March 17 (UPI) — U.S. intelligence officials warned Wednesday that domestic extremists “will almost certainly” attempt to launch further attacks this year after becoming emboldened by the Jan. 6 Capitol siege.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued the warning in an unclassified intelligence report put together along with the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice.
“The [intelligence community] assesses that domestic violent extremists who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the homeland in 2021,” the report said.
“Newer sociopolitical developments — such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and conspiracy theories promoting violence — will almost certainly spur some DVEs to try to engage in violence this year.”
The warning comes as the FBI works to investigate and charge hundreds of people linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that left five people dead, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.
The Justice Department has accused several members of the so-called Oath Keepers group of conspiracy, spending months planning their part in the attack and coordinating to meet up with others.
