Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has declassified a Biden-era plan aimed at countering domestic terrorism.
The 2021 strategy followed the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. It pushed for more coordination between the government and tech companies. It also included calls to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The plan focused on disinformation from foreign actors radicalizing Americans. It urged closer ties with private industry to monitor domestic threats. It also addressed in-prison radicalization and extremism within the military.
One section read: “develop awareness training for active service military members, DOD employees and contractors, and those service members separating or retiring from the military on the threat posed by domestic terrorism, the potential targeting of those with military training by violent extremist actors, and relevant reporting mechanisms.”
The strategy laid out four objectives: understand threats, prevent radicalization, disrupt violence, and address long-term causes. It aimed for a government-wide response to domestic terror risks.
It pushed for more civics and literacy education. The goal was to build resilience against disinformation and promote civic engagement.
The strategy also called for greater inclusion in pandemic response. It highlighted issues like hate crime underreporting, law enforcement bias, and xenophobia. It backed more training and improved hate crime data.
President Biden introduced the plan as the first national domestic terror strategy. He framed domestic terrorism as a top security threat after Jan. 6.
Gabbard acted after a request from conservative group America First Legal. The group claimed the plan enabled government overreach and censorship of dissent.
The ACLU criticized the original strategy in 2021. It warned that it “reflects the government’s ever-expanding authority to surveil and monitor American communities…and the use of abusive tools such as the watchlisting system against people for constitutionally protected speech and association.”