DHS Report: Rightwing Extremism

[tequila]

Prosecutor: GA murder case uncovers terror plot

LUDOWICI, Ga. (AP) -- Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday.

Prosecutors in rural Long County, near the sprawling Army post Fort Stewart, said the militia group of active and former U.S. military members spent at least $87,000 buying guns and bomb components. They allege the group was serious enough to kill two people - former soldier Michael Roark and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York - by shooting them in the woods last December in order to keep its plans secret.

"This domestic terrorist organization did not simply plan and talk," prosecutor Isabel Pauley told a Superior Court judge. "Prior to the murders in this case, the group took action. Evidence shows the group possessed the knowledge, means and motive to carry out their plans."

One of the Fort Stewart soldiers charged in the case, Pfc. Michael Burnett, also gave testimony that backed up many of the assertions made by prosecutors. The 26-year-old soldier pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter, illegal gang activity and other charges. He made a deal to cooperate with prosecutors against the three other soldiers ...

The prosecutor said the militia group had big plans. It plotted to take over Fort Stewart by seizing its ammunition control point and talked of bombing the Forsyth Park fountain in nearby Savannah, she said. In Washington state, she added, the group plotted to bomb a dam and poison the state's apple crop. Ultimately, prosecutors said, the militia's goal was to overthrow the government and assassinate the president ...

This crew sounds unhinged, but they were apparently quite willing to commit murder before their plots even got off the ground.

[davidbfpo]

The article's full title:

The benefits of hindsight....The need for more monitoring of domestic terrorism

Noted via Twitter today, it appeared on the 18th August, starting with this 2009 DHS report and ends pithily:

..talking about right-wing extremist threatens howls of protest. Nice idea, shame about the politics.

Link:http://www.economist.com/node/215605...s_of_hindsight

The comments illustrate the difficulty in this area of public safety policy and in IMHO are not worth reading in total.

[AmericanPride]

Hey David,

That's an interesting chart. Right-wing populism has always been a source of localized violence in the U.S. But given the conservative tilt of U.S. politics, right-wing extremism is treated with some level of deference and benefit of the doubt not given to other forms of extremism.

[Bill Moore]

Also interesting that all three lines are on an upward trend. I assume the 9/11 attack was not factored in because the terrorists were not domestic. Single events like the Oklahoma City bombing can distort trends so be leary of that. What left wing groups are still active in the USA?

[davidbfpo]

AP,

I remain puzzled at the apparent disregard of 'right-wing extremism' in the USA, especially when police officers are murdered.

As I have posted elsewhere disregard, inadequate intelligence and policing are not unique to the USA. Look at Germany, posts 144 onwards:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...?t=5483&page=8

Here in the UK we have made mistakes, thankfully without much loss of life and I cannot recall a 'right-wing extremist' attack on the police (excluding street disorders, most recently with EDL). At one point 'Searchlight Magazine' was the most consistent watcher of the extreme right, supplying the Special Branch with information and exposing their activity:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searchlight_%28magazine%29

[Bill Moore]

AP,

I remain puzzled at the apparent disregard of 'right-wing extremism' in the USA, especially when police officers are murdered.

As I have posted elsewhere disregard, inadequate intelligence and policing are not unique to the USA. Look at Germany, posts 144 onwards:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...?t=5483&page=8

Here in the UK we have made mistakes, thankfully without much loss of life and I cannot recall a 'right-wing extremist' attack on the police (excluding street disorders, most recently with EDL). At one point 'Searchlight Magazine' was the most consistent watcher of the extreme right, supplying the Special Branch with information and exposing their activity:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searchlight_%28magazine%29

From a media perspective this is true, but not from a law enforcement perspective. It is treated as a serious threat. It is so common place I suspect the media doesn't consider it news worthy unless something big happens. It surprised me the media didn't put a spot light on Arian Nation's support for AQ after 9/11.

The US military went through a purge period in the 90s to get rid of suspected right wing extremists, and of course the KKK has been a terrorist group since the end of our civil war. Pretty old hat and manageable for now. They usually don't attract the brightest nor bravest.

[davidbfpo]

A NYT opinion article that provides an updtae to the debate and cited DHS report:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/op...reat.html?_r=0

The main terrorist threat in the United States is not from violent Muslim extremists, but from right-wing extremists. Just ask the police.In a survey we conducted with the Police Executive Research Forum last year of 382 law enforcement agencies, 74 percent reported anti-government extremism as one of the top three terrorist threats in their jurisdiction; 39 percent listed extremism connected with Al Qaeda or like-minded terrorist organizations. And only 3 percent identified the threat from Muslim extremists as severe, compared with 7 percent for anti-government and other forms of extremism.


(At the end) As state and local police agencies remind us, right-wing, anti-government extremism is the leading source of ideological violence in America.