The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletinWednesday warning of the potential for lingering violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks.
The department did not cite a specific threat, but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
“Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,″ the bulletin said.
It did not mention any ideological or political affiliation, while noting the potential for violence from “a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors.”
It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins and advisories about the prospect for violence tied to a particular date or event, such as July 4.
But this particular bulletin, issued through the the department’s National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology and suggests that it sees violence aimed at overturning the election as akin to terrorism.
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