Law Center challenges basis of DHS report on right-wing extremist threat

Apr 15, 2009 / 19:04 pm

The Thomas More Law Center announced today that it has filed a request with the Department of Homeland Security challenging the basis for their recent “Threat of Right-Wing Extremism” report, which says those who oppose abortion, gun control, and  immigration laws pose a potential threat to national security.

Yesterday, CNA reported that the Department of Homeland Security released a report called “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” The nine-page document was sent to police and sheriff’s departments nationwide, warning of the possible threat to national security posed by “groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

The report identified as possibly dangerous “those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.”

Thomas More Law Center, a pro-bono group that “promotes America’s Christian heritage and moral values, including the religious freedom of Christians” responded to the report by filing a Freedom of Information Act asking the DHS to explain the basis for the report.

The legal center also cited the report’s “singling out of military veterans” as particularly concerning.

The head of the American Legion, David Rehbein, took umbrage at the DHS report, sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday.  Rehbein called the document "incomplete, and, I fear, politically-biased" since it warns that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could be recruited by right-wing groups for possible terrorist attacks.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said “This is not an intelligence report but a diatribe against those who oppose the policies of the Obama administration. It is a declaration of war against the American people and our constitution. It is a prelude to extreme gun control legislation and hate speech laws targeting Christian churches and others who oppose abortion and same sex marriage. 

He also said, “The federal government should be focusing its attention on the 35 radical Muslim compounds in the U.S. training its followers on how to kidnap and kill Americans.”

Also working with the Law Center is nationally syndicated radio talk show host Dr. Michael Savage, who “warned of the possibility of a document like this being produced by DHS when [they] raised the issue of ‘Fusion Cells.’”

Fusion Cells are local intelligence agencies located across the country that DHS created to combat terrorism, “which includes pro-life activity,” the Law Center says.

After receiving negative news coverage of the report, Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, released a statement today.

Napolitano acknowledged the concerns of many Americans and said, “Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don’t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group,” adding that the DHS does “not – nor will ever – monitor ideology or political beliefs.”