COVID rules could be ‘catalyst’ for domestic ‘terrorists’: US

Department of Homeland Security issues new advisory identifying threats posed by groups engaged in ‘grievance-base violence’.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday warned of a “heightened” domestic threat from violent “extremists” motivated by new COVID-19 restrictions as well as by anti-government ideology being shared online. “These extremists may seek to exploit the emergence of COVID-19 variants by viewing the potential re-establishment of public health restrictions across the United States as a rationale to conduct attacks,” the DHS bulletin said. “Pandemic-related stressors have contributed to increased societal strains and tensions, driving several plots by domestic violent extremists, and they may contribute to more violence this year.”