no word on antifa yet https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...is-us-terror-threat-level-trump-a9323786.html FBI raises neo-Nazi threat level to same as Isis Director Christopher Wray says far-right and racially motivated terror attacks are 'national threat priority' America's greatest domestic terror threat stems from racially and ethnically motivated extremists, following a record high in hate-motivated attacks and the rise of neo-Nazi and white supremacist violence now formally recognised by the FBI as significant a threat to the US as terror groups abroad. FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the threat of far-right domestic violent extremism has risen to a "national threat priority" for 2020, posing a "steady threat of violence and economic harm" to the US while its underlying drivers — including "perceptions of government or law enforcement overreach, socio-political conditions, racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and reactions to legislative actions" — persist. Mr Wray said the FBI is "most concerned about lone offender attacks", which have "served as the dominant lethal mode" for domestic terror incidents. In 2019, the FBI made 107 domestic terrorism arrests, on pace with the number of arrests it made for international terrorism. Racism and hate-driven ideologies were the driving forces behind most of the ideologically motivated killings and violence in the US in 2018 and 2019, and were the most lethal of all domestic extremism movements over the last 20 years. He said: "The spate of attacks we saw in 2019 underscore the continued threat posed by domestic violent extremists and perpetrators of hate crimes. Such crimes are not limited to the United States and, with the aid of Internet like-minded hate groups, can reach across borders." In response, the FBI announced the launch of a Domestic Terrorism-Hate Crimes Fusion Cell in 2019, which allows the organisation to allocate as much resources to combat domestic terrorism as it does to combat other terror-linked groups. The FBI now appears to treat white supremacist violence and domestic extremists motivated by foreign terror groups like Isis and al-Qaeda as similarly organised threats — both use the Internet to radicalise and turn to "soft targets" in public areas, from stores to places of worship, to commit violence. He said: "Regardless of the specific ideology involved, the FBI requires that all domestic terrorism investigations be predicated based on activity intended to further a political or social goal, wholly or in part involving force, coercion, or violence, in violation of federal law." The FBI's latest directive follows the Department of Homeland Security's recent counterterrorism efforts that recognised white nationalism as a significant domestic threat. In early 2019, then-DHS chief Kirstjen Nielsen insisted that Islamist militants such as al-Qaeda and Isis remained the country's "primary terrorist threat". Donald Trump denies white nationalism is a 'rising threat' after Christchurch mosque attack Following waves of mass shootings and other hate-motivated attacks, Americans have pressured the government to combat white supremacism and far-right violence, accusing Donald Trump's administration of abetting white nationalism and turning a blind eye to ideologically driven violence in the US while combatting terror groups abroad.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...wd-peaceful-protesters-kkk-leader/5323490002/ A man who drove his pick-up truck into a crowd of peaceful protesters in Richmond, Virginia over the weekend is an admitted leader of the Ku Klux Klan, according to prosecutors. Henrico County Police identified the man as 36-year-old Harry H. Rogers of Virginia. Rogers has been charged with assault, battery, attempted malicious wounding and felony vandalism in the Sunday night incident. Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor said in a tweet that a "cursory glance" at Rogers' social media and his own admissions to authorities revealed that he was a leader of the white supremacist group. Harry Rogers appeared in Henrico Court Monday morning where he agreed to receive a court-appointed attorney, according to CBS 6 News. A Henrico judge denied Rogers' bond during Monday's hearing. According to witnesses, Rogers drove down a median before revving his engine and driving into the protesters. A person who was wounded in the incident doesn't appear to have serious injuries, said Taylor. "Protesters acting peaceably, well within their constitutional rights of assembly, should not have to fear violence," added Taylor. "We lived through this in Virginia in Charlottesville in 2017. I promise Henricoans that this egregious criminal act will not go unpunished. Hate has no place here under my watch." In 2017, James Alex Fields Jr. deliberately drove into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, killing one and injuring 19. Fields was sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crime charges last year. According to interviews with witnesses by CBS 6 News, protesters urged the driver to stop. One witness said that Rogers was already parked and waiting at the scene where protesters planned to march. The incident comes in the midst of widespread protests against police brutality which started when police officers killed George Floyd on May 25. Four police officers have been charged in his death. As president Trump identifies Antifa as responsible for much of the protest-related violence, there is “scant evidence” according to the Associated Press. Rogers is due back in court in August.