EXTREMISMDomestic Violent Extremism within DHS

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas created a working group consisting of senior DHS officials to conducted a comprehensive review of how to best prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism within the Department of Homeland Security.

Here are two sections from the working group’s report:

Current Domestic Violent Extremism Threat Landscape
A March 2021 unclassified threat assessment prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Department of Justice, and DHS, noted that domestic violent extremists “who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the Homeland in 2021.”(1) The assessment pointed to newer “sociopolitical developments such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence” that “will almost certainly spur some [domestic violent extremists] [sic] to try to engage in violence this year.”(2)

Executive Summary
At Secretary Mayorkas’ direction, a cross-Departmental working group of senior officials conducted a comprehensive review of how to best prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Department’s Chief Security Officer led the Domestic Violent Extremism Internal Review Working Group (Working Group), which included experts from across the Department, including from DHS oversight offices. The Working Group also consulted with several interagency partners during the course of its review.

The Working Group found very few instances of the DHS workforce having been engaged in domestic violent extremism. However, the Working Group assessed that the Department has significant gaps that have impeded its ability to comprehensively prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism within DHS. These gaps, which the Department is working with urgency to close, may have impacted DHS officials’ ability to adequately identify and address related threats, and include the following:

·  a lack of an official definition of “domestic violent extremist,” guidance as to what constitutes violent extremist activity, and an established list of behaviors that may be indicators of domestic violent extremism;

·  a lack of workforce training specific to identifying and reporting violent extremist activity;

·  a lack of specialized training for those best situated to identify violent extremist activity or behaviors that may be indicators of violent extremism (e.g., background investigators, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties inquiry officials, and DHS Insider Threat Program personnel);

·  a lack of a centralized, interoperable DHS-wide investigative case management system, as

well as standardized reporting and information sharing mechanisms for investigating allegations of violent extremist activity; and,

·  insufficient funding needed to support the expansion of the DHS Insider Threat Program, development and implementation of related training programs, establishment of a DHSwide related reporting mechanism, and implementation of the government-wide federal personnel security reform effort called Trusted Workforce 2.0.

To address these gaps, the Working Group made 15 recommendations described further below to

enhance the Department’s ability to comprehensively address internal domestic violent

extremism-related activity to protect our employees and DHS’s ability to continue executing its

critical mission.

1. This report was produced as part of President Biden’s hundred-day review of U.S. Government efforts to address domestic terrorism. FACT SHEET: National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/15/fact-sheet-national-strategy-forcountering-domestic-terrorism/

2. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, March 2021. Domestic Violent Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021.