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DHS Secretary Napolitano defends report on right-wing extremism, civil libertarians cry foul
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U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a responsibility to "protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, as she defended the department's report last week that warned of right-wing extremist hate groups.
Last week, Napolitano drew fire from civil liberties groups and conservatives who said the report shows DHS infringes on political speech and the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The report "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," is stating something that we have been talking about on this blog for a while now.
One of the key incidents cited in the report is the recent shootings of three police officers in Pittsburgh, allegedly by Richard Poplawski, a 22-year-old white supremacist who read extremist news groups and conspiracist websites (including Alex Jones's Infowars.com) and posted photos and comments to a website of a skinhead group called Stormfront.
A recent example of the potential violence associated with a rise in rightwing
extremism may be found in the shooting deaths of three police officers in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 4 April 2009. The alleged gunman’s reaction
reportedly was influenced by his racist ideology and belief in antigovernment
conspiracy theories related to gun confiscations, citizen detention camps, and a
Jewish-controlled “one world government.”
The DHS report cites immigration and gun control as key grievances hate groups and radical militias will exploit to seek to recruit more members, particularly returning war veterans.
- Anti-immigration: “Rightwing extremist groups’ frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration has the potential to incite individuals or small groups toward violence. If such violence were to occur, it likely would be isolated, small-scale, and directed at specific immigration-related targets.”
- Recruiting returning vets: “Rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat.”
- Gun-related violence: “Heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms...may be invigorating rightwing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements.”
But DHS is using all of its means within the law to "monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States," according to a department press release.
"We don’t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence," Napolitano said.
Napolitano said the department has "rigorous oversight" of its programs, from internal and external bodies.
"We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not – nor will we ever – monitor ideology or political beliefs," Napolitano said. "We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources."
One way the DHS is supposed to keep itself in check is through privacy impact assessments. The department privacy office publishes reports on what types of information is collected and what is done with the information.
Civil libertarians have pointed to at least one DHS program that has potential for abuse that could infringe on individuals' rights: law enforcement "fusion centers," which collect information and share it between local and state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Intelligence officials use information from the intelligence fusion system, or IFS, to track individuals who commit illegal acts or are reported for suspicious activity by DHS enforcement agents in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
This could be illegal immigrants or other suspicious persons trying to enter the United States.
Nothing about the IFS suggests it is used to collect information on American citizens living in the United States, unless they have committed a crime related to immigration and customs laws.
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