Author: Department of Homeland Security Digital Library

The Soufan Center has released Quantifying the Q Conspiracy: ‘A Data-Driven Approach to Understanding the Threat Posed by QAnon,’ a special report demonstrating QAnon’s potential to threaten national security and  encourage domestic violence. At the core of this organization is the belief that  “the ‘Deep State,’ led by a cabal of elitist pedophiles, is leading the United States,” encouraging many to consider violent action such as the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol.  QAnon, like other extremist organizations, utilizes already existing conflict and societal instability to further its agenda and recruit more members. The use of social media has

How have digital media platforms contributed to anti-government rhetoric?  Digital Citizens Alliance and Coalition for a Safer Web teamed up to answer this question in their report, “The Domestic Extremist Next Door.”  The report analyzes some of the most popular social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok) and how domestic terrorists use them to promote disinformation and recruit members.  The extremist groups this report focuses on are QAnon, the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois, the Three Percenters, and the Oath Keepers, comparing their online activities to those of global terrorists such as ISIS.  The report concludes

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has just released their Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community for 2021. This annual report focuses on the worldwide threats to U.S. national security for the upcoming year, and specifically “provides the IC’s [Intelligence Community] baseline assessments of the most pressing threats to US national interests, while emphasizing the United States’ key adversaries and competitors.”

The report examines China’s push for global power, provocative actions taken by Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and conflicts/instability taking place across the globe (Afghanistan, India-Pakistan, Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Africa). Additionally, the assessment

The Program on Extremism along with the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point have just released ‘This is War’: Examining Military Experience Among the Capitol Hill False Flag Participants. This study “uses federal court documents to examine the prevalence, demographics, and characteristics of individuals with military experience who were charged for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol.” Additionally, the report analyzes these individuals’ affiliations with domestic violent extremist organizations and provides recommendations to combat extremism in the military.

Of the 357 individuals arrested for their role in the Capitol Hill siege, 43 had

In the wake of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré to lead a six week review to evaluate Capitol security. The assessment, Task Force 1-6 Capitol Security Review, specifically “review[s] and provide[s] recommendations in the following areas: Capitol security operations, infrastructure physical security, and Member security in their Congressional districts, their residences, and during travel.”

The security review determined that the Capitol Police Board’s decision process was too slow, and contributed to “delaying requests for critical supplemental resources.” The review found that the U.S.

Domestic attacks as a result of extremism have been increasing steadily in recent years. In a recent publication by RAND titled Violent Extremism in America: Interviews with Former Extremists and Their Families on Radicalization and Deradicalization, an attempt is made to survey the causes of violent extremism and analyze the reasons people exited from radical organizations and beliefs. The research team conducted an interview of 36 people: 24 former extremists, ten family members, and two friends. Covering 32 separate cases of radicalization, 24 were white supremacists and 8 were Islamic extremists. To find key areas for analysis, participants were

In an attempt to understand the impact that Winter Storm Uri had on Texas, the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs conducted a survey of adults living in the 213 counties served by the Texas Electrical Grid. The survey gathered information on Texans’ experiences during the storm, as well as their opinions on the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions by Governor Greg Abbott.

Survey results were presented in two reports. The Winter Storm of 2021 illustrates how various Texans prepared for the storm, where they received their information about the storm, whether or not they lost electrical power or

The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) has been expanding their research of targeted violence prevention in communities across the country. In their efforts to demonstrate a path toward preventing school violence in particular, they analyzed 67 disrupted plots against K-12 schools from 2006-2018.

This report, titled Averting Targeted School Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Plots Against Schools, makes it clear that early intervention is imperative. In his opening message, Director James Murray emphasizes that “[i]ndividuals contemplating violence often exhibit observable behaviors, and when community members report these behaviors, the next tragedy can be averted.”

In WHO-convened Global Study of Origins of SARS-CoV-2: China Part released by the World Health Organization (WHO), SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data and virus cases reported in China are analyzed as far back as late 2019. Specifically, surveillance of morbidity due to pneumonia in and around Wuhan. Molecular sequence data suggests the outbreak may have started sometime between mid-November and early December 2019. By the third week of 2020, there is an indication that virus transmission was already widespread among the population by the first week of 2020.

Many early cases of SARS-CoV-2 were initially believed to have originated from the