A 2009 warning about right-wing extremism was engulfed by politics…

[Satchel 6908]

…there are signs that it’s happening again. I remember this very well. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity had twin cows over Sec’y Napolitano’s report on right wing extremism:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/01/25/twelve-years-before-capitol-riot-warning-right-wing-extremism-buried/6658284002/

In April 2009, federal intelligence officials issued a prescient warning to police departments around the country.

“Right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat,” experts in the Department of Homeland Security wrote. “These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists – including lone wolves or small terrorist cells – to carry out violence.”

It was one of DHS’ most explicit mentions of homegrown terrorists since 9/11, one with a direct connection to the military.

But the call to action was effectively buried after powerful Republican politicians and their allies in the right-wing media launched broadsides against President Barack Obama’s administration and Democrats, alleging that they had disrespected the men and women in the U.S. military while attempting to surveil and silence conservatives. The blowback shifted the debate away from how to actually address the threat and into another partisan public spectacle…

…Nearly 20% of the 140 people arrested so far for participating in the Capitol riot have served or are now serving in the U.S. military, according to NPR. Several have been accused of being part of extremist groups, including a Navy veteran and supposed leader of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government paramilitary organization, who prosecutors say coordinated a group that attacked the Capitol...

…Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called Biden’s speech “thinly veiled innuendo” targeting Republicans. “Calling us white supremacists, calling us racists, calling us every name in the book,” he said on Fox News in a different segment last week.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he found it offensive that the Defense Department felt the need to conduct extra background checks for National Guardsmen deployed to Biden’s inauguration. “No one should ever question the loyalty of the Texas National Guard,” he tweeted. The next day, Pentagon officials announced that the review found 12 people who needed to be removed from the detail, including two who allegedly had made extremist statements…

 

 

 

[Guest Lobo]

To be fair, they were gonna recruit more returning veterans.  But on their way to do that, they stopped off at a DFW realtor convention to use the restroom. And, well…the rest is history.  

[Satchel 6908]

The pieces are beginning to come together:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/american-insurrection/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=streaming&utm_content=xxxx