✍️Follow the Pen Catherine Herridge shares an update from a newly released report by Tulsi Gabbard. The report reveals a declassified December 2021 document by the FBI, DHS, and NCTC that labels Americans opposing COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates as "Domestic Violent Extremists" (DVEs). This classification potentially violates First Amendment rights by enabling government assessments of individuals based on their skepticism, as noted by former FBI agent Steve Friend.

The report claims that "anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists," specifically militias, "characterize COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates as evidence of government overreach." It states that a sweeping range of COVID narratives "have resonated" with DVEs "motivated by QAnon."

Herridge notes that the report cites criticism of mandates as "prominent narratives" related to violent extremism. These narratives include beliefs that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe, especially for children; are part of a government or global conspiracy to deprive individuals of their civil liberties and livelihoods; or are designed to start a new social or political order.

She adds that a separate February 2022 report, titled "Special Analysis: Joint Analytic Cell," investigates the "Sociopolitical Factors Amplifying Persistent Domestic Violent Extremist Threat."

"The newly declassified report seems to draw a direct line between opposition to vaccine mandates and elevated levels of domestic terrorism," Herridge concludes.

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