Attack shows domestic extremism will be a long-term problem

what all will this be used for? silencing conservatives? taking guns? what else?


Terrorism experts say Jan. 6 attack shows domestic extremism will be a long-term problem for the U.S.
Caitlin Dickson
Caitlin Dickson·Reporter
Thu, February 4, 2021, 7:56 PM


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Donald Trump
Homeland security and counterterrorism experts told lawmakers Thursday that the threat of domestic terrorism in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is comparable to that posed by foreign terrorists following the attack on Sept. 11, 2001, and requires a similar response.

“Our best chance for success is to be straight with the American people — that the threats we now face are arguably as dangerous as they were in the immediate post-9/11 environment, and these threats are not going away,” Chris Rodriguez, director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

Rodriguez, who previously served as a counterterrorism analyst at the CIA, said that the January attack “was an act of domestic terrorism” which “exposed, in the starkest terms, the threat we face from domestic terrorists generally, but also from right-wing extremism specifically.”

Pro-Trump supporters
Pro-Trump supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

For nearly four hours on Thursday, Rodriguez and other officials provided members of the House Homeland Security Committee with their analysis of the underlying factors that led to the violent siege last month at the Capitol that left five people dead; they also offered suggestions as to what the federal government should do to prevent future acts of violence.

“Sadly, I do believe we will be fighting domestic terrorism that has its roots and inspiration points in Jan. 6 for the next 10 to 20 years,” said Elizabeth Neumann, former Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention in the Department of Homeland Security.

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