The national security officials of the United States have detected in recent hours an increase in domestic extremism on the internet that “could inspire” acts of violence, especially by isolated individuals, against congressmen, government officials, and even President Joe Biden.
The internal report of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and to which the country’s media had access today, indicates that although there is no specific threat, “DHS and the FBI have identified new content online that could inspire violence, especially by isolated individuals “.
The text warned that among the possible targets of the US extremists would-be politicians and government officials, “including members of Congress, state and local officials and prominent members of political parties.”
The distribution of the report coincides with the first anniversary of the assault on the Capitol carried out on January 6, 2021, by supporters of former President Donald Trump who wanted to stop the official declaration of Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.
The threats that are circulating on the internet, from videos with the names of nearly a hundred congressmen to messages advocating the murder of political opponents, are serious enough that the Secret Service, the Capitol Police, and the Washington DC Police have initiated official investigations.
But the DHS report warned of the possibility of threats of violence spreading beyond Washington DC for other security forces to heed signs of attacks.
In the case of the video citing 93 congressmen who voted to certify Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, the images were posted on an internet forum frequented by followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory.
DHS warned that since December, the video has been distributed by a multitude of platforms, from blogs to the Telegram application, and viewed more than 60,000 times throughout the country.