The Justice Department announced yesterday that it is establishing a special unit focused on domestic terrorism, given the elevated threat from violent, far-right extremists after the unsuccessful, Trump-inspired coup on January 6 at the Capitol:
"Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, testifying just days after the nation observed the one-year anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, said the number of FBI investigations into suspected domestic violent extremists has more than doubled since the spring of 2020.
'We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies,' Olsen said.
The formulation of a new unit underscores the extent to which domestic violent extremism, which for years after the Sept. 11 attacks was overshadowed by the threat of international terrorism, has attracted urgent attention inside the federal government and at the White House." (our emphasis)
Last March, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that violent domestic terrorism on the white supremacist right was growing, a statement that prompted pushback from far-right Trumpist Republicans whose base is made up substantially of white supremacists. Just days ago, spineless demagogue Sen. Ted "Cancun Ted" Cruz was humiliated on air by white supremacist yakker Tucker "Mothertucker" Carlson for having the temerity to have referred to the January 6 insurrectionists as "domestic terrorists."
The proliferation of armed right-wing militia groups, and latter day brownshirts like the "Proud Boys" and the "Oath Keepers" will keep the DOJ unit busy in the days and months to come, as these thugs refuse to accept majority rule, not to mention the rule of law, and terrorize citizens from teachers and school boards, to health care workers, to elected officials at all levels.
