The conversation surrounding what constitutes a "terrorist" has especially been a hot topic ever since the Charlottesville rally and the recent Las Vegas massacre.
Critics have chastised President Trump for not "naming a spade a spade" during his public statements surrounding the Charlottesville rally, and many people are also frustrated with the government's and major media outlets' hesitancy to dub the Las Vegas shooter a terrorist (as well as their eagerness to "humanize" him).
Following these attacks by two white extremists, Foreign Policy reveals that it has obtained documents created by the FBI right before Charlottesville that make clear the agency is stepping up to officially declare a new domestic terrorist threat.
However, it ain't white supremacists or neo-Nazis: it's "black identity extremists."
Black identity extremism joins what the FBI has previously called “nine persistent extremist movements” within the U.S.: “white supremacy, black identities, militia, sovereign citizens, anarchists, abortion, animal rights, environmental rights and Puerto Rican Nationalism.”
“The FBI assesses it is very likely black identity extremist (BIE) perceptions of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence,” read the report.
The report cites Michael Brown's killing as the inciting incident that led to black identity extremism.
“The FBI assesses it is very likely incidents of alleged police abuse against African Americans since then have continued to feed the resurgence in ideologically motivated, violent criminal activity within the BIE movement,” noted the report.
The report listed six acts of "premeditated violence" black American have taken against police, but did not mention any of the 168 black Americans killed by police officers this year. The report also made no mention of non-lethal violent attacks by police officers against black citizens.
The report did, however, mention that "political activism" and "strong rhetoric" alone don't equal extremism, and said that both those things "may be constitutionally protected." It further called "anti-white rhetoric" a potential "violent threat."
“This is a new umbrella designation that has no basis,” said a former senior counterterrorism and intelligence official from the Department of Homeland Security. “There are civil rights and privacy issues all over this.”
Prominent anti-police brutality activist DeRay McKesson has stated that he, despite having a history of only involving himself in peaceful protests, was visited by the FBI in the days leading up to the Republican National Convention. He wasn't surprised by the visit, noting that "there is a long tradition of the FBI targeting black activists."
“They are grouping together Black Panthers, black nationalists and Washitaw Nation,” added the formal homeland security official. “Imagine lumping together white nationals, white supremacists, militias, neo-Nazis, and calling it ‘white identity extremists.’”
