Years ago, officials rejected his warning about the rise of right-wing militias. Today, he's speaking out

Years after officials rejected his warning about right-wing militias, an ex-DHS official says his work could have stemmed the extremism that helped fuel the Jan. 6 riots.

More than ten years ago, a report written by a Department of Homeland Security official warning about the resurgence of right-wing extremism caused outrage among conservatives and some veterans groups across the country.

Titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," the report was met with harsh criticism from officials including then-House Minority Leader John Boehner, who accused the agency of not focusing on the "real threats," like Islamist terrorism.

The internal study singled out white supremacists and warned that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could be targeted for recruitment by right-wing extremists. But due to the ensuing political backlash, the DHS caved to pressure and dismantled the unit that had published the report -- and all work connected to analyzing and tracking the rise of violent right-wing extremism was halted.

Now, on the anniversary of the day that right-wing militia members helped storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Daryl Johnson, the DHS official who wrote the report, says he and his team could "have repelled against the growth and the radicalization of [extremist] movements."