/1 - It's late. I'd love to put this debacle of a debate behind me, but I feel compelled to underscore the danger we're facing. As a Mom, I struggle w/ explaining to my children they should respect the President & pray for him as God instructs us, but not imitate his behavior.
/2 - I have limited my public commentary to those things which I have first hand knowledge, and those things which pose a danger to our country. (Sure there are other stories of the chaos & craziness, but that's not my purpose in speaking out.)
/3 - POTUS' comments tonight fall into both the 'first-hand' and 'dangerous' category. I served at DHS as the Asst Secretary for Counterterrorism from 2018-2020. The surge of violent white nationalism happened on my watch.
/4 - I worked to develop policies, laws, and programs to better prevent domestic terrorism. My colleagues & I tried to educate the President and his staff on this threat. Initially, I thought the rebuffing was due to having other priorities (e.g., defeat ISIS, counter Iran, etc).
/5 - I concluded after the attacks in El Paso that POTUS was complicit in the deaths of Americans for his refusal to recognize his language was in the shooter's manifesto. Tonight, he was given the opportunity to condemn White Supremacy - he refused.
/6 - He instead told these groups to "Stand Back and Stand By". Online activity shows white supremacist groups & the Proud Boys have been energized by his comments as a rallying cry to attack "ANTIFA" and "left-wing" groups. They've already created a logo with those words.
/7 - If the President was confused by the exchange, he should issue a clarifying statement immediately. Otherwise, the public is left to assume he intended to not condemn White Supremacism, & intended to encourage more violence among Americans.
8/8 - Historians & terrorism experts believe this rhetoric is extremely dangerous. This is bigger than countering Antifa protests & militia activity at riots. The root ideologies at play are responsible for the OK City Bombing. Voters, it's up to you to fix the Trump problem.
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This feels eerily like El Paso. A Sat. daytime attack, at a retail loc.
Manifesto = Great Replacement.
An intentional drive to another part of the state to have a 'target-rich' environment (according to his manifesto).
& Sr Officials in govn't are scrambling to "do more"
We've had robust plans for 3 yrs to scale prevention capability across the country.
After an initial disruption in the first 2 years of the Trump admin, we re-started funding in 2019.
Biden promised to do more on Domestic Terrorism. Yet the budget has been flat ever since.
Germany is spending 1 Billion! Euros over a 3 year period on prevention capabilities. And is expected to go bigger soon.
US is spending ~$30M in funds on prevention. (Non-law enforcement spending).
Woefully under-resourced for our country's size & the scale of the problem.
Spending some time at the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) conference in Orlando this week. Excellent presentations - great mix of practitioners and researchers. Heartening to hear about a few states who adopted full-on targeted violence prevention strategies
Starting to see some fruit from our 2019 DHS Strategy to Counterterrorism and Targeted Violence. Need Washington to move faster though. Authorize CP3, accelerate placing prevention coordinators in the field, increase grant dollars. Encourage states to build prevention capability.
A consistent theme from presenters is the importance of a “top-down” mandate. Prevention is a multidisciplinary activity - if you don’t have the political level directing it as a priority, very hard to get all of the different agencies that need to be involved to prioritize it.
Seeing lots of analysis from people not living in Virginia that this is all about using “CRT” as a wedge issue / dog whistle. Dig deeper. I know multiple people who have always voted D that voted for Youngkin. It’s not because of the fear of “CRT”. 1/
These are people savvy enough to know CRT isn’t taught in schools in VA. And I’m not suggesting the candidate didn’t play “CRT” up during the campaign, but there’s more to the story: A legitimate frustration over how schools are being managed that are driving Ds to vote for Rs.2/
They have questions about the right age to be having EDI conversations in schools and want more transparency for parents around what is being taught. There is also a ton of anger over the delays in returning to school last year over perceived catering to teachers unions. 3/
Biden’s speech was mostly a restatement of his reasons for withdrawal. I disagree with him, but that really isn’t the issue at this point. The issue is the ~100K who we PROMISED to provide safety to in return for their help over the past 20 years and who are now living in fear.1/
What’s the plan? @POTUS said we’re committed to getting the translators out. If you’re lucky to be in Kabul, near the evacuation airport, you’re still stuck. non-profit orgs and journalist working in the area says there is no way for people to get to the airport.2/
No one thought it would take 6 days; but plenty thought it wouldn’t take long. NGOs & govn’t experts have been hounding Biden’s team to have a plan before drawing down troops. Biden’s speech is an attempt to deflect from the incompetence of operational planning & execution. 3/
DHS issues an updated National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin today. It is the most detailed NTAS put out since the creation of the system. dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/…
“threats include those posed by domestic terrorists, individuals and groups engaged in grievance-based violence, and those inspired or motivated by foreign terrorists and other malign foreign influences.”
“…actors are increasingly exploiting online forums to influence & spread violent extremist narratives & promote violent activity…. threats are exacerbated by impacts of …pandemic, including grievances over public health safety measures & perceived govnt restrictions.”
1/ Some news! I’ve been looking for a way to stay engaged in the fight against violent extremism. So I’m beyond thrilled to join the brilliant @MoonshotTeam as their Chief Strategy Officer. I’ve been following their pioneering work for 4 years. moonshotteam.com
2/ Technology, for all of its benefits, is also an accelerant for radicalization and other online harms. But technology can also be harnessed to help detect and counter such harms. @MoonshotTeam is a leader in this effort.
3/ They can see trends in near-real time that the government often misses. For ex. they partnered with @ADL on this research earlier this year: moonshotteam.com/white-supremac…