the Federal Bureau of Investigation

“ Based on the increased volume and reach of conspiratorial content due to modern communication methods, it is logical to assume that more extremist-minded individuals will be exposed to potentially harmful conspiracy theories, accept ones that are favorable to their views, and possibly carry out criminal or violent actions as a result. The Internet has also enabled a 'crowd-sourcing' effect wherein conspiracy theory followers themselves shape a given theory by presenting information that supplements, expands, or localizes its narrative. ”

“ Violent extremists are increasingly using social media for the distribution of propaganda, recruitment, target selection, and incitement to violence. Through the Internet, violent extremists around the world have access to our local communities to target and recruit like-minded individuals and spread their messages of hate on a global scale. The recent attack at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in Poway, California, not only highlights the enduring threat of violence posed by domestic terrorists, but also demonstrates the danger presented by the propagation of these violent acts on the Internet. ”

“ Although many conspiracy theories appear benign or inconsequential, others create serious risks. Throughout history, such conspiracy theories have fueled prejudice, witch-hunts, genocide, and acts of terrorism. [1] In the context of domestic terrorism, extremists often view the activities of alleged conspirators as an existential threat that can only be stopped through drastic, or even violent means. The definitions and notes below are meant to inform discussions within law enforcement as they relate to potentially harmful conspiracy theories and domestic extremism. ”

“ Domestic terrorism is defined by statute as any act dangerous to human life that violates U.S. criminal laws and appears to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping. The act in question must occur primarily within the jurisdiction of the United States. ”

“ In addition, academic research indicates conspiracy beliefs are not only prevalent and influential in domestic extremist circles and among those with extreme political views, but often serve to magnify and exacerbate existing extremist sentiments. One indicator that would increase the likelihood of this alternative hypothesis is the absence or decrease in incidents over the long term in which domestic extremists engage in violent acts on the basis of their conspiracy beliefs. ”

“ Still, we, along with our law enforcement partners, face significant challenges in identifying and disrupting HVEs and domestic terrorists who seek to perform terrorist attacks within the United States. This is due, in part, to the ease of online self-radicalization to violence and the corresponding lack of direct connections between known terrorists or FTOs and unknown radicalized violent extremists, which shortens the window of opportunity for our investigative teams to identify and disrupt an individual before that individual decides to act. ”

“ Another factor driving the intensity of conspiracy theorizing in the United States, and the subsequent threat from conspiracy-minded extremists, is the uncovering of real conspiracies or cover-ups involving illegal, harmful, or unconstitutional activities by government officials or leading political figures. Indicators that these scenarios are emerging include disrupted plots or successful attacks against popular conspiracy theory targets, such as government facilities, synagogues, mosques, or partisan political figures. ”

“ The close collaboration between the FBI’s Criminal Investigative and Counterterrorism Divisions to combat these threats ensures each investigation evaluates all available charges and utilizes all necessary tools, making certain that regardless of a case classification or indictment category, we are protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution of the United States. ”

“ The FBI considered the alternative hypothesis that domestic extremists likely turn to violence only as a result of an underlying extremist ideology (such as militia extremism or white racially motivated violent extremism) , whereas conspiracy beliefs held by such extremists do not play a role in their mobilization to violence. ”

“ International terrorism includes cases in which subjects are members of designated FTOs, state sponsors of terrorism, and HVEs. The latter are individuals inside the United States who are inspired by international terrorism who have been radicalized to violence primarily in the United States, and who are not receiving individualized direction from FTOs. Domestic terrorists are individuals who commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as racial bias and anti-government sentiment. ”

“ Relying on the premises that nothing happens by accident, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected, conspiracy theorists tend to view every bad outcome as the result of an intentional decision by an evil actor, dismiss discontinuing evidence as "fabricated" by the conspirators, and connect a wide range of seemingly unrelated occurences to suggest a larger plot. [8] Despite sharing key characteristics and at times featuring similar themes and intersecting plots, conspiracy theories vary greatly in their scope. ”

“ We also rely heavily on the strength of our federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to combat the domestic terrorism threat. Working with our Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country, the FBI continues to identify, assess, and disrupt domestic terrorism threats in the homeland. The task force officers on our Joint Terrorism Task Forces not only serve as force multipliers in the domestic terrorism fight, but also bring invaluable experience and familiarity with the local community to our investigations. ”

“ Although conspiracy theory-driven crime and violence is not a new phenomenon, today's information environment has changed the way conspiracy theories develop, spread, and evolve. The advent of the Internet and social media has enabled promoters of conspiracy theories to produce and share greater volumes of material via online platforms that larger audiences of consumers can quickly and easily access. ”

“ In October 2018, the FBI, along with the Civil Rights Division, the Office of Justice Programs, the Community Oriented Policing Service, the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, and the Community Relations Service launched a website as a centralized portal for all of its hate crimes resources for law enforcement, media, researchers, victims, advocacy groups, and other related organizations and individuals. The website aims to educate the public on hate crimes and encourage hate crime reporting. ”

“ The FBI assesses anti-government, identity based, and fringe political conspiracy theories very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part, to engage in criminal or violent activity. This assessment is based on events in which individuals committed crimes, plotted attacks, or successfully carried out deadly violence and who—either before or after their arrests—attributed their actions to their conspiratorial beliefs. ”

“ We assess domestic terrorists pose a persistent and evolving threat of violence and economic harm to the United States; in fact, there have been more domestic terrorism subjects disrupted by arrest and more deaths caused by domestic terrorists than international terrorists in recent years. We are most concerned about lone offenders, primarily using firearms, as these lone offenders represent the dominant trend for lethal domestic terrorists. ”

“ The FBI engages with various local and national organizations to identify violations of federal law designed to protect the civil rights of individuals in the United States. Many FBI’s field offices participate in working groups with state and local law enforcement partners, as well as community groups within their area of responsibility. These working groups combine community and law enforcement resources to develop strategies to address local hate crime problems. ”

“ The UN is being used by an evil global cabal to erode American sovereignty, strip away individual liberties, and bring foreign troops to American soil in order to replace democracy with global tyranny. ”

“ Domestic extremists employ a number of indicators, some of which may be criminal and others which may constitute the exercise of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The FBI is prohibited from engaging in investigative activity for the sole purpose of monitoring the exercise of constitutional rights. ”

“ As the threat to harm the United States and U.S. interests evolves, we are adapting to and confronting these challenges. In April 2019, the FBI established the Domestic Terrorism-Hate Crimes Fusion Cell to address the intersection of the complementary FBI missions to combat domestic terrorism and provide justice to those who are victims of hate crimes. ”

“ Because some conspiracy theories are highly partisan in nature, political developments, including those surrounding major election cycles such as the 2020 presidential election, likely will impact the direction of these conspiracy theories and the potential activities of extremists who subscribe to them over the long term. ”

“ This fusion cell helps ensure seamless information sharing across divisions and augments investigative resources to combat the domestic terrorism threat, ensuring we are not solely focusing on the current threat or most recent attack, but also looking to the future to prevent the next one. ”

“ The conspiracy theories referenced in this intelligence bulletin have been categorized as antigovernment, identity based, or fringe political because they assert secretive, malevolent acts either by an allegedly hostile and tyrannical federal government, by racial, religious, or social minority groups, or by political opponents.
Anti-Government
(U) NWO: A group of international elites controls governments, industry, and media organizations, instigates major wars, carries out secret staged events, and manipulates economies with the goal of establishing global rule. ”

“ Individuals adhering to racially motivated violent extremism ideology have been responsible for the most lethal incidents among domestic terrorists in recent years, and the FBI assesses the threat of violence and lethality posed by racially motivated violent extremists will continue. ”

“ The examples above demonstrate how crowd-sourced conspiracy theories can influence which entities extremists choose to target. These examples also substantiate concerns expressed by some researchers who believe a rise of conspiracism, fostered in part by the Internet, may be accompanied by a search for scapegoats—those believed to be the conspirators' allies, henchmen, or collaborators. [40]
(U//FOUO) This is the first FBI product examining the threat from conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists and provides a baseline for future intelligence products. ”

“ The FBI highly encourages participation in the Hate Crimes Statistics Program, and routinely provides education and training to both law enforcement and community partners on the importance of identifying and reporting hate crime incidents. ”

“ This targeting occurs when promoters of conspiracy theories, claiming to act as "researchers" or "investigators", single out people, businesses, or groups which they falsely accuse of being involved in the imagined scheme. These targets are then subjected to harassment campaigns and threats by supporters of the theory, and become vulnerable to violence or other dangerous acts. ”

“ With the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the FBI was authorized to also investigate crimes committed against a person or property motivated by bias against race, religion, ethnicity/national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. ”

“ High confidence generally indicates the FBI's judgments are based on high quality information from multiple sources. High confidence in a judgment does not imply the assessment is a fact or a certainty; such judgments might be wrong. While additional reporting and information sources may change analytical judgments, such changes are most likely to be refinements and not substantial in nature. ”

“ The current racially motivated violent extremist threat is decentralized and primarily characterized by lone actors. These actors tend to be radicalized online and target minorities and soft targets using easily accessible weapons. ”

“ Low confidence generally means the information's credibility or plausibility is uncertain, the information is too fragmented or poorly corroborated to make solid analytic inferences, or the reliability of the sources is questionable. Absent additional reporting or information sources, analytical judgments should be considered preliminary in nature. ”

“ At FBI Headquarters, we have an entire section of agents and analysts dedicated to support and enable field investigations, in addition to intelligence units which provide critical information to decision makers and help the FBI think strategically about the domestic terrorism threat. ”

“ An anonymous government official known as "Q" posts classified information online to reveal a covert effort, led by President Trump, to dismantle a conspiracy involving "deep state" actors and global elites allegedly engaged in an international child sex trafficking ring. [7]
↑ (U) Website; Wikipedia.com; List of Conspiracy Theories; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories; accessed on 26 February 2019; Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia with user generated articles whose reliability cannot be determined. ↑ (U) Working paper ”