President Biden requested a “comprehensive threat assessment” of domestic violent extremism from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday in coordination with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki .
Psaki, at a news conference on Friday, told reporters that the National Security Council will also build a new capacity to address domestic violent extremism, which she referred to as “DVE”.
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“This is a task for President Biden sent to ODNI today requesting a comprehensive assessment of the threat coordinated with the FBI and DHS in the DVE,” said Psaki. “This assessment will be based on the analysis of the entire government and, as appropriate, non-governmental organizations.”
Psaki added that “the key point here is that we want a fact-based analysis of how we can shape policies”, calling it “the first step in the process”.
Psaki said that policy decisions will depend on law enforcement and the guidance of the intelligence community, and that the goal would be to “dismantle violent extremist networks and more”.
“We are coordinating relevant parts of the federal government to deal with EVS,” said Psaki, adding that the NSC is “addressing evolving threats” and reviewing the role of “social media, operational responses and more”.
The theme of the “DVE” assessment comes after Biden, during his inaugural speech, addressed “an increase in political extremism, white supremacy and domestic terrorism”, which he said: “we must face and we will defeat”.
The announcement was made just two weeks after the January 6 Capitol rebellion, which left five people dead – including a United States Capitol Police officer – while pro-Trump supporters invaded the Capitol while a joint session of Congress tried to certify the electoral votes for Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
It also happens when anti-fascist protesters take to the streets of Portland and Seattle to wreak havoc and chaos this week.
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At this point, it is unclear which groups and what behavior the Biden government considers “domestic violent extremism” – and whether the Capitol disturbances and violence in cities like Portland and Seattle this week would be classified as “DVE”.
The White House did not respond to Fox News’ requests for comment.
Speaking during the briefing, Psaki added that White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall would be involved in the efforts, as well as other counterterrorism officials.