Shocking FBI report labels black identity extremists as terrorist threats

[procon]

Ex-counterterrorism officials express shock at FBI report labeling ‘black identity extremists’

BRAD REED
06 OCT 2017 AT 14:22 ET

The FBI recently issued a report claiming that so-called “black identity extremists” were a terrorist threat on par with the American white supremacist movement — and some former counterterrorism officials are claiming that the bureau is simply conjuring a threat from thin air.
...

However, one former counterterrorism official tells Foreign Policy that the BIE “movement” is something that the FBI seems to have been made up whole cloth. “This is a new umbrella designation that has no basis,” the official said. “There are civil rights and privacy issues all over this.”


Michael German, a former FBI agent and now a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program, similarly said there was no concerted “BIE” movement, and that the FBI was simply creating a new term to link individual incidents of violence against police officers. “Basically, it’s black people who scare them,” German said.

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/ex-counterterrorism-officials-express-shock-at-fbi-report-labeling-black-identity-extremists-as-terrorist-threats/

So, is this the FBI under Trump is creating a fake Black Identity Extremist movement that's equivalent to White Supremacists because, you know, Trump says, "both sides are guilty"?

I can't even pretend to be shocked that racism isn't run amuck in Trump's America when the mass killer in Las Vegas isn't labeled as a domestic terrorist.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Black people, all black people can now be considered terrorists on contact.

gee, do elections have consequences or what

[Afromania]

2. we already are, all they did was make it official.

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. This is absolutely unacceptable.

[jaysunb]

10. +1000 n/t

[procon]

5. That's going to be the new excuse for targeting anyone who is black.

Black church choirs and bible study groups are now at risk.

Black sports figure are already singled out.

What next? The FBI will open investigation on black entertainers, maybe a bunch of little kids attending a birthday pizza party?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Anyone who has a basic understanding of history wouldn't find this shocking at all.

Here's the link to the organization that did the actual work of reporting and should get the clicks: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/06/the-fbi-has-identified-a-new-domestic-terrorist-threat-and-its-black-identity-extremists/

As white supremacists prepared to descend on Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, the FBI warned about a new movement that was violent, growing, and racially motivated. Only it wasn’t white supremacists; it was “black identity extremists.”

Amid a rancorous debate over whether the Trump administration has downplayed the threat posed by white supremacist groups, the FBI’s counterterrorism division has declared that black identity extremists pose a growing threat of premeditated violence against law enforcement.

“The FBI assesses it is very likely Black Identity Extremist (BIE) perceptions of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence,” reads the report, marked for official use only and obtained by Foreign Policy.

The August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, was the catalyst for widespread anger and violence, the FBI report says, concluding that continued “alleged” police abuses have fueled more violence.

[procon]

6. Tried, but got slammed by their paywall, even with incognito. nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Don't know what to tell you. I accessed it fine.

I encourage you to use original sources instead of Raw Story, which rips off other outlets' reporting.

[procon]

8. Good for you. Did I sign up for your web etiquette course,

or are you the new sheriff here abouts? C'mon now, let me encourage you to find someone who will better will appreciate your august opinions, yeah?

[tenderfoot]

9. "Black Identity Extremist"

Talking about grasping for straws.

[Lee-Lee]

11. There are black splinter movements of the sovereign citizen movement

They typically go by titles like the Moors, Moorish nation, or Washitaw Nation and their beliefs are an odd mix of black nationalism,Islam and sovereign citizen buttery.

Gavin Eugene Long who shot six cops in Baton Rouge was a Washitaw Nation follower, as one example.

While not as large as the white sovereign citizen movement it is one of the fastest growing segments.

If anyone dines believe me on this feel free to consult the SPLC or any other source.

[procon]

12. No one is arguing that whacko people don't exist regardless of their race or ethnicity,

but the problem is the FBI is trying to create a false dichotomy by breathlessly reporting that a small handful of black identity nuts is "on par with the American white supremacist movement".

That's clearly a lie as these small, disjointed black splinter groups apparently lack the numbers and the money to organize similar well attended show of force events like the white supremacists. That's the whole issue; the FBI is lying.