The White House has published its Strategyfor fighting domestic terrorism, defined in terms laid out by the Patriot Act but augmented by a slurry of new jargon: there are now Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs), Racially Motivated Violent Extremists (RMVEs), and Militia Violent Extremists (MVEs). All this based on a broad claim that extremist violence is a growing and escalating threat. This Strategy calls for the government:
- To expand data collection and analysis dedicated to domestic terrorism. This means new measures for sharing information across government agencies and industry partners, and increased efforts to combat foreign connections to domestic groups—from disinformation (Russia) and financing methods (Bitcoin) to communications between extremist groups.
- To train and fund a cross-community network that identifies and reports domestic extremism early. This means partnerships with online platforms to radically expand surveillance, data collection, and censorship capabilities (globally).
- To expand and fund law enforcement and prosecutorial capabilities dedicated to domestic terrorism (the funding is already in motion). This means expanded legal powers to arrest, prosecute, and jail domestic extremists, as well as screening and monitoring Department of Defense, civil service, and civilian infrastructure employees for ties to domestic extremism (early efforts include monitoring social media use of individual employees).
The Sprawl
As envisioned, this effort is almost designed to sprawl. The Capitol Event (alternatively described as a riot, insurrection, or coup attempt) has become the equivalent of 9/11. This event, in combination with online and media claims of a rapid rise in domestic extremism, is being used as the critical justification of this war—even though, according to the Anti-Defamation League, deaths from extremist violence are at the lowest level since 2004.
Driven by political and online factors and without a basis in hard-eyed analysis, this effort will seek to justify itself by expanding its definition of extremism to include incidents and actions far less dramatic than deadly violence.