NO, the majority of Americans as we speak are recognizing the sociopathic narcissistic MORON that 29% of voting age Americans put in the White House...." Posted by Rowdy106

    As usual, three months late, three dollars short, and again completely wrong. a majority of people who actually voted put him in, those who didn't vote don't count, it is the law.

    Oh yeah, I sometimes forget how the neos don't recognize law when it is not on their side.

    Do you get paid by the neocons to be so consistently wrong? A normal person would be embarrassed... Oh, right...
    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 April 15, 2009 12:43 PM EDT
    "... Yes, I KNOW he wasn't elected yet. Was really nice of Geithner and Bernanke to manufacture an economic crisis HOAX right before the election wasn't it?" Posted by Rowdy106

    Nope it wasn't nice, but hey, they were just following Bush's orders.

    Whats the matter, the sponge getting soft?
    Reply to this comment
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