Biden’s DHS releases new ‘heightened’ terrorist threat warning President Joe Biden speaks to Department of Defense personnel at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2021. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)
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President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security published a terrorist advisory system bulletin on Monday warning of a “heightened threat environment” nationwide.
In a statement, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin was fueled by multiple factors, including “an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors.”
The statement asserted that the “threat actors” aim to “exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence.”
“Mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence conducted by lone offenders and small groups acting in furtherance of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances pose an ongoing threat to the nation,” the statement read.
The DHS said it is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to share “timely and actionable information and intelligence with the broadest audience possible.”
The bulletin went onto to reiterate the Biden administration’s effort to combat domestic terrorism with the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
