Thread by @realNateSnyder

THREAD: here is some expansion on what I discussed on @MSNBC @KasieDC RE: what could be done yesterday to elevate our Federal #DomesticTerrorism prevention efforts, h/t to @tribelaw for the thread prompt and @SeamusHughes for his insight 1/

My former office, @DHSgov Ofc of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention once had a budget of $22 mil now $2.7-3 mil and once 40 FTEs now 7-10 FTEs, the #Trump Admin actively atrophied the office w/ specific focus on #DomesticTerrorism prevention programming 2/

This systematic atrophy included the pulling back of announced grant funding for programs specific to #DomesticTerrorism (DT) prevention, grant award were pulled back from #LifeAfterHate bc the org was critical of #Trump for example (evidence in FOIA req) 3/

The #CVE Task Force, the body-while not perfect-that directed gov't wide terrorism prevention efforts incl DT was essentially disbanded and roles were not refilled, it exists in name only, the Task Force incl #DHS #FBI #NCTC #DOJ and others 4/

So why is this important? Bc as we knew then and seeing now, traditional law enf tripwires are inadequate, by the time they are triggered it is too late; prevention is proactive and at times is outside of law enf jurisdiction 5/

There are almost always bystanders who know about the attacker(s), planning, behaviors, indicators in every terrorist attack, their understanding on how to intervene and report is lacking, a key mission of prevention focuses in this space 6/

Therefore immediate efforts are needed to support local communities, law enf, first responders...etc to develop prevention and intervention strategies at the local level, unfortunately the support and lessons learned to encourage that mission is now toothless 7/

Further troubling is that #DHS analysts who specialize on DT research and sharing information with local authorities RE: emerging threats, trends, and countermeasures have been reassigned to other duties, this DHS unique analysis and info sharing has stopped 8/

Fortunately #FBI field office analysts have been tracking the use of DT narratives and conspiracies that have been used to actively promote violence, key distinction is that there is a direct nexus to violence, see more here: news.yahoo.com/fbi-documents-… 9/

It is clear that domestic terrorists are using the same playbook that #AQ/#ISIS use to recruit, radicalize, and mobilize people to violence, the only difference is ideology, the trade craft is the same-the creation of an ecosystem to promote terrorist violence 10/

There is also a double standard RE: #AQ/#ISIS inspired terrorism vs. #DomesticTerrorism, case in point is that we would never tolerate AQ/ISIS using 4/8Chan to recruit, inspire, radicalize, and mobilize groups and individuals to violence-terrorism is terrorism full stop 11/

RE: 4/8Chan, the platform itself does not radicalize people, it's how it's used & the individuals/orgs that leverage it to promote violence, I hold the unpopular view that it shouldnt be shutdown, it provides a window valuable for analysts & if shutdown users will go dark 12/

Immediate steps Fed gov't can take to address DT:
1. Fund DHS Ofc of Targeted Violence & Terror Prevention specifically for DT
2. Have DHS release its draft DT prevention plan
4. Expand #NCTC's jurisdiction to incl DT
5. Bring back the #DOJ DT exec cmte
6. Empower the #GIFCT

13/

Last, addressing🐘 in the room, steps mentioned may be moot unless #Trump stops espousing DT tropes/narratives (i.e. Great Replacement master narrative) that inturn validate DT behavior & aid in the radicalization & mobilization of would be DT aspirants-kerosene on a DT 🔥 14/14