The DHS National Terrorism Bulletin did not cite a specific threat but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” since President Joe Biden took office on Jan. 20.
The DHS is concerned that people motivated by anti-government sentiment may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities. DHS also remains concerned that Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) inspired by foreign terrorist groups, who committed three attacks targeting government officials in 2020, remain a threat.
The DHS alert system was last used a year ago when a bulletin was issued over potential retaliation by Iran for the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq just days earlier, according to ABC News.
In 2019, DHS issued a bulletin through the same system to highlight the threat from foreign terrorist groups like ISIS or al-Qaida.
This year appears to be markedly different from the typical bulletins issued by the DHS. For one thing, we have many people showing a great deal of anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and excessive police force against Black Americans.
And according to the DHS bulletin, domestic terrorists have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities,” and “long-standing racial and ethnic tension – including opposition to immigration – has driven [domestic terrorist] attacks.”
The public terror threat warning echoes what intelligence bulletins sent privately to law enforcement officials in recent weeks have said. The terror alert system “recognizes that Americans all share responsibility for the nation’s security, and should always be aware of the heightened risk of terrorist attack in the United States and what they should do,” DHS says on its website.
