Research Paper about Domestic Terrorists Threat on America

Americans are all too familiar with the war on terrosim; stemming back from the gruesome attack on the United States, September 11th, 2001. Since then, America has taken affirmative actions towrds protecting their citizens from the violence and distraut that comes along with international terrorism. Twenty years and trillions of dollars later, even the department of homeland security is pivoting toward taking initiative to implicate precautions in order to fight against homegrown terrorism infecting America today.

In America, there are two types of terrism prevalent and each are of serious concern. One being International terrorism in whitch the FBI defines it as “Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups who are inspired by, or associated with, designated foreign terrorist organizations or nations.” The other being Domestic terrorism where “Violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.” On January 6th, 2021, Americans, as well as the world watched as The United States Capitol was attacked by a vigorous mob of President Donald Trump supporters. Inside the capitol that morning, congress was setting to certify the electoral college vote which was the final step in solidifying the presidential win of democrat Joe Biden.  Around 2:00 pm that day, Pro-Trump rioters charged capitol hill, jumped over barricades, and smashed building windows, overwhelming law enforcment and rapidly storing the U.S. Capitol. These individuals descended on our nation's capital armed with weapons and the intent of hurting our elected officials. This violence was a direct result of the infectious lies Donald Trump repeatedly spread insinuating the election was fraudulent.  His lies and conspiracies prompted these people to attack in hopes of overturning the election results.  FBI Director, Christopher Wray, labeled the riot as “domestic terrorism, [where the problem] has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and [is] not going away anytime soon.” He warned of the rapid growing threat that homegrown violent extremism has on law enforcement and our country. People have been raising the alarm over the years about the growth of violent white supremacy, violent anti-government extremism; primarily in the form of violent militias, and misinformation about these groups spread on social media. These warnings on domestic terriorsm clearly showed they still don't know the scope of the threat. The lack of preparation on January 6th proves that to be correct. The world witnessed how the United States, with the worlds most effective and “efficient” defense system was completely incompatent and useless when it came to dealing with their white citizens. There is a real hesitation to admit the threat of white supremacist violence in the U.S. This summer the president was quick to pin any isolated acts of violence on overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations. For example: Black Lives Matter protests took place all over the country. Thousands of people stood on the streets fighting for equality and standing up against police brutality and racial injustice.  Donald Trump with no hesitation immediately called the national guard on these peaceful protesters. Numerous nonviolent gatherings resulted in rubber bullets shot, city curfews, tear gas sprayed, and unlawful arrests of innocent civilians. Protesters were labeled as savages. Yet when armed white supremacosts storm the capitol building smashing windows, waving confederate flags, overwhelming security to oppose an election where there is no evidence of fraud, they are labeled patriots. This is what terrorism with white privilege looks like. When black people protest for the right of their innocent lives  not to be murdered on the streets, President Donald Trumps responds with “when the looting starts the shooting starts.” When white supremists attack our nation's capital, Trump orders these terrorists to “Go home. We love you. You’re very special [...] I know how you feel.” Law enforcement subsequently escorted the mobbers off the premises with little to no resistance or lethal force. Mobbers were shown taking selfies with the security.  These actions further advocate for the racial bias in our nation's policing. The structural systemic racism shown throughout all of our institutions is of serious concern and needs to be addressed. This can not be ignored any longer. The most deadly elements of the domestic violence extremist threat are rationally or ethnically motivated violent extremists. Imagine if the people storming the capitol on January 6th would have been Black Lives Matter activists. Do you think the rioters would have been treated in the same way?  The hypocrisy of the January 6th attack where Mike Pence had to go behind Trump's back to call the national guard on the capitols rioters is astonishing. Throughout the past administration there was a permissive environment for extremists on the far right and their statements coming out on leadership over the past year, which in their mind gave them license to do the things they did. A combination of total failures of leadership to condemn extremist violence led some people in intelligence and law enforcement to downplay the threats that were known before January 6th. Figuring out how to reduce the spread of terriorism and the number of people believing violence is justified for political aims is necessary. We are not adhering to equal justice under the law meaning we need to treat threats from ideology that originated overseas and within the U.S the same. Domestic terrorist threats from violent white supremacy and anti-government militias relate to global ideologies. This global violent extremism threat is in other countries, and our own, but the laws we have treat it differently. Let's say an individual plans an activity that is criminal in nature, and they were doing it in the name of ISIS. The FBI would be able to investigate these plans in a much different way with the help of more tools. When it comes time to disrupt and charge that individual, they are able to charge them with a higher level more serious crime than if the same act was committed by a person here in the United States doing it in the name of ANTIFA or other extremist groups. We can not investigate what is happening in our homeland quite the same way we can run intelligence operations overseas due to complications of interfering with our constitutional amendments. The response to white supremacy violence needs to ensure the new laws  will not harm the rights of communities of color, the first amendment, due process, and equal treatment rights of all people under the constitution. When white supramcist violence escalates, politicians look to give law enforcement agencies more power. And that is part of the warning we should take into account. 

All departments and agencies need to bring the whole of government together to approach and combat the threat of domestic terrorism and prioritize prevention as opposed to prosecuting after the fact. Waiting for an act to be committed to charge a person is already too late. We have to find better ways to prevent these acts from occuring in the first place.  America's political ignorance results in misinformed individuals creating a false narrative in which they believe gives them an excuse to act in a violent manner. This attack at the capitol was a deliberate heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our nation's democracy. This is a wake up call for Americans to see we need change. This is a wakeup call for Americans to not believe everything they hear and to learn to think politically. This is a wakeup call highlighting the systemic racism our country portrays; and the government backs up,  needs to put it all to an end. Our children and generations to come don't deserve to live like this. People of color don't deserve   to leave their house in fear they may not return, solely due to the racism present in our country.