It has been reported that a top Justice Department official said that the agency is launching a new special “domestic terrorism” unit in a move that will undoubtedly be viewed as reactionary and politically motivated by GOP critics.According to a Reuters report, the DOJ appears to be using the Jan. 6, 2020, Capitol riot as the impetus for the new unit:
The U.S. Justice Department is creating a new unit to counter domestic terrorism following the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack, a senior official said on Tuesday, as it faces a growing threat from white supremacists and anti-government activists.
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The move reflects a growing realization by U.S. national security officials that domestic extremists represent a threat on par with that posed by foreign militant groups such as Islamic State.
“We face an elevated threat from domestic violent extremists – that is, individuals in the United States who seek to commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of domestic social or political goals,” Matthew Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the department’s National Security Division, told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week.
“We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies,” Olsen added.
He went on to say that the new unit will be formed within the National Security Division to “ensure that these cases are properly handled and effectively coordinated” across the department and around the country.
The new unit, and Olsen’s claims, come after Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed to lawmakers in May that there is a rise in domestic extremist organizations and particularly white supremacists, but as is usually the case, neither he nor anyone else provided any concrete evidence or numbers.
