DHS Thinks Homeland Will Be More Secure If Two Federal Agencies Ignore Domestic Terrorists
from the all-threats,-but-really-just-the-foreign-ones dept
The Department of Homeland Security isn't all that interested in securing the homeland, it appears.
The Department of Homeland Security has disbanded a group of intelligence analysts who focused on domestic terrorism, The Daily Beast has learned. Numerous current and former DHS officials say they find the development concerning, as the threat of homegrown terrorism—including white supremacist terrorism—is growing.
This shift of focus away from a growing problem was a move made by the Trump administration. The head of this department, David Glawe, dissolved the branch handling domestic terrorism, even as acts of domestic terrorism continued to increase. The DHS likes securing the homeland, but only if it involves targeting people from other countries. The war at home can continue to be waged as far as its concerned.
The DHS apparently feels the FBI should handle the problem of securing the homeland against domestic threats.
Two former DHS officials, speaking anonymously because their current employers did not authorize them to speak to the press, said this change eliminates redundancy in the government. These officials argued that the responsibility for preventing domestic terrorism lies with the FBI, rather than with DHS.
This is as much the FBI's fault as anyone's. The FBI declared long ago it was now a counterterrorism agency, rather than a law enforcement agency. The problem with leaving this up to the FBI is the FBI is no more interested in combating domestic terrorism than the DHS.
[T]he FBI claimed for several years that far-right violence, though the most lethal, was not the top domestic terrorism threat. From 2004 through 2008, the FBI designated “eco-terrorism” the number one threat within the United States, despite not a single fatality attributed to environmental activists. The FBI still devotes substantial counterterrorism resources to tracking political activists protesting oil and gas pipelines at Standing Rock and elsewhere, and even harassing the lawyers that assist them. In 2017, FBI agents raided two animal sanctuaries as part of a multi-state investigation to locate two piglets rescued from a factory farm, reportedly cutting off a piece of one piglet’s ear to obtain DNA samples for testing. This seems a questionable use of resources, particularly when thousands of violent hate crimes against human beings are going unaddressed.
In another instance of taking its eye off the ball, weeks before the deadly white nationalist riot at Charlottesville, the FBI issued an assessment warning police that black activists protesting police violence posed a threat to them. It even invented a term for it — the “Black Identity Extremist” movement — to justify increasing scrutiny. Its first attempted prosecution of a prominent member of the Huey P. Newton Gun Club, an armed black self-defense group in Dallas, Texas, failed. The FBI continues to monitor and harass Black Lives Matter activists, visiting their homes in advance of protests, potentially chilling their participation.
The FBI's favored counterterrorism efforts are sting operations that utilize undercover informants to radicalize an assortment of weak and helpless people before handing them over to federal prosecutors. The FBI has probably created far more would-be terrorists during its counterterrorism efforts than social media. When the FBI deigns to examine domestic terrorism, it decides to go after people who threaten established industries or the justice system's status quo.
The FBI knows the domestic problem is growing:
Internal FBI figures reviewed by the paper show more domestic terror suspects were arrested in 2018 than “those allegedly inspired by international terror groups.”
According to FBI data, 150 Americans were arrested for planning to engage in acts of domestic terrorism in 2017, compared to 110 international suspects; in 2018, the ratio was 120 to 100.
Like many federal government agencies -- especially those tied to law enforcement -- the FBI and DHS have allowed terrorism to become an eye-of-the-beholder sort of thing. The DHS throws time and money at border security and hassling travelers at international airports. The FBI focuses on ISIS-inspired terrorism, conveniently forgetting plenty of other belief systems are capable of producing violent acolytes.
There's really only one conclusion to draw from this: domestic terrorism is ignored because it usually involves Good Americans™ with white skin and American flag bumper stickers. Foreign terrorism involves brown people of indeterminate origin. This may not necessarily indicate the agencies are filled with racists, but this selective distribution of talent and resources doesn't encourage many alternate theories.
These agencies are supposed to defend us from all threats foreign and domestic. It's just not happening. This is a continuation of the proud American tradition of implicitly viewing foreigners as a threat and white, male citizens as the personification of patriotic virtue. The world may have changed radically over the past several decades, but one narrative -- foreign threats -- still plays better to the home crowd than the idea their friends and neighbors may be planning to shoot up a mosque or drive a vehicle into a crowd of protesters. It's depressing enough that a significant percentage of the US population thinks only people who don't look like them can be dangerous. It's morally repugnant federal agencies reflect this mindset in their priorities.
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Filed Under: dhs, doj, domestic terrorism, fbi, hate groups
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this is indicative of our governments inefficacy; can't even determine real threats accurately.
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Re:
Well when law enforcement is receiving the same training as their barking biting sniffing dogs, its no wonder I wonder who the real terrorists are. Am I the only one who wonders that.
At a convenience store stop a dog patrol pulls up next to me and that dogs starts aggressively biting at the window directed at me.. startling the crap out of me. Officer gets out and its a sleepy town full of elderly people and almost nothing ever happens there. I ask that cop why this town needs this level of fear and danger patrolling the streets. He responds, "Its a dangerous world out there." He's got that right.
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Eliminating redundancy
This statement actually holds up surprisingly well if you remove "preventing" from it.
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Intelligence Cost
I wonder how many of these domestic terrorists were apprehended before they comitted a crime? And how much money did the intelligence unit cost? If it cost a lot, and they didn't actually gather any useful intelligence such that they didn't prevent anything, then it sounds like a smart move to disband the group. Likely a big waste of taxpayer money.
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Outstanding, minion! Didn't think I could despise Techdirt more,
but you really stretched to spew your hatred of America, and especially of guarding our borders.
On topic: after I'm sure inter-agency squabbles, it's handled by FBI. Don't panic. No worse than before.
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The funny thing is, the article did not say anything negative about the notion of protecting American borders. (How the government protects those borders, on the other hand…) We can believe that guarding the borders and guarding the land inside those borders from domestic terrorists are equally important tasks. That the government apparently believes guarding the borders from foreign threats is more important than guarding the homeland itself from domestic threats is frightening, to say the least.
Also: In modern history, the vast majority of domestic terrorists and perpetrators of mass-casualty shootings in the United States have been White men. Saying so is not expressing “hatred of America” — it is pointing out a fact.
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We are supposed to crowd fund our national security now?
Seems to fall in line with the trend of government mis-spending funds and then saying they are broke leaving the unfunded needs to the public. We are presently seeing this with law enforcement, fire and social services. It has been going on in education for decades. If this is the prevailing trend and it will continue ...
wtf am I paying taxes for?
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(wtf am I paying taxes for?)
You help pay off England and the Papacy in Rome for some very old debt.
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Re: Re:
wrong
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Hang on a second.
150/110 = 1.363636...
120/100 = 1.2.
How then do we say it's "a growing problem" when the figures quoted clearly show that it's getting smaller over time?
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Re:
Often times, claiming that something is a growing problem may be a way to attempt to secure more funding in government, or possibly save your job if it's on the chopping block. Would people in this department complain to a news outlet to produce a story to try and reverse the disbanding, or at least try and embarrass someone for doing so?
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Good call.. Also following the logic of that quote to it's obvious conclusion.. if they would just stop arresting people the problem would go away entirely.
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Two data points do not "clearly show" that a trend is happening "over time".
Looking only at the two most recent data points is a poor way to draw long-term conclusions. Useful trend lines require more data; the Washington Post article that the Intelligencer links has some useful bar graphs.
That the ratio between domestic terror and Islamist terror decreased between 2017 and 2018 doesn't really disprove the point of the article, which is that the government is not allocating anti-terrorist resources in a way that's proportional to the types of terrorist acts we're actually seeing.
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Re: Re:
Not to mention, those data points are arrests of suspects involved in terrorist plots, not actual data on terrorism itself.
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Re: Re: Re:
Indeed, which the Intelligencer acknowledges in the paragraphs that follow:
The graphs in the Post article I linked focus on actual terror attacks rather than arrests for planning terror attacks.
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Re: Re:
Way to miss the point! The article uses these two data points, and nothing else, in support of its argument that the domestic terrorist problem is supposedly getting worse over time. I pointed out that the data given does not in any way show that, and in fact, taken at face value, supports the exact opposite conclusion.
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Re: Re: Re:
Would you say, then, that when I nitpick somebody's word choice instead of addressing the broader point they're making, I am missing the point?
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Too short of a period of time. Maybe do the math going back to 911. That could be more of a test.
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Wonder how many of them were convicted of domestic terrorism crimes.
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'Won't someone think of the poor companies?'
[T]he FBI claimed for several years that far-right violence, though the most lethal, was not the top domestic terrorism threat. From 2004 through 2008, the FBI designated “eco-terrorism” the number one threat within the United States, despite not a single fatality attributed to environmental activists.
Of course, I mean lives of the peons are a dime a dozen, and if a few end up dead because of actual assholes then they can always pop out a few more. Impacting the profits of a company though, that just won't do, and needs to be given top priority in stopping.
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I mean can't we just get rid of all of them?
All these agencies ever do is stomp on all of our constitutional rights.
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Perhaps it is time to suggest we stop using the metrics pushed by the MBA's as the right thing.
The FBI scores all sorts of points & kudos when they "stop" an incident. It doesn't matter if they created it by leaning on someone with mental deficits, they caught a terrorist!!
Of course they manage to overlook all of the real terrorism plots (that they should be aware of given the massive spying on citizens) and use those tragedies to demand moar power/money/etc.
DHS scores all sorts of points being a propaganda machine for the current administration. They are enabled by the insane belief that if we just burn a bit more of the Constitution we can be 100% safe from the terrorists!! Of course the definition of terrorist is always changing and growing so they can pad their success rating. (See also: Code Pink, BLM, Occupy Grannies, and a long list of people engaged in what is supposed to be Constitutional protected activities that upset someone with power.)
The course has been set, all terrorists are outside the country & sitting on the borders waiting to spring into action so we have to focus on the outside while ignoring the terror being caused by the 'good guys'. Thats a nice car you have & this shitty field test says meth so its ours now. Oh your kid sold $40 of pot, thanks for the house.
All of the actions are about grabbing headlines to distract people from how bad things are getting for citizens.
TSA gropes & robs us. They facilitate the smuggling of drugs & one of them offered to help move guns or bombs. They are always isolated incidents, never a reflection on we hired people off the tops of pizza boxes, did no background checking, & gave them unchecked power over citizens lives.
DHS put journalists on the list of people to be stopped & harassed at the border, under the belief they created & ran the caravans from South American countries to or border (ignoring that our own foriegn policies have helped lead to those nations into the chaos that makes people feel to the great USA where people are welcomed & there is opportunity. Where hard work earns you a living and you don't have to fear 6 different gangs taxing your earnings to protect your child from harm.
They believe their own hype & Congress is so detached from reality they are unquestioning of the facts behind the reports of 'We stopped a bombing plot'. So what if they terrorist was 17, had learning disabilities, was socially isolated, & WE groomed him into being a 'lone wolf terrorist'. We made the plan, we sent in a CI (offered breaks on their law breaking) to help push them over the edge (and sometimes lie about events to keep their deal running).
The terrorists have become those with badges. They can force you to have dangerous medical exams done. b/c they are SURE there are drugs in your ass that weren't found with the 15 other tests... and the courts grant them QI b/c no one ever told them forcing medication & camera into a suspect could be a violation of the targets rights. How many laws have we seen proposed to keep the cops happy by trying to make it a crime to video them, say mean words to them, or just give them cover for retaliating against people they have personal issues with.
Less than the number of people killed in drunk driving accidents in a year lead to us being searched before getting on planes & limiting liquids...
But the number of people killed in houses of worship hasn't lead to anything more than thoughts and prayers, despite the perp having ACTIVELY posted about their ideals & desire to kill those who worship differently... but the real terrorists are flying from shithole Muslim majority countries to South American countries, then joining migrant caravans of people seeking better lives & spending months on a dangerous trek to get here and pull off a huge attack on the US... b/c they know us being felt up before flying would defeat them & reveal their evil terrorist intentions if they flew directly here.
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No problem here...
I don't remember America being referred to as a "Homeland" before 2001. DHS shouldn't stop there; they should disband themselves entirely, and let its individual agencies run on their own again.
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Re: No problem here...
Homeland ... isn't that term used in WWII Germany?
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Re: Re: No problem here...
No, that was Fatherland, but the similarity in tone wiggs me out.
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1600 Pennsylvania avenue Washington D.C. Quick there's an odoriferous stench coming from the basement
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Oh, it's just Kid Rock's fart catcher caught on fire...
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Odifferous?
Is Henry down there? Has anybody seen Henry?
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FBI isnt mainly a law enforcement agency
The FBI is more of a political organization than a law enforcement one. What they do makes more sense when seen through that lense. They use the law as a political weapon rather than something to be neutrally enforced.
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Re: FBI isnt mainly a law enforcement agency
When you put a politician in charge of something, that something will become political. The law has been that way since like forever.
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Social economic changes..
I love how things work in peoples minds.
If they are working, and getting Enough, generally then tend to be happy. and not do things rash.
With the Job numbers we have been TOLD, you would think things arent to bad. But as has been shown, those numbers have a tendency to HIDE data or just NOT count certain groups..Because??
The nation has allot of problems RIGHT NOW, and its justification to elect persons to BE RESPONSIBLE for the corrections.. but they KNOW whats going to happen. And they will NOT fix it.
The perosn that Starts or TRYS to start the fixes this nation NEEDS, will be ostracized and persecuted and stomped on, and On and on..
The WORST par tof all this, is the idea that the President is the one that controls things in this nation.. but you have 500+ idiots up there who have to debate and Create our laws. The president its the last one to decide, not the FIRST to even conceive of the idea. Then with the Corps of this nation Forcing things THEIR WAY...and handing out MONEY(like its free) that the consumer has PAID TO THEM(then raising prices to cover it, cant have the CEO loosing money)... this is not an UP HILL battle. This is Aiming for the Moon, and hitting Florida.(we cant even get off the planet)
Its going to come down to 'WE THE PEOPLE', getting into thuis, and Stomping things BACK into order...and the faster we do thing, the better, because the CORPS will be trying to Force us not to do this again(pay off more politics, to regulate HOW we do things) and be into Courts for 3-5 years just to explain that that its Constitutionally we are right..
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One Man's Terrorist is Another Man's Supporter
"...the threat of homegrown terrorism—including white supremacist terrorism—is growing."
That's the next President's Problem, since most of those are part of Trump's core.
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Have no fear....NYPD will soon be here to take over the domestic terrorist surviellance.
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Buhbye!
I think this is a good thing. Considering the DHS had a budget of $55.6 BILLION last year, they could use some slimming down. We could, oh I don't know... maybe rebuild the aging infrastructure in our country. Get rid of the DHS entirely and give the middle class a tax break.
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Re: Buhbye!
Don't worry. The aging infrastructure is being supported by a brand new tunnel bunker system and militarized complex from sea to shining sea. Too bad Americans will never see that. True Americans that is. Its going to be protected by foreign troops armed with hollowpoint rounds.. a lot of them.
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Re: Re: Buhbye!
Everyone say hi to the new troll!
Please, don't stay long.
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Re: Re: Buhbye!
"The aging infrastructure is being supported by a brand new ..."
Tell that to all those who lost their lives from falling bridges.
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re: why racialize counter intelligence stalking?
This:
The FBI's favored counterterrorism efforts are sting operations that utilize undercover informants to radicalize an assortment of weak and helpless people before handing them over to federal prosecutors
Its called gang stalking in police /military/private contractor jargon, and it is designed to CREATE criminality, BEFORE they are handed over to prosecutors, because the undividual is literally surrounded and harrassed with chronic monitoring from the Fusion Centers, which incite, provoke, and manipulate individuals via electronic media.
Nearly every mass shooter /incel car crasher /radicalized butter knife weilding "terrorist ” has had extensive, long term contact with these tactical assaults on individuals, and none of the illegal activity of community policing /mobbing is punished, or documented.
But: why racialize it?
The issue is the full spectrum (cell phone, computer, social media )assaults that those who are targeted endure, sometimes for years.
When Democrat Obama was in office he/agencies chased, wiretapped, harrassed, and “radicaluzed ” primarily white males, but also men like Asian American Mathew Riehl, African American Cosmo Setepenra, and who can forget howvthese targeting polucies created Omar Mateen and,Sayed Farook etc.?
A Republican Trump chases black and brown males, but also, these fraudulent CVE policies enabled the endless harrassment of Scott Beirele and the framing of the Wiley E. Coyote bomb hoaxer Cesar Sayoc.
Racializing such a problem diminishes insight into ISRAELIFICATION of the police, which is what drives these anti -Constitutional harrassment campaigns against those targeted.
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Re: re: why racialize counter intelligence stalking?
So Rog, any references so the rest of us can read up on this rampant epidemic of gang stalking?
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Fact check
Let's face it... most "domestic terrorists" are those that the FBI's "sting" operations have coached and lead down the primrose path to arrest. Going so far as to pretty much come up the the plan, the money, the motivation and even pep talk to get them to finally agree.
The likelihood of them ever actually doing anything without FBI is minimal at worse, impossible at best.
So, if the FBI wants to halt the "domestic terrorist" "stings", I'm ok with that.
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Re: Fact check
"domestic terrorists" are those that the FBI's "sting" operations have coached and lead down the primrose path
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Re: Re: Fact check
Pretty sure he's talking about every one since 9/11/2001.
Plus, "most" is not the same as "all".
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Only problems I tend to see...
Evolve around 2 types..
Those who believe anything/everything you say..(amazed by Magicians..)
Those Who Question FIRST, and TRY to understand the other person. (those who want to know HOW the Magician DID IT)
Those Who dont question, Will follow anyone that LOOKS and SPEAKS as if they know everything, and they have an Answer(right or wrong) about everything(GOD DID IT).
Look AROUND and see how others DEAL with this problem.. Like building Freeways..Designing a freeway the WRONG way or type, can cause more problems then SOLVE THEM..
Keep adding to a police force thats ALREADY THERE, isnt the solution. See what other countries do, Understand that TECH isnt always an answer..
Asking HOW this happened...dont work..
WHY did this happened is looking for a solution.
FIND the problem FIRST, then solve it. DONT blame Anything/everyone/or that other thing/person.. MANY problems tend to have simple answers, but adding 10,000 EXTRA PPolice that REALLY cant do anything, except Pat you down at the Airport and chase Cellphones at the border....IS FRICKING STUPID..
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