The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) released a report on February 21 stating: “NJOHSP increased the threat posed by white supremacist extremists from moderate to high in 2020, joining homegrown violent extremists as the most persistent hostile actors in New Jersey.” (Emphasis added.)
“Homeland security and law enforcement professionals at all levels have taken notice of the rise in activity from white supremacist extremists,” the New York Post quoted Jared Maples, NJOHSP’s director.
NJOHSP is a successor to the Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, established in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
It is a recognized fact that those terrorist attacks were coordinated by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. A 2015 article at the online site Quartz noted: “Over the past decade, Al Qaeda has twice embraced ISIL [ISIS] (and its previous manifestations) as brothers-in-arms.”
One would think that al-Qaeda and ISIS would merit a higher threat level than “homegrown violent extremists” — who are generally lone wolves lacking the extensive organization of the Middle East-based groups. But that conclusion is apparently wrong.
Under a sidebar headlined “Changes from 2019,” the NJOHSP report noted: “The threat from white supremacist extremists increased from moderate to high in 2020 due to the number of threats, plots, and attacks conducted in 2019, including the El Paso attack where Patrick Crusius killed 22 people and injured 24.”
Jesse Lee Peterson joins Owen to discuss the craziest headlines from 2019!
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