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.”
Crusius was “very much a loner,” his former neighbor, told the Los Angeles Times. In other words, Crusius was not part of any organized terrorist organization. Also, anyone who gave an unbiased reading to Crusius’ manifesto about why he did the shooting would realize he killed people because he was anti-corporation and wanted to save the environment — those are definitely left-wing talking points, not right-wing ones. A TNA report on the manifesto said:
Amongst his grievances, Crusius cites the “takeover of the United States government by unchecked corporations.” Reality check: Is that language and sentiment from the conservative Right or from the liberal Left? He could have — and may have — borrowed that claim from any of a plethora of speeches by that darling-of-the-Left, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Furthermore, Crusius goes on to decry the evils of pro-corporatism, writing, “Procorporation = pro-immigration” (i.e., because big corporations want cheap immigrant labor) before going on to attack America itself as a blight on the environment:
Of course these migrants and their children have contributed to the problem, but are not the sole cause of it. The American lifestyle affords our citizens an incredible quality of life. However, our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country. The decimation of the environment is creating a massive burden for future generations. Corporations are heading the destruction of our environment by shamelessly overharvesting resources.
In contrast, the NJOHSP report also noted: “The threat from ISIS decreased from moderate to low in 2019. ISIS continues to focus on establishing its worldwide presence, but the group has not conducted an attack in the United States.”
ISIS is estimated to have 61,200–257,900 members, of which 32,600–57,900 are estimated to be outside Syria and Iraq. However, on September 11, just 19 terrorists, in an attack coordinated by al-Qaeda, which later embraced ISIS, killed 2,977 victims.
Therefore, NJOHSP’s assertion that white supremacist extremists (typified by Patrick Crusius) represent a much higher threat than ISIS is nothing short of preposterous.
Biographies of NJOHSP’s leadership show that director Maples “spent over a decade at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a variety of leadership roles.”
Laurie Doran, NJOHSP’s director of the Intelligence and Operations Division, “was appointed to her current position after retiring from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with more than 32 years of service.”
Prior to joining NJOHSP, Chief of Staff Patrick Rigby “held various roles at the Council on Foreign Relations.”
An article in The New American in 2018 (“Deep State: Underbelly of the Intelligence Community”) observed:
Many of the ostensible kingpins of the “Deep State” intelligence apparatus, as well as their key enablers, are members of the secret and semi-secret organizations exposed in this issue. For example, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA) bosses routinely attend Bilderberg meetings. Virtually all of them have been members of the Council on Foreign Relations.
While we cannot say whether the CIA/CFR background of several key leaders of NJOHSP has influenced their outlook regarding terrorist threats, it is something worth considering.
Photo: duncan1890 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Related articles:
Patriot Prayer: Inventing White Supremacists
New DHS Domestic Terrorism Report Targets Millions of Americans
Do You Fit the Terrorist Profile?
Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
