Durbin Statement on DNI Assessment on Threat Posed by Domestic Violent Extremists

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), on behalf of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), released its assessment of the threat posed by domestic violent extremists. 

Specifically, the IC assesses that “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists”—a category consisting largely of white supremacist extremists—are most likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks against civilians, while violent militia extremists will continue to target law enforcement and government personnel and facilities.  The assessment warns that the likelihood and lethality of domestic terrorist attacks may increase in 2021, among other reasons due to “narratives of fraud in the recent general election.”

“This report makes clear that threats to our homeland aren’t just coming from across the ocean; they’re also coming from across the street.  Domestic terrorism perpetrated by right wing violent extremists, motivated by white supremacy, or any political extreme, must be confronted with the full force of the federal government.”

Durbin is the lead sponsor of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, legislation to enhance the federal government’s efforts to prevent domestic terrorism by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to regularly assess this threat, focus their resources on the most significant domestic terrorism threats, and provide training and resources to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement in addressing these threats.  Durbin has introduced the legislation every Congress since 2017.

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