U.S. Police, Security Forces Brace for Trump Impeachment Trial
“They still have determined that there is a currently heightened threat environment across the United States, and that’s likely to persist over the coming weeks,” Kirby said. “That certainly applies to the capital region.”
Much of the concern seems to be focused on the potential for lawful protests to be manipulated by individuals whom officials describe as malicious actors, bent on causing violence and chaos.
“We remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes … could continue to mobilize,” DHS said in a statement last week, explaining why it issued a new a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin.
The bulletin further warned that violent domestic extremists “may be emboldened by the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to target elected officials and government facilities.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer for the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks extremist groups in the U.S., told lawmakers Thursday that for white supremacists in particular, the siege of the U.S. Capitol was a “watershed moment.”
“For them, the sight of congressmen and women cowering under tables, Confederate flags and Nazi symbols being paraded through the building was nothing short of a victory,” Greenblatt told members of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Other experts worry that there could be a danger from individuals who, while not yet extremists, continue to grieve Trump’s loss in the presidential election.
“You have such a large group of people that are unaffiliated with these terrorist movements or terrorist organizations, but they’re very vulnerable right now,” said Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention at DHS.
“We actively see neo-Nazis recruiting Trump supporters to their ideology,” she said. “They’re very sophisticated in how they do it — they don’t come right at you. You don’t necessarily know you’re talking to a white supremacist.”
There are also ongoing concerns that some countries are seeking to use their influence to cause problems.
“Our foreign adversaries, Russia in particular, are deploying decades-old tools of covert action to fan the flames of cultural conflict here,” said Rodriguez, of D.C.’s Homeland Security agency.
State officials have voiced similar concerns, going back to before Biden’s inauguration or even the siege of the U.S. Capitol.
“There’s this incredible and horrible convergence, quite frankly, of ideology, of hate, of anger. And it’s all being driven at this kind of causing chaos and concern from a variety of groups,” Jared Maples, director of New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, told VOA last month.
Jeff Seldin is VOA national security reporter. VOA’s Masood Farivar contributed to this report.This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA).
