A joint federal intelligence bulletin obtained by CBS News warned of potential violent extremism and hate crimes committed over the past year. of the October 7 attack The attack on Israel by the armed group Hamas and the resulting conflict in the Gaza Strip.
The bulletin, prepared by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center, was initially distributed by federal law enforcement agencies to local law enforcement partners late Wednesday.
The agencies said the fact that a year has passed not only “has led to a more serious escalation” in attacks in the Israel-Hamas war, but also “motivated violent extremists and perpetrators of hate crimes to engage in violence or threaten public safety.” We found that this could be a factor.” I have read the notice.
This bulletin provides several recent examples of these threats. Including arrests on September 6 This is the story of a Pakistani national accused by Canadian authorities of planning a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City.
This announcement also comes as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise. Following last week’s Israeli airstrikes on Beirut. killed Iran’s longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah responded with a salvo of missiles at Israel on Tuesday. Launch of approximately 200 ballistic missilesMost of them were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system. Hamas and Hezbollah are both proxies of Iran.
Israel also started Ground operations in southern Lebanon are restricted this week.
“I don’t know that we have a clear assessment of this at this point. We’re literally in the early stages of trying to understand what’s going on,” a senior Homeland Security official told CBS News in a Wednesday briefing after the Iranian missile attack. However, we assess that Iran has global capabilities and global capabilities to target U.S. interests globally. “To interact with individuals here in the United States in a way that poses a potential threat to the United States here on the mainland.”
The official added that this is an area of ”almost daily engagement” between DHS, the FBI and other law enforcement partners.
Iranian officials have been engaging in “various efforts in the aftermath of October 7,” including “releasing fabricated data to increase public anger about the situation,” the official noted.
“If the conflict escalates further into the region, violence against Jewish, Israeli, and American targets may be motivated by retaliation for civilian deaths, and the possibility that American threat actors may react as follows cannot be ruled out,” the bulletin said. I warned you. “The violence that led to Nasrallah’s death.”
Intelligence analysts said in the bulletin that the Oct. 7 attack and the Israel-Hamas war were “cited as socio-political grievances in the United States that influenced the mobilization of violence by some individuals,” and that “hate crimes surged immediately after the attack and declined over the past year.” “he added. “This is a trend that is consistent with pre-conflict reports over the past few months and reflects hate crimes following previous international conflicts or incidents.”
Anti-Semitic incidents were reported in the months immediately following October 7. surge in the US According to the Defamation League, there were 2,031 anti-Semitic incidents nationwide between October 7 and December 7, 2023, a 337% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
“Over the past year, we have witnessed conflict-related violent extremist activity and hate crimes in the United States,” the bulletin said. “Jewish, Muslim, or Arab institutions, including synagogues, mosques, and community centers, as well as large public gatherings such as memorials, vigils, and other demonstrations, are attractive targets for violent attacks or fraudulent threats from a variety of threat actors.” “This includes domestic violent extremists, domestic violent extremists, and hate crime perpetrators who may see this as an opportunity to carry out high-profile illegal activities.”
The bulletin also warned that foreign terrorist organizations had created media drawing comparisons between October 7 and 9/11, and that “lone attackers were using simple tactics such as firearms, knives, Molotov cocktails and vehicle ramming against Western targets in retaliation for the deaths.” Individuals inspired by this online message may carry out attacks without warning.”
