The number of FBI domestic terrorism investigations has tripled in the last five years, and most cases involve alleged “civil unrest” and anti-government activity, according to a new report.
Domestic terrorism investigations roughly doubled between 2020 and 2021 on the heels of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said in an unclassified report in October. That spike, which coincides with Republican allegations that the justice system has become overly politicized, comes as “anti-authority” cases have become 90% of all investigations, according to internal FBI data obtained by Newsweek.
“If an act is focused on the government, it’s terrorism,” a “senior government official” told the outlet on Monday. “But if extremism is focused on private individuals or institutions, it’s considered just a crime or classified as a hate crime.”
DOMESTIC TERROR INVESTIGATION ALMOST DOUBLED IN ONE YEAR AFTER JAN. 6, FBI AND DHS REVEAL
All 56 FBI field offices are conducting domestic terrorism investigations, according to the October FBI and DHS report. Through five categories, the FBI describes the violent extremism it is investigating. This includes “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists,” such as white supremacists, and also “anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists,” such as the loosely organized left-wing group antifa, according to the FBI.
The other three categories include extremism linked to “civil unrest,” which is the umbrella descriptor encompassing most current investigations, as well as abortion-related extremism and environmental/animal rights extremism, according to the FBI.
“A hate crime is targeted violence motivated by the offender’s bias against a person’s actual or perceived characteristics,” the October report said, “while a [domestic terrorism] incident involves acts dangerous to human life that are in violation of criminal laws and in furtherance of a social or political goal.”
Prior to the Capitol riot, the FBI was mostly investigating cases involving “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists,” Newsweek reported. The FBI has quietly shifted its classification of extremism involving antisemitism, white supremacy, and abortion or anti-LGBT matters from “terrorism” to “hate crimes,” the outlet reported.
The FBI has already charged at least 955 people in connection to the Capitol riot, according to the Justice Department. This group is being treated under the classification of domestic terrorism, a “senior FBI official” told Newsweek.
“The Bureau isn’t partisan per se, though it finds itself investigating mostly MAGA and related political activity as domestic terrorism,” said the official. “Right-wing-oriented domestic terrorists — suspected terrorists — account for more than 80% of all cases in the anti-government category.”
The other 20% of cases involve left-wing activists or activists with an unclear ideology, according to Newsweek.
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Republicans have vowed a sweeping investigation into the FBI and DOJ next Congress, holding that both bodies have targeted conservatives unfairly. These investigations are expected to be most active in the House, where Republicans earned a chamber majority following the midterm elections.
“Scratch the surface and the number of Americans who want to overthrow the government or even weaken democracy is tiny,” the senior government official told Newsweek. “But the numbers give a wrong impression, when it is just the bureaucracy doing what it does best — serving its own interests.”
