03 March 2020
Raising of national and state far-right threat levels sparks debate over domestic terrorism legislation in US
by Gabriela Serrano
The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) released its 2020 report on 25 February. In it, the state raised the alert for far-right and white supremacist violence following the recent increase in attacks across the country. This report mirrored the announcement by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray, during a House Judiciary Committee’s oversight panel on 5 February, that the organisation had elevated far-right terrorism as the leading national threat of domestic terrorism in the United States.
Screenshot from the 2020 Terrorism Threat Assessment Report (New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness)
According to the NJOHSPreport, half of terrorism-related incidents reported in the state during 2020 were linked to white supremacists, including the arrest of Richard Tobin, a member of the neo-Nazi network The Base. The report also contained information on a specific type of concern for the state, which is ‘accelerationism’. Officials warned of a new surge in the belief that mass-casualty attacks would accelerate the imminent racial war and subsequent collapse of the social system. The report also demoted the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and other Islamist extremist organisations from Medium to Low.
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The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) released its 2020 report on 25 ...
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