Racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist attacks (RMVEs) by white supremacists are responsible for more deaths in the U.S. in 2019 since 1995, says a joint report released recently by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The two organizations expect these types of attacks to continue to rise, increasing from what they described 2019 as “the most lethal year” of domestic violent extremist (DVE) attacks, where five separate attacks were responsible for 32 deaths, 24 of them by white supremacists.
Noted within the Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism, the inspiration for some of the 2019 DVE attacks and likely to breed future plots are themes like gamification, which describes fatalities as “scores.” References like this, according to the FBI and DHS report, could inspire future attackers to mobilize faster or attempt increasingly lethal and sophisticated attacks.
According to CNN, the DHS followed up on May 14 by issuing a terrorism bulletin stating that through 2020 and into 2021, government facilities and personnel will be the biggest targets for DVEs, a shift from houses of worship and crowded commercial facilities.
Other DVE criminal activity, such as vandalism and threats of violence as a means of achieving political and social gain, will likely continue to impact public safety, the report adds.
The report, despite being released nearly a year past its original deadline due to COVID-19-related delays, imparts an important message, claimed House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff in a May 15 CNN news report.
“It confirms what has been clear for some time. The greatest terrorist threat we face comes from radicalized lone offenders with easy access to weapons,” he said.
Mississippi Rep. Bernie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the Homeland Security Committee added that “there will likely need to be more conversations and supplemental data submissions from the Biden administration for Congress to get a more complete picture of the domestic terrorism threat landscape.”
