the Federal Bureau of Investigation

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”