{"id":93762,"date":"2023-06-20T13:17:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T18:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93762"},"modified":"2023-06-20T13:17:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T18:17:00","slug":"93762","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93762","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Is the international Counterterrorism Law Enforcement Forum a work-around of Americans\u2019 rights?<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Second Annual Counterterrorism Law Enforcement Forum<\/a>\u00a0occurred on Tuesday June 6th, 2023, which the United States co-hosted. Last year was the inaugural event in Berlin, Germany and the 2023 forum took place in Oslo, Norway. The idea of multiple law enforcement agencies getting together to think tank their way around some of the world\u2019s problems with terrorism, or any crime for that matter, is not that radical. Where things get concerning are when we read between the lines. The DOJ release masqueraded the forum as a meeting of the minds on combating acts of terror, however\u00a0remarks<\/a>\u00a0from the U.S. Assistant Attorney General show a clear focus on \u201cdomestic\u201d terrorism.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department\u2019s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) and the U.S. Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Counterterrorism (State CT) co-hosted the second annual meeting of the Counterterrorism Law Enforcement Forum (CTLEF) with the Government of Norway in Oslo from June 6 to 7. <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The CTLEF, which focuses on countering the global threat of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism (REMVE), brought together law enforcement, prosecutors, and other criminal justice practitioners from Europe and North and South America, as well as specialists from INTERPOL, Europol, the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law and other multilateral organizations to discuss how to effectively address and counter REMVE threats.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Drilling down on what REMVEs there are, our Assistant Attorney General, Matthew G. Olsen, did not hold back on discussing his ideas when he delivered the\u00a0opening remarks<\/a>\u00a0for the forum.<\/p>\n

Last May, we gathered in Berlin, for our inaugural meeting. I departed the forum daunted by the scale of the problem, but heartened to see the partnership of so many likeminded countries.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I returned to D.C. from Berlin on a Thursday. Two days later, on Saturday afternoon, I received the first alerts from the FBI that there was an active shooter in Buffalo, New York. What we would come to learn over the next hours and days was that an individual espousing white supremacist ideology took a semiautomatic weapon into a grocery store and murdered 10 people.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This tragedy in Buffalo \u2013 just over one year ago \u2013 is part of an alarming trend.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s the alarming trend that Olsen is really talking about? What were some of the threats that Olsen identified in his speech? \u201cIn particular, we face an increasing threat from racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist groups, including white supremacists and anti-government groups,\u201d Olsen said. Who are classified as \u201canti-government groups\u201d? Would people that are critical of the United States Government, in particular overreaching agencies, be considered anti-government?<\/p>\n

Doubling down Olsen identified obstacles to being able to effectively police these groups of individuals.<\/p>\n

The simple truth is that the ability of violent extremists to acquire military-grade weapons in our country contributes to their ability to kill and inflict harm on a massive scale. A recent article in\u00a0The Washington Post<\/i>\u00a0noted that about a shocking number of Americans \u2013 one in 20 adults, or roughly 16 million people \u2013 own at least one AR-15 assault rifle.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nIt is important to be clear, the Department of Justice investigates violent extremists for their criminal acts and not for their beliefs or based on their associations, and regardless of ideology. In the United States, upholding our core values means respecting First Amendment rights and safeguarding the exercise of protected speech, peaceful protests, and political activity. We hold those rights sacred.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Olsen had no problem pairing the roughly 16 million law-abiding citizens with violent extremists, lumping them into the same category of hateful and murderous actors.<\/strong> The numbers should be staggering to Olsen that we do have 16+ million alleged owners of AR variant \u2013 not \u201cassault\u201d \u2013 rifles, and have such an incredibly small amount of issues with those arms.<\/p>\n

The other obstacle naturally is the First Amendment. It\u2019s grand that Olsen says that the DOJ et.al. respects and holds \u201cthose rights sacred,\u201d but he really means that for only some people. It\u2019s clear that if there\u2019s an individual or group that does not align with the ideologies of the current swamp, they become an enemy of the state. When there\u2019s \u201cmostly peaceful\u201d acts of extremism, that\u2019s alright as long as it\u2019s the correct flavor of extremism.<\/p>\n

Whatever may stand in the way between the government and combating domestic terrorism, Olsen has the solution.<\/p>\n

We have to be united in confronting domestic extremism within our countries. Collaboration and information sharing is essential to understanding and countering the threats that terrorist and violent extremist groups pose.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

International partnerships are especially important where we observe transnational linkages in domestic violent extremism. We have seen some U.S.-based supporters of domestic terrorism attempt to establish links with likeminded foreign individuals and organizations. In some cases, U.S.-based domestic terrorists have traveled overseas to link up with counterparts who espouse the same beliefs.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

These trends are one reason why international forums like this are so valuable. This is an opportunity to hear from foreign partners about the violent extremist groups and networks that are most concerning; where transnational linkages exist; how these actors are raising and moving funds; how groups are recruiting and training new members; how they are communicating and spreading their messages and propaganda; and the sources and drivers of radicalization to violence.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Assistant Attorney General of the United States stated that in order to combat domestic extremism it\u2019s important to \u201cestablish links with,\u201d collaborate with, and find out how groups are \u201craising and moving funds; how groups are recruiting and training new members; how they are communicating and spreading their messages and propaganda,\u201d from foreign governments. In short, Olsen wants foreign countries to do what our CIA can\u2019t do; spy on Americans. There are no Fourth Amendment protections for American citizens when it\u2019s a foreign entity doing the infringing.<\/p>\n

Who all could this reference though? Bad guys, right? Those \u201canti-government\u201d types. Olsen brought up the events that transpired on January 6th. Regardless of one\u2019s view on what happened during January 6th, what occurred was not as bad as it\u2019s been purported by mainstream media, nor were the actions completely benign.<\/p>\n

Olsen spoke extensively about all the arrests and charges that sprung up in the wake of that day, \u201cThe January 6 investigation is the largest in the history of the Justice Department. We have arrested and charged more than 1,000 individuals who took part in the Capitol assault. Nearly 500 people have pled guilty or been convicted at trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olsen further observed concerning January 6th:<\/p>\n

We have brought serious charges, including seditious conspiracy against numerous defendants \u2013 members of extremist groups who plotted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in our country.<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u2026<\/span><\/strong>
\nWe believe our success in this case serves as a stark warning to those who would seek to violently attack our government and our democracy. It makes clear our determination that the rule of law will prevail.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not that we needed any confirmation that the DOJ would aggressively go after those that don\u2019t help serve the bigger picture of what\u2019s desired of the Biden-Harris administration, but this is the Assistant Attorney General saying as much in black and white. The \u201cmembers of extremist groups who plotted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in our country\u201d includes a whole lot of people that got arrested, charged and in some cases convicted, for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The issues involving anything January 6th are so multi-faceted, to even bring the date up is flirting with disaster.\u00a0Do what we say or you\u2019ll end up like them.<\/i><\/p>\n

On a small scale, Olsen found it problematic that 16+ million people have access to semi-automatic rifles. He clearly pegged that as an obstacle to being able to do the proper police work needed to fight \u201cextremism\u201d or those who are \u201canti-government.\u201d Olsen further opined that our civil liberties are an issue, as there\u2019s nothing they can do about people expressing their opinions, which the government \u201crespects.\u201d But alas, they found their solution in the form of partnerships with other countries, id.est., having other nations do the spying on the American people.<\/p>\n

These events and little get-togethers that American officials attend sure seem like they\u2019re \u201cfor the better good.\u201d Really, no one wants extremism or terrorism, domestic or otherwise. However, if we read between the lines, eh, I\u2019m going to say that maybe these trips on the taxpayers\u2019 dime are not in the best interest of the people. Could this be a misread? Sure. But they kind of make it clear that they\u2019ve adopted a Conan approach; \u201ccrush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.\u201d But, clearly it\u2019s the AR\u2019s that are the problems\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is the international Counterterrorism Law Enforcement Forum a work-around of Americans\u2019 rights? The\u00a0Second Annual Counterterrorism Law Enforcement Forum\u00a0occurred on Tuesday June 6th, 2023, which the United States co-hosted. Last year was the inaugural event in Berlin, Germany and the 2023 forum took place in Oslo, Norway. The idea of multiple law enforcement agencies getting together … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,50,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enemies-foreign-domestic","category-goobermint","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93763,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93762\/revisions\/93763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}