DHS Disputes Claims It Stopped Producing Intel Reports On Rightwing Extremists

DHS Disputes Claims It Stopped Producing Intel Reports On Rightwing Extremists

http://www.hstoday.us/industry-news/general/single-article/dhs-disputes-claims-it-stopped-producing-intel-reports-on-rightwing-extremists/32e45cd0bd2dc9c6f222afe8ce1c7a43.html

In a recent emailed fundraising plea by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a generally respected group that monitors and often advises law enforcement on rightwing extremist activity, the group claimed that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) controversial 2009 report on rightwing extremism that was disavowed by top DHS officials following the furor it created after it was leaked, was done so only “after conservative groups and politicians complained it maligned the political right,” and that DHS also “virtually dismantled its unit responsible for investigating homegrown extremists."

SPLC further quoted the former senior analyst primarily responsible for the report as claiming in an upcoming interview to be published in SPLC’s magazine, Intelligence Report, which focuses on rightwing extremists, that “DHS has not released a single report of its own … dealing with non-Islamic domestic extremism” since then – a claim that also was reported by the Washington Post on June 7.

DHS and other officials Homeland Security Today interviewed said the claims are not true, especially the assertions that there have been no reports produced on domestic and rightwing extremists. Officials pointed to a number of reports they said have been distributed to law enforcement, and added that DHS has conducted numerous briefings regarding domestic threats.