The FBI warns of the risk of extremist attacks after the search of the Trump mansion

The number and aggressiveness of violent threats posted on internet platforms against federal officials and facilities have increased dramatically in recent days following the August 8 FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach (Florida). This is warned by a joint internal memorandum from the National Investigation Agency and the Department of Homeland Security that warns of the sudden increase in public threats and the “potential of domestic violent extremists” who could carry out attacks on US territory; possibly against federal facilities.

The internal statement makes specific reference to a detected threat to plant a so-called ‘dirty bomb’ in front of the FBI headquarters, as well as calls for “civil war” and “armed rebellion.” The alert is linked to the strong rhetoric unleashed by numerous extremist Republican lawmakers in response to the search, as well as various far-right Republican operatives accusing the FBI, the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland of abusing power and persecuting. to his political enemies.

The White House has taken the threats – made especially on networks and forums – with great attention, with nerves on the surface after the experience of January 2021, with the serious disturbances caused by radical elements after Trump’s electoral defeat , whose culmination was the assault on the Capitol.

On Twitter, extremist congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Garland of corruption and called for defunding the FBI. Far-right channel Breitbar and former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler have come under fire for making the identity of the agents in charge of the Mar-a-Lago house search public on social media. As a consequence, some of them have already suffered threats and episodes of violent harassment.

Incitement to riots has already materialized in several incidents across the country. Last week a Trump supporter was shot dead by police after trying to attack FBI agents in Cincinnati with an assault rifle.

This past Saturday, a group of extremists gathered in front of the agency’s offices in Fénix. And the next day in Washington DC, an individual crashed his vehicle into a barrier near the Capitol. As the car caught fire, the driver got out of the interior, fired several shots into the air with a gun, and then killed himself. The Police investigate the facts to try to find out the reason that led the driver, 29 years old and a resident of Delaware, to act in this way and does not rule out a political origin.

In the midst of this context of growing tension, a group of moderate Republican governors has denounced the “scandalous rhetoric” of their party colleagues in Congress against the federal authorities and defended the perfectly executed search operation according to the law. The head of the State of Maryland, Larry Hogan, on Monday described the Republican attacks as “absurd” and “dangerous” after a week of radicalized demonstrations, including that of Florida Senator Rick Scott, who compared the FBI to the Gestapo. The campaign has been accompanied by substantial fundraising under the slogan ‘Defund the FBI’.

Ultras in favor of the former president have made calls to take up arms against the FBI on social platforms and alternative blogs. In some of these forums, conspiracy theorists even speculate on an alleged “federal conspiracy,” which would actually try to cause Trump’s arrest in the heat of protests from his supporters.

Situation “very dangerous”

In his first interview since the Mar-a-Lago operation, through the digital platform of the Fox News network, the former president warned on Monday that “terrible things are going to happen” in the United States. Accused of encouraging violence and threats directed at FBI agents, Trump acknowledged at one point that the temperature of the public discourse of his enraged supporters must be lowered, in an attempt to calm his supporters.

However, the magnate returned to frame the search and seizure of documents in his residence as part of an alleged political “witch hunt” against him and pointed out that the country is in “a very dangerous situation”, since there is a ” great general irritation over years of fraud’. He said little about why he had entire drawers of classified material in his house that should be kept in the National Archives. The FBI recovered from Mar-a-Lago a total of 20 boxes full of documents taken from the White House, including the famous eleven folders with the national security high level seal.

As if that were not enough, Trump demanded this Monday the return of the seized documents alleging that he is covered by the presidential privilege, an argument without any basis, and even more trivial, referring to the attorney-client privilege. The alleged executive privilege only covers the acting president and does not shield him from illegal actions and criminal offenses. To arouse the hilarity or astonishment of the Americans, Trump justified the discovery of the dossiers because “everyone takes work home” at some point.