Name: Far-right extremists pose rising threat in North Texas around election, FBI’s Dallas office says
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Far-right extremists pose rising threat in North Texas around election, FBI’s Dallas office says

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8:16 PM on Oct 1, 2020 CDTThe FBI’s Dallas field office warned law enforcement this week that far-right extremist groups are likely to expand their influence and could pose a violent threat in North Texas, especially between the Nov. 3 election and January’s presidential inauguration. could serve as a “potential flashpoint,” says a field office report that was first made public by The Nation.The field office’s report — marked “unclassified/law enforcement sensitive” — says the is likely to step up its violent anti-government rhetoric and criminal activities, increasing the threat of violence in North Texas.One person who lives near Dallas, for example, used social media to discuss “firearms and financing for fellow boogaloo adherents,” the report says. The person also “discussed creating a shell company” to launder money to buy guns.An FBI Dallas spokeswoman said the report had been distributed in North Texas.“The FBI routinely shares information with our law enforcement partners in order to assist in protecting the communities they serve,” she said in a written statement.In response to questions about the FBI’s warning, Dallas police said Thursday that they would continue to coordinate with law enforcement agencies in the area, including federal ones, “to ensure that our officers are up to date on intelligence in our efforts to keep Dallas safe.”The Dallas field office’s internal report was issued the day of the first presidential debate, in which President Donald Trump declined to condemn white supremacist groups and their role in violence that has erupted in American cities this year.“Almost everything I see is from the left wing, not the right wing,” Trump said during his debate with Democrat Joe Biden.However, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a congressional panel recently that white supremacists and other “racially motivated” violent extremists are responsible for most of the recent deadly attacks in the U.S.In the presidential debate, Trump also urged another controversial group, called the Proud Boys, to “stand back and stand by.”That group came up after moderator Chris Wallace asked if Trump would denounce white supremacists and militia groups and Biden mentioned the name.The Proud Boys do not identify themselves as a white supremacist organization, but they say they are proud to be white and have participated in far-right rallies alongside racist organizations.Critics say that the Proud Boys spread an ideology of racism, Islamophobia, misogyny and bigotry and that they promote “anti-political correctness” and “anti-white guilt.” The Southern Poverty Law Center deems them a hate group.Although the Proud Boys have active membership in North Texas, the group is not directly linked with the boogaloo movement, which was the subject of the Dallas FBI report.Resentment among the boogaloo movement’s supporters over perceived government overreach, including state and local restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, is among the factors that have primed the group for increased violence, the field office’s report says.The pandemic has galvanized the boogaloo movement, according to the Tech Transparency Project, which tracks technology companies. The project found that hundreds of Facebook groups associated with the term “boogaloo” have attracted thousands of members since coronavirus lockdowns began in March. Facebook has pulled many such groups from its site.The field office’s report says boogaloo adherents are likely to try to incite fellow extremists to take part in online and in-person anti-government protests — thereby increasing the threat of violence in the Dallas area.The report says its assessments were made with “medium confidence” based on social media posts, sources who spoke with the FBI, and other law enforcement reports. Medium confidence, the FBI said, means it’s “credibly sourced and plausible” but not sufficiently corroborated to warrant the highest accuracy level.The term “boogaloo” refers to a second American Civil War that the movement’s adherents say they intend to bring about in response to perceived abuses of power, particularly concerning gun rights but also in other areas, according to an analyst’s note in the field office’s report.There have been anecdotal reports of the movement’s members appearing at Dallas-area protests, particularly in the turbulent weeks after the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.At protests over the summer, boogaloo supporters sometimes wore Hawaiian shirts and carried assault-style rifles. People matching that description were spotted at protests in and around Dallas.The Dallas field office credited its threat assessment of the boogaloo movement to sources inside and outside law enforcement, including people with direct access to the movement.Two people, in particular, were key to the field office’s assessment, the report says. One has reported a variety of threats since 2017, some of them corroborated; the other provided anti-government and anti-authority information throughout the spring that was later corroborated.In its report, the field office also cited a “significant increase” in violent social media posts by some of the movement’s supporters in Texas, including some advocating the use of mass-casualty weapons.Among the social media posts the field office cited in the report is one by a boogaloo adherent and student at an unidentified Texas school who uploaded a screenshot in May of Internet searches on how to convert AR-15 and AK-47 assault-style rifles into fully automatic weapons, as well as how to make explosives and suppressors.Also, the report says, another post by the same person in June said, “I haven’t had a special visit from the @fbi yet and I’m wondering what the [expletive] I’m doing wrong.”The field office’s report also pointed to appearances by boogaloo movement adherents — including in small numbers or even as lone demonstrators — at Dallas-area protests.For example, a boogaloo adherent said in the spring that “he would ‘hunt’ anti-fascist anarchists and kill any Dallas looters,” the report says, citing a source with access to the movement.Also in the spring, the report says, two armed men patrolled a Dallas parking lot to protest that a nearby business was being cited for violating pandemic-related stay-at-home orders. Both men identified themselves as Duncan Lemp — a Maryland man whom adherents of the boogaloo movement consider a martyr after he was killed by police.The FBI report says that increased social media activity and patrolling at peaceful protests by boogaloo followers could indicate that its assessments of the threat posed by the movement are correct.Stay up-to-date with the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about.By signing up you agree to our

8:16 PM on Oct 1, 2020 CDTThe FBI’s Dallas field office warned law enforcement this week that far-right extremist groups are likely to expand their influence and could pose a violent threat in North Texas, especially between the Nov. 3 election and January’s presidential inauguration. could serve as a “potential flashpoint,” says a field office report that was first made public by The Nation.The field office’s report — marked “unclassified/law enforcement sensitive” — says the is likely to step up its violent anti-government rhetoric and criminal activities, increasing the threat of...

Far-right extremists pose rising threat in North Texas around election, FBI’s Dallas office says

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