Agencies release domestic violent extremism report findings

Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel have released an unclassified summary assessing domestic violent extremism.

The National Counterterrorism Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and DHS drafted the ODNI assessment, with contributions from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Agencies are mindful of respecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties and acting within the authorities granted to them as they seek to put together as complete an intelligence and analytic picture as possible.

The analysis determined domestic violent extremists (DVEs) motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by domestic political and societal events pose an elevated threat to in 2021; lone offenders or small cells of DVEs adhering to a diverse set of violent extremist
ideologies are more likely to carry out violent attacks than organizations allegedly advocated a DVE ideology; and DVE attackers often radicalize independently by consuming violent extremist material online and mobilize without direction from a violent extremist organization, making detection and disruption difficult.

The agencies determined several factors could increase the likelihood or lethality of DVE attacks in 2021 and beyond, such as escalating domestic and global support; growing perceptions of government overreach related to legal or policy changes and disruptions; and high-profile attacks spurring follow-on attacks and innovations in targeting and attack tactics.