The Department of Homeland Security started an effort a year ago to address domestic terrorism, white nationalist threats and other acts of homegrown violence, a major shift for an agency created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to protect the U.S. from foreign terrorism. That plan remains stalled in a bureaucratic morass as clashes between protesters and counterprotesters have escalated to the kind of violent acts that the plan was supposed to address, reports the New York Times. A new crop of DHS leaders, led by Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, appear to be doing the opposite of what had been promised. Far from cooperating with local governments to combat domestic unrest, particularly from the far right, they have joined President Donald Trump in lashing out at mayors and governors while deploying federal tactical teams to cities, often against the wishes of the local governments with which they had pledged to cooperate.
Last year’s document singled out white supremacist and anti-government extremism as primary national security threats, while also noting the potential threat posed by Antifa, a loose-knit anti-fascist movement. Officials committed to releasing a detailed implementation plan within months. That blueprint was to guide federal and local governments and community stakeholders in how to work cooperatively to identify threats and address politically motivated violence. “It’s government dysfunction and bureaucracy at its worst,” said Daryl Johnson, a former DHS senior analyst whose 2009 report warning of the rise of right-wing extremism was withdrawn after it prompted political backlash from conservative leaders furious that it suggested military veterans were joining far-right movements. The department planned to pair the new blueprint with an assessment of the threat posed by people affiliated with extremist groups. Both reports are caught in the department’s protracted review process.