A new report from the U.S. intelligence community warns of future, unspecified, violence committed by domestic extremists, who have been emboldened by the siege on the U.S. Capitol and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and coronavirus pandemic.
President Biden commissioned a threat assessment shortly after taking office. An unclassified summary of the findings, issued by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, was released Wednesday. The full, classified report was sent to the White House and Congress.
It concludes that racially and ethnically motivated extremists, such as white supremacists and those tied to violent militias, are considered the "most lethal" threats. Lone offenders or smaller cells of extremists are more likely than organizations to carry out attacks, and are proving harder for law enforcement to track.
The threat of militia extremist groups increased last year and is expected to continue to heighten throughout 2021, the report said. That's because of "sociopolitical factors" motivating these groups, "such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence."