It’s about time.
For years, experts have voiced concern about the intent and growing ability of extremists, White supremacists and militia groups to wage violence across the country, yet their warnings failed to gain traction.
Federal officials continued to focus primarily on international terrorism, which resulted in less scrutiny of White nationalism, even as far-right violence increased.
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The domestic problem was downplayed, sometimes seemingly for political reasons.
President Donald Trump regularly portrayed antifa — a loose network of anti-fascist activists — as major domestic terrorists. Meanwhile, his Homeland Security Department issued a report last fall that concluded violent White supremacy was the “most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland.”