The Trump Administration politicized the DHS Counter Terrorism efforts, effectively giving Right Wing Domestic Terrorists a pass.
Under Trump, 85% of the “countering violent extremism” grants awarded by Homeland Security explicitly targeted Muslims and other minority groups, including immigrants and refugees, more than under the Obama administration, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan policy institute at the New York University School of Law.
In April, McAleenan announced a new Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention, including “racially motivated violence.” It appears to largely be a rebranding of an Obama-era initiative.
Under President Obama, the office had about 40 full-time staff and a $24-million annual budget, according to Nate Snyder, an Obama administration counterterrorism official. The office now has fewer than 10 full-time employees and a budget below $3 million.
“You have some very dedicated government employees still at the office dealing with terrorism prevention and just trying to keep the lights on,” Snyder said.
Back in 2017 the Trump Administration was warned this shift was reckless, and ignored significant terrorist threats from the Far Right.
The administration’s plans to focus on countering only one sort of extremism could imperil the broader fight against terrorism.
BY EMILY TAMKIN, ROBBIE GRAMER, MOLLY O’TOOLE
FEBRUARY 15, 2017,
The Trump administration’s focus on fighting “radical Islamic terrorism” could not only hamper counterterrorism efforts, but it could even embolden right-wing and anti-government extremists, experts and former government officials say.
Donald Trump’s transition team made clear to officials at the Department of Homeland Security after the election that it wants to reorient programs meant to counter violent extremism so that they focus almost exclusively on the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism rather than other forms of extremism.
In many respects, the Trump administration is merely trying to further a years long effort by conservatives to narrow U.S. counterterrorism strategy to focus on the threat from Islamist radicals. In 2009, DHS reportedly disowned a paper on “right-wing extremism” under political pressure from conservatives. During former President Barack Obama’s administration, DHS had already cut analysts and funding and lessened intelligence sharing with state and local authorities dedicated to the issue, according to another former senior counterterrorism official.
The Republican controlled congress pushed to Obama Administration to reign in efforts to neutralize Radical Right Wing Domestic Terrorism. The Republican Party has has a long incestuous relationship with the Radical Violent Right, turning a blind eye, and giving potentially violent RW groups a pass.