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.

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.

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/

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/

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.”

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.

1/ Relief and Hope. A thread on the 3-year journey to today’s release of the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.

whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/… 2/ It was 3 years ago this month when I was tasked by DHS Sec Nielsen to draft a DHS-wide Strategy on countering terrorism w/ an emphasis on domestic terrorism (DT).

The failed insurrection reflects the convergence of multiple threat vectors, incl: 1)Yrs of disinfo -> some believe they face an existential threat which justifies violence; 2) Foreign enemies amplifying disinfo; & 3) domestic extremists seeking societal collapse / civil war. 1/ To learn more about the history of violent domestic extremists and what we need to do to combat this threat, read @kathleen_belew's and my article.

washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/0…

Republican leaders - please read this piece by @seywarddarby The threat doesn’t go away with Trump. You have a constitutional duty to learn about and address this threat with the same commitment we addressed the threat from al Qaeda and ISIS.

https://twitter.com/kathleen_belew/status/1347163841055100930

“...the seeds of this attempted coup were sown decades ago.

Why, then, was America so unprepared? Experts on extremism know the answer to that question, too.

Establishment institutions have long treated the threat of right-wing violence as a fringe matter....

Didn’t plan the timing this way, but seems appropriate to remember the plight of refugees on the eve of celebrating Jesus’ birth. Shortly after which, Mary and Joseph had to flee with Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous plans. (Matt 2:12-23.) foxnews.com/opinion/immigr… One of the policies I oversaw at DHS was enhancing vetting of refugees. Through that experience, I became convinced that welcoming and caring for refugees enhances our national security.

⁦@DavidAFrench⁩’s latest. Another must read: “I’m going to be as blunt as possible: Language like Metaxas’s, like the Texas GOP’s, and like some of the statements [from yesterday’s rally] embody a form of fanaticism that can lead to deadly violence.” frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-dangerou… “There isn’t a theological defense for it. Indeed, its fury and slander directly contradict biblical commands. When core biblical values are contingent, but support for Donald Trump is not, then idolatry is the result.”

“We need a more nuanced way of regarding conspiracy theorists....these are people that we love...something has happened to them...there's a real tragedy here.... for all the people who love them, whose relationships w/ them have been fundamentally changed b/c of it."

https://twitter.com/moonshotcve/status/1337360506169008129

I often get questions about how to help a friend or loved one that is caught up in a conspiracy theory. This article presents both a heartbreaking story and research on what works and what doesn’t. Still much to learn, but I’m glad the good folks @MoonshotCVE are working on it.

Thought-provoking piece by @JVLast: The Republican Party Is Dead. It’s the Trump Cult Now.

I've struggled w/ this part of his conclusion past few yrs: "the cruelty & contempt are not just the essential ingredients of Trumpism...

newrepublic.com/article/160212… "...but exactly what Rep. voters hunger for. They don’t want deregulation, or a lower marginal tax rate, or even The Wall. What they want is the liberation to talk freely about the people they hate."

I don't think this describes 72M trump voters - but its a sizable portion.

Here’s a better screenshot...

TFR = Temporary Flight Restriction

https://twitter.com/tysonweihs/status/1324135090897735681

Further explanation: VIP TFR is determined by USSS in coor with FAA. VIP TFR’s are for: President, Vice President, President-Elect and other heads of state visit. Also occurs during UN General Assembly & special events. It means USSS/FAA are treating Biden as the President-Elect

Regardless of outcome we remain deeply divided. That weighs heavy. Where do we go from here? This article encouraged me: Start w/ where you are. Invest in local comm. & institutions.
Either Trump or Biden Will Win. But Our Deepest Problems Will Remain. nytimes.com/2020/11/03/opi… “We tend to look at forms of breakdown in our society in terms of what they produce: anger, cynicism, a rejection of tradition. But we would be wise to also consider what they implicitly demand and yearn for: responsibility, integrity and, above all, solidarity.”

An excellent examination by ⁦⁦@TimDalrymple_⁩ : Why Evangelicals Disagree on the President

While I find myself in the “Church Remnant”, appreciate the thoughtful and gracious explanation of the “Church Regnant”, the culture in which I grew up. christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/novemb… “There is nothing essentially irrational or immoral in the position stated above. It leads the Church Regnant to place a higher value on the acquisition and use of political power. The Church Regnant views the election starkly as a battle between good and evil....

I promised to share more detail (than tv appearances allow for) about some of the issues w/ which I wrestled after realizing I couldn’t vote for Trump. Grateful for @BulwarkOnline allowing me to share my journey.

Untangling Faith and Love of Country thebulwark.com/untangling-fai… If you are a Christian and still wrestling with how to vote, uncomfortable with the character deficiencies of Trump, but fearful of the policy ramifications of Biden - I offer my journey in case it is encouraging. And so that you know you’re not alone.

I oversaw DHS' Human Trafficking Policy for 2 yrs. While we made progress on policy & re-organized structures to better attack the problem, it cannot overcome the signif. effect of the Admin's other imm. policies. Pls read @abbyabrams in-depth piece: ti.me/3kLwz34 Don't take my word for it: “What we’ll see is a decade of lost ground in addressing human-trafficking in the United States,” says Jean Bruggeman, executive director of Freedom Network USA, the country’s largest coalition of anti-trafficking service providers and advocates. 2/

A thread for Christians voting for "policy": I've spent the past few days reading various Christians' rebuttals to @JohnPiper's excellent essay. It seems to boil down to either completely misunderstanding his point, or an argument that policies outweigh the character issues. 1/ They simply don't see the damage caused by Trump's lack of character as on par with damage caused by policies they disagree with, like abortion. @DavidAFrench’s article today (a must read), takes this argument on - character matters: 2/ frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/a-christian-…

The CSIS Brief released today finds that 67% of terrorist attacks & plots in 2020 (Jan-Aug) were committed by far-right extremists: white supremacists, anti-government extremists from the violent far-right, and involuntary celibates (incels). csis.org/analysis/war-c… Notably, the analysis does not include Boogaloo Bois in "right-wing extremism" but in an "other" category. I would put them together with the right-wing category which would move the % above 70. 2/

“Some of the risk factors of violent extremism identified are increasing nationwide: social isolation, financial stress, job loss, loss of loved ones and significant changes or uncertainty in life. My team also found that some groups would perceive public health measures... 1/

https://twitter.com/NeuSummits/status/1317211512738557952

...as government overreach infringing on rights and liberties, which might encourage anti-government extremists. And we observed foreign actors and domestic violent extremists spreading disinformation about the pandemic to foment discord and encourage violence.” 2/