A good article but a couple of thoughts here. First, is DHS deciding to target "violent white supremacy" because it is going after low hanging fruit? You do not need any language capabilities, other than English, to target these groups, they do not hide behind a religious face that can be used to shield them from law enforcement and they appear to have a command structure organized along military lines which makes them easy to identify and target. Second. Will an unintended consequence of these efforts be increased support for these organizations? As an example, if you look at efforts to ban "assault weapons" during the 2008 to 2016 period you will see sales of these weapons increased dramatically anytime the banning of these weapons was mentioned. Will that also happen here? Perhaps DHS should adopt the policy of speaking softly and carrying a big stick.
2
Does McAleenan think all cops are free of racism or ideological impulse? No one knows how many cops were in that crowd in Charlottesville in 2017, but... Equating white supremacy with the likes of jihadist terrorism tends to focus less direct light on each separate ideology individually. One is not the other, not even close. By combining the two extreme movements, our personal safety becomes clouded because those tasked with providing it have themselves been confused by new methods and practises identifying relatively new threats.
2
Words are cheap. What about resources and plans to actually do something? The Trump administration is long on words, but seldom do they actually have a well thought out plan to bring their words into action. This is probably a 2020 election strategy.
6
As long as many local constables and sheriffs are fellow travellers, and as long as sheriffs are and judges are elected rather than appointed positions in much of the rural US, don't expect much to change.
12
The reticence to respond to the dangers of white nationalism is due in part to the complicit allowance of white nationalist views in the military and law enforcement. The Military Times reported a poll of active armed service wherein 22 percent of service members who participated in the survey said they have seen signs of white nationalism or racist ideology within the armed forces. I am not aware of a similar poll in law enforcement but I expect the percentage is similar. What is ignored within law enforcement will be ignored in society. Given the current administration, this problem will not be addressed.
16
People never change, and hate is not going to disappear, at least not soon. Some hateful people are always going to be around us. Still, we can do something to prevent/diminish/control /suppress hate; act against hate all possible ways so that it has as little place in our society as possible. The message that hate is not tolerated must be dispatched high and low, and we have to let the hateful ones know that their hateful behavior will result in many disadvantages in their lives.
If hate is not constantly acted against on, it will find ways to expand and proliferate--I mean, if hateful behavior is accepted and not curbed, a certain group of people will always use it against others.
Look at our political class: What kind of message does it send to the rest of us?
What are its actions to prevent/diminish hate?
19
The biggest problem with this threat is their man in the Oval Office.
28
One thing I’m pretty sure of Mr. McAleenan will soon be replaced.
5
Maybe local law enforcement doesn't do anything about white supremacist activities is because many in local law enforcement identify with it. Just a thought.
9
New York Times, please keep this story top, front, and center. I know it's easy to bury it underneath the nonstop melodrama of Ukraine and impeachment, but THIS is exactly the kind of actual real issue that is a threat to every American and our way of life. It's what Trump and his ilk want desperately to distract us from. Please, don't let them!
40
“...Homeland Security must adapt to the rise of domestic terrorism. The department will invest in counter-messaging campaigns and engage the private sector to combat hateful rhetoric online...” Perhaps a good place to start is the president’s tweets.
17
Calling them White Supremacists masks an uncomfortable fact for the majority of Americans. They are really White Christian Supremacists. Their bigotry extends beyond color to Jews and other minority faiths. This problem cannot be solved until the Christian community asks itself why, for 2000 years, a portion of the Christian community that varies between majority and minority has seen fit to discriminate against or exterminate non-Christians.
26
I’m a devout Anglican, and I totally agree. We Christians must reform our churches; hate us not our religion’s message.
8
Oh, thank God!!! Finally, whites who terrorize are called out as a non-normative group—disrupting dominant discourses that imply whites are safe.
5
What? White supremacist in the USA ?
Well, only since 1492. Maybe by 2092 things will change.
9
What took you so long?
6
(This Corrects Errors in an Earlier Comment)
I live in a rural area of Michigan that is heavily populated with Caucasoids who have an insubstantive fear of social, political, and economic disenfranchisement caused by those that are perceived as different from themselves. As an example of practiced norms, a business near my residence openly and proudly sells offensive items to a greedy public, including something called a "lawn jockey," which is a cement statue of a groveling black child waiting upon his master. Not surprisingly, the city and county's system of jurisprudence and law enforcement reflect the community's social mores. How does providing guidance to law enforcement in such a place prove useful other than to advise those determined to exercise such inappropriate behavior in how to avoid scrutiny? Federal law enforcement may well be acting in good faith by providing such direction, but it is insufficient as a meaningful action in its breadth and, thus, an effort to little end.
6
White supremacy is not an "insignificant fringe movement." White supremacy illuminates a very large proportion of the Republican voter base, and especially Donald Trump's base voters. My friends who are longtime traditional GOP conservatives are alarmed at this frightening trend, but they sure don't know what to do about it.
23
We have a problem in this country on many levels. Without leadership in the highest office in the land and with a leader without scruples, integrity and ethics, it is no wonder that hate crimes have been on the rise since he took office.
Trump has said he is a "nationalist, okay?" To many this did not mean a patriot, but a code word for being a white nationalist. He openly says he is "not a globalist," thinking that somehow the U.S. is not part of a world that gets smaller and smaller with not just jet travel but with internet messaging traveling as fast as the blinking of an eye.
It is astonishing that his ignorance to the fact that all countries, all nationalities live on this planet together. We are interconnected and must work and strive together to combat global warming, human dignity, helping each other with health concerns as e.g. Ebola, exceptional flu viruses, etc. travel, too.
This man in the WH is fomenting future terrorism as who knows the psychological effects immigrant children separated from their parents will have; many detained for months and more and some still have not been reunited.
This new revelation from DHS must have the president's endorsement to be effective.
12
On White Supremacy, I want to share a personal story that was shared by a person nearly 3 decades ago, an event that happened recently. This person belongs to a certain area of my native country where people can very easily be passed as white if they wear western clothes and if they don't open their mouths. This person had a used car dealership where he employed an African American worker. So, one day he was travelling down south with this employee to repossess a car. As they traveled, they got hangry. They got into a restaurant, the man told his employee to order his food while he was to use the bathroom. He came back from the restroom and noticed that the African American employee had no food. Asked why he did not order his food, the employee told him that the waiter clearly refused to serve him because he was black and they they don't serve black people. He went up to the counter and asked them why this man was not being served? Was his money was not green enough? They asked him if he was with him? He said, yes. He was told that they were not going to serve him either. No food for both of them.
New to the country with very limited knowledge of American society and history, I was shocked.
Today, I am shocked no more as I watched an angry hoard of "good people" from the other side shouting on the street of Charlottesville, Virginia - "Jews will not replace us"
Fast forward, 2019, White Supremacy is alive and well,
53
You can't legislate away ideology. The best you could hope for is Containment and pushing them back into the dark corners they came from.
6
People who seek to kill others because they see them as adversaries are criminals and must be addressed as threats to the public, regardless of their excuses. White supremacy is all about some people controlling other people, which necessarily means using violent means and threats. It's not an opinion about reality, it's an intention as to what will be done to other people when the opportunity presents itself. They all should be considered to be inclined toward criminal behaviors and potential participants in terrorism.
19
If Joe white supremacist voted in the last presidential election, who do you think he voted for? It is no secret why government has swept this issue under the rug. Don't alienate any part the base at any cost.
34
It’s not about just keeping the base, it’s about their leader who is in the White House.
9
White Supremacists are enabled by Trump. He is complicit in their racism and bigotry and their crimes. Lock him up.
43
Better late than never. Still, if Trump tries to do his best to hobble any actual enforcement efforts against domestic terrorists, the danger they pose will persist undiminished.
It is literally true that Americans face a greater danger to their safety from domestic terrorists than they do from Islamic extremists. This danger is compounded when the POTUS declares that white supremacists are "fine people." Trump himself is complicit in every act of domestic terrorism because so many of those terrorists are inspired by Trump's hate-filled rants.
27
Anyone catch this gem last week?
"They are marching in the streets with pitchforks and torches."
No, that wasn't a bystander recounting the events from Charlottesville. That was Senator Ted Cruz talking about Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats, and the impeachment inquiry. So in case you missed it, we're going to ignore the people who are LITERALLY marching down the street with torches (and our President's approval of said people) and instead, focus on the figurative marching of a long-overdue political process.
44
Far better late than never, but I'll withhold "attaboys" till there are positive, and concrete, results...
11
Better late than never , The DHS under Kevin K. McAleenan has been justly criticized over its handling on matters relating to refugees.
However it does take real back bone to push back on Trump on the issue of White Supremacy , since Trump is clearly oblivious as to how it threatens our national security, or even worse he offers it tacit support by his silence.
The next steps should be for Congress to take a lead on this and put air tight laws in place that curtail these peoples activities , just as they have done for other foreign terrorist groups.
10
@Britl The Democrats in the House will approve a bill to monitor and resist hate groups. McConnell will refuse to bring it up for debate in the Senate.
6
Things are being done at the local level. Take a look at the LA ordinance regarding public assemblies- can't come with bats, clubs, or other potential weapons. Trump will never acknowledge the problem and his sycophants will line up behind him.
13
The threat wouldn’t be as bad as it is if Trump would condemn these groups instead of embracing them.
12
Just imagine how much less filled with strife our country would be now and in recent years past if only we had properly funded the effort against white supremacy early on. I am certain as an American born minority I would never feel the mistrust and hostility toward white Americans as I do now. I’m not certain the tide can now be turned. What has become apparent to me is that white people really do want an all white country. The whites who don’t necessarily want that are too passive to make a difference. That means all minorities are potential targets, and the supremacists are heavily armed. That seems to be part of the plan. I do not envision a peaceful country as there will be necessary defensive measures and even retaliation if things spiral out of control.
5
I’m white, and I’m actively involved in antifascism. Some of us are here for y’all; some of us.
4
@BBW I am white and I understand what you are saying. Believe it or not, there are many (many not all or everywhere) white public school teachers who fight every day to enhance the lives and power of disenfranchised students. Every day. There are just so many. But they never give up.
4
Better late than never. White domestic terrorists are clearly the biggest physical threat to the American public. Now, if we could only figure out a way to identify the ones hiding in plain sight in our law enforcement agencies and military...
13
I live in a rural area of Michigan that is heavily populated with Caucasoids who have an inubstantive fear of social, political, and economic disenfranchisement caused by those that are perceived as different from themselves. A business adjacent to my residence openly sells inappropriate items to a greedy public, including something called a "lawn jockey," a cement figurine of a groveling black child waiting upon his master. Not surprisingly, the city and county's systems of jurisprudence and law enforcement reflect the community's social mores. How does providing guidance to law enforcement in such an area prove useful, other than to advice those determined to exercise inappropriate behavior in how to avoid scrutiny? Federal law enforcement may well be acting in good faith by providing such direction, but it is insufficient as a meaningful breadth of action and, thus, an effort to little end.
14
@Brian G. Adsit - it takes pushes when in locales like that, and sometimes the push has to be when laws are clearly being broken and pressure to correct that can be brought to bear.
A friend moved to a charming little town in Arkansas a while back to be close to his mom, who'd moved to a retirement community there. As an urban white northerner, he wasn't charmed by the sign, still on the road into town, advising certain people that they were to be gone before dark.
He called the NAACP and the ACLU and that one got cleaned up quick. It being during the Obama Administration, he still had to bite his tongue sitting in the cafe and hearing the charming local banter about the President, but at least the sign was gone - a small blow against the parts of "heritage" that must be removed.
We can't make haters stop hating, but changing what is acceptable in public is one necessary step.
2
@b fagan, I agree with you completely. I tried to buy the inventory of the lawn jockey if they would not refresh their stock but was told that since it was such a popular item, the business could not afford to not have a supply on hand. The owner did admit that this "artwork" could not be sold in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Toledo, and etc. Unfortunately, these folk are not clueless. They know exactly who their customers are.
2
It looks like Mr. McAleenan will be the next Trump appointee to decide that he "needs to spend more time with his family."
75
@Oliver That's not a qualified statement. The article says that in 2009, a report was written but rescinded by the Obama Administration for fear of spreading the movement - bad choice by Obama's AG Napolitano.
2
Common Sense gun laws, including an assault rifle ban , would diminish the killing capability of all terrorists, both foreign and domestic.
This article did not mention the need to create a domestic terrorism charge for race based killings. We need this specific charge to be available instead of our catch-all "hate crimes" charge.
150
@As-I-Seeit
Legislation is necessary to do that. So far, these are only policies.
5
@World Court
Correct. And, to pass any such meaningful Legislation at this time, it would need to pass the House, the racist Republican Senate, and be signed into law by our racist President. I don't think we'll be seeing any such Legislation passed until the Republicans are swept out of Government at all levels, State and Federal.
13
Finally.
People of color have had to put up with racism for many generations, but things have taken a particularly ugly turn in the last decade.
It will be fascinating to see what historians say about this period. Trump voters won’t like it.
201
@Cousy
Historians have already ranked Trump, and it's not high.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/02/13/siena-presidential-ranking-survey/2857075002/
7
Only those who are willing to read what historians create could object.
Trumpians are more interested in what the FOX channel has to say. That many FOX news reporters and analysts are no longer supporting every Trump statement and action is far more distressful to Trumpians than the “ramblings” of “biased” historians (in their view).
6
The photograph in the middle of this article breaks my heart
We are back in the 1960’s
152
@Paul--Bring out the fire hoses, and the billy clubs. :-(
5
@Paul,
Don't confuse the confederacy with The United States.
They never really rejoined The Victorious Union.
25
I fear we’re past the 60s.... heading to the 50s.... 40s..... 30s.... all the way back to 1900....
31
About time. White supremacist groups are terrorist groups and should be treated as such. They can try to hide behind the label "White Nationalism" but we can see right through them. Trump is so desperate he begs these thugs for votes and ignores their violence and murders. The rest of the country knows exactly what is going on. And it's not ok, Mr. President.
56
@kay He begs them to vote for him? Laughable. The article says that in 2009, a report was written but rescinded by the Obama Administration for fear of spreading the movement - bad choice by Obama's AG Napolitano. Read the link.
1
That was a mistake, but no excuse for what Trump has done, "excellent people on both sides..."
3
So, this is the first report since 2009 (and that one was withdrawn according to this article) that addressed this issue? So why criticize the President for his stance if it took that long for the agency under two Presidents to identify this as a problem? Unfair tone in this article is evident.
3
@Ray Ozyjowski Are you possibly serious?
8
You seem to be rejoicing by repeatedly commenting on that misstep. Meanwhile Trump has done and said numerous things that contributed to the rise of white nationalists. Look at the stats before and after he took office. They are encouraged by his behavior.
1
Just to get a fact check, I googled "mass shootings by race".
It looks like it just tracks the overall demographics of the country. Race doesn't seem to predict it.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/
Except of course the gender breakdown: the vast majority are committed by men.
https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/oct/06/newsweek/are-white-males-responsible-more-mass-shootings-an/
"Newsweek's claim is literally accurate. But it's worth noting the imprecision of this data, and the percentage of mass shootings by white men is lower than their share of the male population, according to Mother Jones."
3
@Mmm these are specific shootings that target minorities. It’s a subset of mass murder profiles.
2
@Mmm
That last point is a very misleading representation of the statistics. According to the article you sight, white men are 63% of the male population and responsible for 54% of mass shootings. Still seem like a majority to me.
4
Given what we know about Trump, my guess is that Mr. McAleenan's days in this administration are numbered.
25
@ That's not a qualified statement. The article says that in 2009, a report was written but rescinded by the Obama Administration for fear of spreading the movement - bad choice by Obama's AG Napolitano.
Trump is stoking the fire as usual with his "civil-war threat" and "Adam Schiff's a traitor" tweets. They should add those to the list of articles of impeachment.
32
@TLM
Don't forget his efforts to identify the whistleblower, and his insistence on his right to confront him/her. This is Domestic Terrorism, as far as I am concerned. By his words, he instills fear into not just the whistleblower him/herself, but his/her family and friends, as well as future potential whistleblowers. And the threat is real, as the "fine people" who support Trump have threatened the lives of many who have criticized him or testified against him (e.g. Michael Cohen). He is behaving like Putin, MBS, or Xi. In the US, one should not need 24/7 armed security to speak the truth.
11
There are a lot of excellent comments here. I just hope these folks are planning on voting, and encouraging others to vote the cowardly GOP, and especially Trump, out of office. The people who should be reading these stories and comments are only watching Fox “News,” and are being brainwashed by the right-wing, lunatic fringe. God help us.
50
Trump is the last gasp of white racists as the white race shrinks in the US to its worldwide proportion.....10% or so. The demographics of the US ideally would reflect the demographics of the world. Let us hope the democrats can get this rascal out of office.
25
@as If the demographics of the US reflected the demographics of the world, no one would want immigrate here, and everybody knows it, including you.
“Some very fine people,” indeed. Ask any Jew, any African-American, any Hispanic-American, any immigrant from China, India, Pakistan, anyone, in fact, without blue eyes and real blonde hair if they’ve felt the sting (and often the excruciating pain) of racial / ethnic / religious prejudice, and everyone would say “of course.” In 2019 America, intolerance and persecution are a way of life, seemingly encouraged by the current President, and enabled by actual or perceived complicity by the current President. The White House May try to downplay the situation, but its current resident promotes it on a daily basis. And it has to be stopped. We are one nation, indivisible. Not one nation divided by lack of leadership. See it for what it is and vote accordingly.
49
@Unaffiliated anyone who fraternizes w said targeted groups, any persons in interracial relationships, women who are independent and see themselves as equal under the law, people who do not conform to standard sexual standards. Lets us not forget real americans who lost their land to colonialists.
15
You didn’t have indigenous peoples on your list. They were everywhere first.
19
Barbara, your point is well taken. Our nation, our people, are not and never actually were homogeneous. We are a free society and so, by definition, there should be no constraints on one’s ability to fraternize or participate with people and organizations of all stripes. The term “Politically Correct” has crept into our lexicon and into our behavior over the years. Instead of trying to get over on people ( much as our President has done every day of his life), we need to hold on to each other and support each other without fear of ostracism or reprisals. It all starts at the top, and look at who currently lives in the White House.
1
Do people actually think this is new stuff? It's been a problem for decades and has never gone away, even though it has gotten better. Sometimes the spotlight shines on it more clearly than others. I live right next to a county that grew one of the Grand Wizards of the KKK. They were having meetings in community centers in my teens and I'm in my 20s. We're in Maryland, a very Democratic state! Can you imagine what the Deep South hides?
31
At least ten years? Talk about being asleep at the wheel.
White nationalist/supremacist violence is far from a new phenomenon in the United States. The Internet has only allowed for this cancerous ideology to spread at a rate which it had never been allowed to in earlier years.
If one were to watch ‘American History X’ today, it would be difficult to discern how recently the film was even made, because some of the rhetoric is exactly the same.
21
I have some good news. As a Texan, I know some very hard core republicans who voted for Trump and now tell me they are sorry they voted for the man. They thought that if he was elected he would act presidential. Big mistake. The tide is shifting and I think we are now up to 9 republican congressmen in Texas who are not running for re-election. Lots of people are tired of this reality t.v. president.
64
Lots of GOP say that. But will they actually vote for a Democrat? If their Senators are a guide, they will fall in line.
24
@Westcoast Texan
I wish you had spoken to a New Yorker to find out what a horrid man he's been practically since birth. We could have told you he was a swindler, a grafter bar none, didn't pay his contractors and oh yeah LIES all the time. You and your friends could have saved yourselves the agony of finding about him after nearly three years.
36
I have been aware of Trump’s behavior for years and I’m not a New Yorker. Anyone who reads would know about his business practices. He has long been known as a deadbeat and grifter who has glided on his dad’s money and the advice of one of the dirtiest lawyers in the country, Roy Cohen, long dead, thank god (who had many influential but dumb friends). He was raised to be a bully and, as every one knows, bullies are the first to back down when they are really confronted. Trump got where he is because he knows that this country does not read for the most part, he out shouts everyone, and the the media, ever attracted to a big scene, gave him a lot of free air time at the expense of all the other candidates. He knows this country gets its ‘news’ from TV and most of that is not news but commentary. He wants to try and duplicate this strategy, let’s hope that everyone has learned a lesson.
7
Americans became of aware of domestic terrorism with Timothy McVeigh blowing up an office building in Oklahoma.
How many accounts of domestic terrorism have we had since then? What has been done since then?
Border security has nothing to do with national security. All but one of the hi-jackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia, not Mexico. They were all in the US on expired visitor and student visas.
The first World Trade Center Bomber, Ramzi Yousef, was on terrorist watch lists around the world, but the US let him enter on political asylum, without a visa. He should have been detained or returned to Iraq (he was traveling with an Iraqi passport), but he was processed and released into US society. Why? Again, nothing to do with Mexico or border security.
How many of the shooters in recent years were on FBI watch lists, but slipped through the cracks? How many of the mass murders/shooters were Mexicans? The majority were carried out by white men by mental health issues and nationalist views.
The US has to separate national security policy from border security policy. Trump's narrative that Mexico is a threat to national security is fanning the flames of racism and nationalism. In fact, people living and working in the US illegally is a domestic policy issue, not a national security issue.
Finally, the photograph of the white supremacists marching on campus is heartbreaking--that much hatred in young minds and hearts. Hatred is taught, not innate.
47
@Hope
I read in the Times yesterday about a group, called the Oathbreakers, made up of current and former military and law enforcement personnel. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks White Supremacist hate groups, views the Oathbreakers as a growing threat. The military and Law Enforcement are who we count on to defend us against white supremacists, armed to the teeth and seething with hate. We have ignored this growing threat long enough.
2
As a retired military person I'll say these oathbreakers are exactly that on many levels. They are traitors who should lose all benefits from their "service".
3
@Michael Banks
It's the Oath Keepers Michael and supposedly they have other splinter groups and yes armed to the teeth and the majority are ex-military. A veteran of Iraq who was schoolmate of my son
said the racism(he's white) in area he served was
rampant.
2
the acting director will be replaced and Trump will tweet that the report is wrong and that they are fine people
19
Various government agencies may try to get information like this announcement into the public forum while they still can. The trajectory of the current administration has been demonstrated clearly by the President and his loyalists. Anything that is contrary to what Mr. Trump wants will be crushed. And Mr. Trump wants his own supremacy to rule over all of this country indefinitely. To achieve this he consistently advocates bigotry and gives license to his supporters to be violent in their approach to any one not white, male, heterosexual, or Republican. If this is okay with people now, it may not be in the future because an authoritarian government affects everyone, no exceptions.
12
The paradox - the administration that incites violence and domestic terrorism from white supremacy is saying that it now presents a threat to our public safety. More and more the work in the book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" is relevant to what is unfolding all around us. 27, now 37 psychiatrists have weighed in on the mental condition of Trump as well as its relationship to the public. May those now awake about this real and present danger pay close attention to what Trump says live to people at his rallies.
27
Problem is not that the President is crazy. It's that the country is crazy.
Go watch '300' afresh and tell me I'm wrong.
4
@Bob T Thanks for the reference. It is actually both, as the book points out. His psyche is infectious for people who are prone to hate and resentment. The guards in the prison that I was a chaplain at never liked to see his type arrive because of its' effect on other inmates. His six supporters in prison are a testimony to this. Hopefully, there will be more sanity in the populace. His pathological lying and narcissism is starting to reveal itself to more and more people.
15
@Bob T. It isn't either or, it's both.
1
Well, once again the DOJ has demonstrated its keen grasp of the obvious.
However, we'll see if the current President will let the DOJ roll on this threat with the same sort of energy that Homeland puts on the "invasion" at the border. After all, White Supremacy is a core constituency of the current President, and offers a cultural harkening that works for many of the rest of Trump's "base". If the current administration starts to treat domestic WN terrorism as the threat it is, Trump will lose much of what the current GOP likes about him.
14
I can still remember the feeling of elation the night President Obama was first elected. The backlash of stoked hate and bias that allowed for Trump's election frightens me. I'm grateful to read this acknowledgement of the challlenge and hopeful we can elect an administration that will restore funding to combat the bad actors and invest in programs that implement ways to restore civility.
22
@Tucson And how Obama missed his opportunity for unity by following Pelosi and others lead to pursue healthcare and not the low hanging fruit that could have been agreed to and gain confidence of the GOP - he never tried despite the opportunity.
It’s about time. These people are violent and are those trump hopes to inspire when he throws around dangerous comment about “civil war” in this country, violence due to the outcome of elections, and “send them back”.
11
Agencies, such as the FBI and DHS are voicing their concerns of the growing threat posed by white supremacy. How much support and recognition are they receiving from our elected representatives?
This talk of 'Civil War' ? Does it not encourage and embolden the extremists? How does it help our law enforcement agencies? For that matter, maintain and preserve the peace we all so much cherish?
11
Connect the dots.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, just warned of a Civil War if Trump is impeached, a warning which Trump himself repeated.
No one can be confused about his reference to the LAST American civil war, or the cause over which it was fought.
White conservative evangelicalism is not OVERTLY racist, but since the civil rights movement it has been COVERTLY racist. Obama was the worst of the worst for this movement, the first black president.
They reacted to the Obama presidency by insisting on a candidate who would fight for their “Christian” cause with bare knuckles, and they found Donald Trump.
We—both the national community and more narrowly within it the mainstream Christian community—cannot condemn white supremacy without drawing a line against the circle of distorted religious ideas which continue to foster it, and which has given us such a wretched president.
28
@Paul McGlasson for the most part I have given up on religion as something for the general good. Instead, religion divides and separates us, with every sect believing their own religion is the one and only true one. Herein lies one of the roots of supremacy and that quickly morphs into the violence of white supremacy.
6
The job of the Department of Homeland Security has been to defend the United States from foreign terrorists. But white supremacist are a domestic threat, internal to the country. Why isn't this problem under the exclusive jurisdiction of the F.B.I.?
One possible explanation is to erode the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits unauthorized military actions within the U.S. It is one reason why the jurisdictions of the F.B.I. and C.I.A. were firmly separated under the law. Perhaps the data fusion centers should be removed from D.H.S. and placed instead under the jurisdiction of the F.B.I.?
2
Yet another reason to vote Trump and Republicans out of office in 2020. The next Democratic president must not be intimated by the white identity politics of the Republican party. I think America is a lot wiser about Republican party techniques for sowing hate and violence. Hopefully we won't be cowed when we return to power. We should be unrelenting in taking the fight against white supremacy to where they live.
9
McAleenan effectively just resigned. He'll be out in a week or so.
11
One thing Republicans should keep in mind as this impeachment inquiry goes on (narrowly focused or not), the longer Trump is in office, the bigger this threat will grow. Trump supports this -- remember "there were good people on both sides" comment after Charlottesville...he is incapable of feeling anything and his disgraceful display of ignorance about National Security for the people he serves, has been eye opening to many who were, at one point in time, very happy to continue walking around with blinders on.
9
I don't know why there are all these positive reactions. With the police and military so deeply saturated with white supremacist sympathizers and practitioners, why would you expect them to investigate, prevent, or prosecute?
10
@Lanier Y Chapman exactly. Many supremacists are in law enforcement and carry legal weapons they’re highly trained to use.
1
@Lanier Y Chapman
I was reading the article and thinking back to revealnews and propublica looking into Cops, Correction Officers with White Supremicist tendancies in facebook groups. And some of their bosses not caring.
Don't be fooled. This is a repeat of 2016 Campaign Trump talking about the plight of minorities. This is cover for moderate Republicans to say "see, he can't be racist" and return him to office in 2020.
4
Wonder how long Kevin McAleenan will stay the acting director of DHS now. Let's wait and see how long it takes DJT to oust him.
Back in 2009 a study was done and a report created BY the DHS which reported out on "domestic terrorism". Here's the title and a link to find it
" (U//FOUO) Rightwing Extremism:
Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment"
and here's the link:
https://fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf
At that time the republicans demanded that the report be pulled back and Janet Napolitano was commanded to do so. Maybe they need to dust this work off and go from where it left off.
IF McAleenan sticks around.
8
If these people expect to have a snowball’s chance in DC of being taken seriously, the tiki torches and polo shirts must be replaced!
1
Of course #45 is the main beneficiary of white supremacy and it's no coincidence that a white supremacist is one of his main advisors - Stephen Miller. I'm sure he will get the acting head fired soon.
8
"Local police officials in turn hope the belated admission by the Homeland Security Department will lead the agency to share more and richer information on the threat."
They need to look in their own backyards:
When Gillian Thompson took photos of a hat bearing the name of a controversial group in the back of a Anne Arundel County police cruiser Monday, she never expected the reaction she got.
In the past few days, Thompson, a 48-year-old mother of four, has been the subject of profane and vitriolic messages posted on social media. Wednesday, she reported the harassment to police prompting the department to have officers periodically drive by her family's Crownsville home.
https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/crime/ph-ac-cn-oathkeeper-folo-1021-20161020-story.html
9
@george eliot Yeah, that group is full of delusional, violent men. I've been concerned about them for years. They are essentially the armed wing of the Republican party.
6
Of course Trump doesn't believe that white supremacy is a security issue. Why would he be opposed to an important segment of his base?
19
Is the the Homeland Security of Putin's Trump saying that?
Why? What about those "very fine people" in the White supremacy movement in Hump's mind?
4
It must be nice to come from such hermetically sealed white privilege and security, that one can acknowledge this glaring reality, yet still carry on about disarming the poor and working populations in America's cities.
7
Whites are "supreme?"
This white guy looks around his neighborhood, his country, the world… including the history of behavior among the whitest of nations.
Sorry.
Too much evidence that white skin does not endow the person within with anything remotely supreme.
A lot of murder and mayhem and selfish dealing woven into all the other human achievements.
Just like those in any of the other main "races" so called.
Humans are roundly good and bad.
And not all that supreme if truth be told.
Supreme at being petty, self-interested jerks too often maybe.
14
@Paul King
“ I love the uneducated.”
And they consider themselves superior.
Go figure.
1
Today is the anniversary of the Las Vegas terrorist attack that killed sixty two people and injured nearly seven hundred.
So much for trump protecting America from terrorists.
22
Several times the phrase “outreach to organizations that espouse hateful views” (or some variant) appears in this article. I cannot help wondering what form that might take. “Good day! We just wanted to remind you that it’s not nice to murder your fellow Americans just because you don’t like their religion, ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation or immigration status. Have a nice day!”
12
Unless the threat of white supremacist violence is out of proportion to the number of white people in the population, the entire focus on this issue would seem to be an obsession of our journalistic class more than it ought to be.
8
@Middleman MD unless of course you happen to be a target or victim of white supremacist violence.
25
I see. So you’re saying there is an acceptable level of white supremacist violence that you would be ok with. As long as it’s not out of proportion to the white population.
15
What would be an acceptable “proportion” for you?
12
Look no further than the photos from Charlottesville with many of the white supremacist marchers - "some very find people" - wearing that familiar "Make America Great Again" cap.
To paraphrase Andrew Gillum, "I'm not saying Donald Trump is a racist. I'm saying racists believe Donald Trump is a racist." He's also an extreme danger to the United States and its people.
20
Trump needs white supremacists for the civil war he suggested will follow his impeachment. So he will employ his usual doublespeak code, tweeting contradictory messages on successive days about white supremacy. His followers know exactly which message is the real one.
10
In the words of that great orator Homer Simpson, DOH!
2
trump may view white nationalism as a problem but in his civil war he’s threatening, it will be white nationalists he turns to to try to keep him in office.
15
White nationalists stoking fear in this nation and partnering with the KKK endorsing white supremacy is a bigger threat than ISIS. Trump's tweets, rallies and policies enable this racism. Finally, our public tax dollars will be utilized to defend the security of people of color in this country. It saddens me that Homeland Security does not understand the grave danger organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center have highlighted for several years. Such acknowledgement is long overdue!
31
OR the ADL who put out a very detailed report last year on the rise of white supremacy in the US and racially motivated violence, which pretty much all folks with White Supremacist sympathies dissed.
7
400 years of white supremacy..... from slavery's colonial start in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 to today's 2019 angry white guys with unlimited access to guns and bullets and limited coping skills.
Domestic white male 'Christian' terrorism has been a problem for some time.
Time for the government to seriously protect society from this serious public safety threat.
45
So anyone willing to wager on how long Kevin McAleenan will have his job?
28
I wonder if Donald Trump has already asked William Barr and Rudy Guiliani to start undermining the actions of DHS here and to start up the propaganda machine that this is all fake news. And then Mr. McAleenan will be labeled a loser by Mr. Trump, forced to leave office and then another toady will be installed several months down the line, all standard operating procedure by President Trump and his attack dogs.
23
Racism is wrong. This is a cancer on our country, just like guns.
12
We've had two gun massacres--in a Pittsburgh synagogue targeting Jews, and in an El Paso Walmart targeting Hispanics--directly connected to the white nationalist hate speech of Donald Trump. A man now threatening to unleash a "civil war" as his day of reckoning approaches. Trump may deny it one moment as he states it in another tweet, but we're already in the midst of a "civil war" that he's unleashed against minorities--Hispanics, Jews, and Muslims. It began when Trump revealed a total absence of moral leadership when he voiced support of neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville in support of a racist Confederate general who fought to overthrow the Union and retain slavery as containing "some good people." As a member of a Holocaust family this is all too reminiscent of Hitler's Brown Shirts who rampaged through Germany attacking those, including American journalists and even diplomats, who didn't show proper respect to their marches and protests. This how authoritarian rule begins; and this cancer must be impeached from our body politic before more are murdered along with our democracy.
21
What shocks me is every time they bust one of these right wing nuts, preparing for a terrorist racist attack, is the amount of weapons that are discovered. Many military grade automatic and other illegal powerful weapons. Where are they getting these weapons? The NRA puts the fear of god into these 'on the edge' people and I think the ATF and law enforcement has to step up their game. The majority seem to have been in the military so the branches need to step up also. Extremist Militia groups like the Oath Keepers are said to be made up of a majority of military veterans and group is said to be armed to the teeth.
And the Republicans want to classify Antifa(many female) as a terrorist group. We have to vote every Republican out of office
and their glorious CIC.
16
@Dusty
Any sort of firearm is readily available at gun shows with no background check or waiting period at all. States that allow this are magnets for bad people who have trouble accessing a new firearm.
Did Homeland Security find any fine people?
7
"But hey, what do they know?"
Sarcastically attributed to Donald Trump
So much easier and more American to divert attention from genuine homegrown threats to people abroad who don’t share the true American virtues of being white and Christian. A much easier sell, and less voter alienating, to blame shifty foreigners than the nutcase with the guns two trailers over.
15
Seems a bit pointless considering our president puts people who have nationalistic, anti-immigrant and/or neo-Nazi views in position of power. Of course they are very fine people.
7
Like almost every other aspect of the Trump presidency the Department of Homeland Security has been subverted to enhance the glory of Donald J. Trump. The original mission of the DHS has been drowned in the swamp of the Trump Administration. With Trump everything the government does is subverted to what is best for Trump not what is best for the country. And White Nationalists, aka Neo-Nazis, are Trump supporters. They are the "Good People" on one of the both sides
6
It is disgraceful and wholly dishonest to portray the President as having had doubts about white supremacist violence. This is simply another twisted version of the previously braided lies that came out of the tragic Charlottesville event. You know it’s not true, you know you’re misleading your readership but your relentless campaign to unseat our President knows no dignity and no end.
Denial and the insistence on wearing blinders apparently has no end.
18
@JBCDignity is not a word I associate with this president.
16
Doubts? Trump’s had no doubts about fanning those flames to speaking of, and even fewer about braying the racist nonsense that supports such cowards as the Klan.
The only useful question is this: is Trump acting this way because he’s another racist so-and-so, or because he’s completely cynical and opportunistic, or because the’s dumb as a post?
16
... and: they all have military grade weapons.
not to be alarmist, but -- hey! they all have military grade weapons!
and you thought trump's "civil war" tweet was just a nutter president. he's the nutter elected by the nutters. and they have the guns.
11
Welcome to the party pal.
-'Die Hard'
1
Start by going after America’s number one bigot, the one in the White House; move on to the rest of racist, bigoted Republican Party.
10
@Ignatz Farquad
My thought exactly: if you're really concerned about white supremacists and their stoking of violence against fellow citizens, you have no choice but to arrest Donald Trump.
4
Homeland Security speaks to White Supremacy. Well, what do you know?
Maybe they should send someone from their department to speak to Susan Bro, mother of Heather Heyer, who was murdered in Charlottesville, Virginia, by White Supremacists, and then our president’s response!
Then publicly give us the report.
50
This announcement is very welcome, as it has been long overdue from this administration, as well as seemingly in spite of this administration. I'll just add that I notice that Mr. McAleenan was apparently the "Kevin," named by Trump in the video as he helped Trump prop up that sharpie-doctored hurricane Dorian chart. I felt sorry for the then-anonymous "Kevin" at the time, but now I hope he's on the way to being redeemed.
26
It is mildly reassuring to hear the DHS finally acknowledge the extent of the white supremacist phenomenon. What remains troubling, however is the question of to what extent is the law enforcement community sympathetic to the white nationalist agenda – or even complicit? There is a component of white supremacist thinking that is attracted to the paramilitary environment provided by law enforcement, and racially prejudicial mind-sets can be strengthened by the "us vs. them" milieu frequently encountered in police organizations. These sympathizers may constitute a minority, even a small minority of law enforcement personnel, but there is a piece of folk wisdom regarding the effect of rotten apples.
59
There is a word for what you’re describing: Nazis - and the appeal is certainly not lost on the tiki torch crowd.
9
Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security
This guy will not be acting for long. He will unceremoniously dismissed on a Friday evening or decide to "spend time with family" in the coming weeks once Jeffers and rest of the right wing evangelical mob get on the horn with their man in the oval office.
103
"...the leadership at Homeland Security must adapt to the rise of domestic terrorism."
All good to hear. But it is important to use the phrase "domestic terrorist/ism" when describing every single ideologically-driven incident that occurs. There is a bizarre reticence to call it what it is. People who belong to hate groups (i.e. terrorist groups) need to be associated with the word terrorism. You cannot discount the power of that word and the the consequences that follow from being accused of or associated with that word. It is a deterrent.
61
I think Mr. Sena has it absolutely right, that if it were Muslim extremists all eyes would be on it, but with white nationalist extremists, there's a shrug and unambiguous willingness to let them arm themselves to extremes.
Unfortunately, with Trump in the White House the problem will only multiply, and the Republican Party will ignore the issue.
150
@Suzanne Moniz
America was founded as a white nation for white men. That is not alectist Zinnism but a simple fact of history often declared by our mainstream leaders in the past and even in the law. White Supremacy is in the very core of our national DNA. It is not all that we are but is an inherent part of who we are. You can’t disarm white supremacist without disarming the American people and you can’t do that constitutionally or legally.
Thank you for this good news, and thank you Mr. McAleenan.
18
I think the movement should be referred to as “White, male supremacy.” That group hates and fears women just as much they hate and fear minorities. It is a movement driven by white men, not white men and women. That is a really important distinction.
247
@Sarah - I really hate to bring this to your attention, but it's been my personal experience that White Supremacy cuts across the gender line. There are plenty of white females that believe and go right along with the males in this group. White supremacy hate groups have plenty of female adherents.
34
Do not forget to include “Christian “ - you don’t find a lot of Muslims, Buddhists, or Jews at the torchlight parties, unless they’re being lynched. This phenomenon is pretty much the exclusive province of white, Christian men with basically nothing more compelling going on in their lives. The usual suspects, just a slightly fresher crop.
34
@Sarah,
Great point!
7
Oklahoma City bombing, Walmart mass shooting, synagogue shooting, Church mass shooting...These were perpetrated by racists/white supremacists. Combine this with the gun loving mentality of many Americans, and you get a deadly cocktail.
There was a Frontline episode a few years ago that specifically addressed this issue and how the federal government wasn’t focusing on this threat, which many feel is a bigger threat than foreign terrorism, especially being it is within the borders of a country who loves guns
111
Trump would say that it is Obama fault.
20
@ArmandoI
If you pay attention to the Fox News opinion crowd you will see this is exactly what they say. That Obama made things “too much about race” which we know is code for having the nerve to be an equal (actually superior in Obama’s case as we well know) competent human being.
10
Two years and eight months into this Whites R Us Administration they decide to roll out a little window dressing verbiage to address the scourge of domestic white male Christian terrorism that 'conservatives' have been whitewashing since 2009 when the radical Republicans cried 'unpatriotic !' because the 2009 research and facts from a “review of FBI white supremacist extremist cases from October 2001 to May 2008 identified 203 individuals with confirmed or claimed military service active in the extremist movement at some time during the reporting period.”
Republicans, conservatives and Grand Old Phony flag-wavers can't admit the basic truth that white, Christian, male American terrorists and their medieval white supremacist views are a major public safety threat to the country...and have been so since 1861.
The neo-Confederacy is alive and well.... and the American government needs to police, prosecute and incarcerate it.
320
@Socrates I have long admired your way with words, Socrates, but you outdid yourself with Whites R Us. That sums up the Republican Party perfectly.
28
That’ll decimate the Republican voter rolls in far too many districts, especially in the Old South and the West that was settled mainly by Southern Civil War survivors.
9
@Socrates
and don't forget they need to drive it from the ranks of our military also..
11
They might want to start with the President
222
For white racist American supremacists, the possibility of a Trump impeachment will serve as a rallying cry to committing violence.
Indeed, Trump himself has alluded to it.
146
@Taz No, Trump didn't merely allude. He incited violence. Which he, whether as President or even as a private citizen, has no 1st Am right to do. But because he is currently President, those who like the encouragement can claim they're just following orders.
15
..I've been worried about that from day 1
no transference of power..his 2nd Amendment people have been told this chance will come
Well it’s about darn time.
21
America’s biggest threat to our national security is Trump. What a very sad state of affairs to have our nation mired in Trump’s treasonous acts and his continued ‘dog whistling’ of support for white nationals.
90
Glad to see that law enforcement agencies are beginning to take white supremacy more seriously. Still, the question remains...what if the police are white supremacists?
It's no secret the KKK has long had officers of the law among it's ranks, and that our nation has a prison system that profits off of the convictions of people of color.
I hate to say it, but white supremacy seems like it's in our country's DNA.
Change lies with each and every individual, say "NO" to white supremacy!!
46
I'm sure our dear leader would say there are good people on both sides.
22
White supremecist/nationialistic terroroism?
Who knew?
16
This story posted at 9:40 AM ET today. Has Acting Director Kevin McAleenan been fired yet?
54
It is a redux of the period after reconstruction where people of color White terrorism. This is all a response to the Presidency of Barack Obama. This is nothing new to Blacks folks have always lived under of violence from White folks.
35
Violent white supremacy has been a threat since the invention of race in the 1600s.
29
@Locho
Yes. Race itself is a purely social construct, devoid of any inherent significance until someone decides that it matters.
Prejudice is a learned behavior which is perpetuated by ignorance. In the case of Republicans, that ignorance is intentional.
4
@Locho You can't possibly believe what you just wrote. Race is a physical matter, not a "social" one, and it certainly existed prior to the 1600s. Even the Romans distinguished people by race, not to mention the pre-historic era.
Wow nazis are criminals, who would have thunk that.
54