The FBI denied recent reports claiming supporters of former President Donald Trump are being targeted.
The FBI on Thursday denied a report that it is targeting Trump supporters ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
There was a report from Newsweek Wednesday saying the FBI created a category to evaluate threats known as anti-government [and] anti-authority violent extremism, saying that it encompasses individuals who it deems a threat but don’t fall under anarchist, militia, or sovereign citizen groups. It cited more than a dozen current and former anonymous government officials saying that the program often investigates supporters of former President Donald Trump.
But the FBI said in a statement to news outlets this week that the report is false. The Epoch Times has contacted the bureau for comment Friday.
“Any allegation that the FBI targets individuals solely for their political beliefs is categorically false,” an FBI spokesperson said. “The FBI investigates those who commit acts of violence or threaten violence, and we do not take action based on political belief or any First Amendment protected activity.”
The spokesperson added that the “threat posed by domestic violent extremists is persistent, evolving, and deadly,” adding, “The FBI’s goal is to detect and stop terrorist attacks, and our focus is on potential criminal violations, violence, and threats of violence.”
“Anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism [AGAAVE] is one category of domestic terrorism, as well as one of the FBI’s top threat priorities,” the statement continued. “This threat includes anarchist violent extremists, militia violent extremists, sovereign citizen violent extremists, and other violent extremists—some of whom are motivated by a desire to harm those with a real or perceived association with a political party or faction.”
Those so-called extremists “have targeted both Republican and Democratic members of Congress,” the spokesperson said, without elaborating. “We are committed to protecting the safety and constitutional rights of all Americans and will never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity, including a person’s political beliefs or affiliations,” the statement said.
In the Newsweek report, neither President Trump nor his Make America Great Again (MAGA) slogan were assigned to the aforementioned threat category. The article, however, claimed that unnamed “insiders” said that it applies to alleged “political violence ascribed to the former president’s supporters.”
By Jack Phillips
