I think the game has changed a lot. What McVeigh gained or didn’t gain isn’t the concern; “a lot of people being killed” is not acceptable. Oklahoma City was awful — tragic. What we see with cops shooting or smothering black people in the streets and in their beds without consequence is awful.
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2020/02/11/splc-testifies-congress-alarming-incidents-white-supremacy-military
It is now clear that, despite some adjustments in policies related to recruitment and conduct within the U.S. Armed Forces, white supremacist activity continues to persist in the military.
Because servicemembers often possess unique training and capabilities, those who are indoctrinated into white supremacist ideology may represent a significant threat to national security and the safety of our communities.
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The arrest of Lt. Christopher Paul Hassan, a 49-year-old serving in the Coast Guard, provides a recent example of the threat posed by those radicalized by white supremacist materials who are currently active in the U.S. Armed Force.4 Lt. Hassan, who had also spent time in the Marine Corps and the Army National Guard, pleaded guilty to federal gun and drug charges—including unlawful possession of unregistered silencers; unlawful possession of firearm silencers unidentified by a serial number; possession of a firearm by an addict and unlawful user of a controlled substance; and possession of a controlled substance—in October 2019.5 He was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in February 2020.6 Lt. Hassan identified as a white nationalist and
advocated for “focused violence” against journalists, Democratic politicians, professors, U.S. Supreme Court justices and “leftists” in order to establish a white enthnostate. He had been engaged with white supremacist ideologies before he joined the military in the 1980s.
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Lone attackers, as opposed to cells or organizations, generally perpetrate these kinds of attacks. But they are also part of a broader movement.
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Just last week, Wray told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI has elevated racially motivated violent extremism to a “national threat priority.” “
Not only is the terror threat diverse, it’s unrelenting,” he said.
This could evolve into something more like “the Troubles” in Ireland. Certainly black families must feel vulnerable already, due to the strengthening of these groups. And the infiltration of the police departments by white supremacists would complicate efforts to deal with ongoing acts of terror. You can only conclude “so what?” if you are able to blend in with white supremacists. If you’re black, gay, outwardly Jewish, or a liberal activist — especially if you have notoriety or are “uppity”, you won’t say “so what?”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/27/white-supremacists-militias-infiltrate-us-police-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
White supremacist groups have infiltrated US law enforcement agencies in every region of the country over the last two decades, according to a new report about the ties between police and far-right vigilante groups.
In a timely new analysis, Michael German, a former FBI special agent who has written extensively on the ways that US law enforcement have failed to respond to far-right domestic terror threats, concludes that US law enforcement officials have been tied to racist militant activities in more than a dozen states since 2000, and hundreds of police officers have been caught posting racist and bigoted social media content.
Police in Sacramento, California, in 2018 worked with neo-Nazis to pursue charges against anti-racist activists, including some who had been stabbed, according to records.
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And just this summer, German writes, an Orange county sheriff’s deputy and a Chicago policeman were caught wearing far-right militia logos; an Olympia, Washington, officer was photographed posing with a militia group; and Philadelphia police officers were filmed standing by while armed mobs attacked protesters and journalists.
The exact scale of ties between law enforcement and militias is hard to determine, German told the Guardian. “Nobody is collecting the data and nobody is actively looking for these law enforcement officers,” he said.
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