DHS set to Label White Supremacists as Terrorist Group

This week, the Department of Homeland Security is scheduled to label white supremacists as “the most persistent and lethal threat.”

According to draft reports, the Department of Homeland Security is prepared to announce that the threat posed by white supremacists is more urgent than the danger posed by foreign terrorists.

In the draft, the Department comments that “foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for Homeland attacks but probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year.” Moreover, the Department noted that Russia “probably will be the primary covert foreign influence actor and purveyor of disinformation and misinformation in the Homeland.”

In one of the earliest drafts, the Department expressed that “lone offenders and small cells of individuals motivated by a diverse array of social, ideological, and personal factors will pose the primary terrorist threat to the United States.” In addition, “among these groups, we assess that white supremacists extremists – who increasingly are networking with likeminded persons abroad – will pose the most persistent and lethal threat.”

To conclude, the Department asserts “that ideologically-motivated lone offenders and small groups will pose the greatest terrorist threat to the Homeland through 2021, with white supremacist extremists presenting the most lethal threat.”

The drafts were reviewed by Politico, and the announcement comes at a time when racial tensions have been high across the United States. This has resulted in protests  in many states.