Executive Summary
(U) The IC assesses that domestic violent extremists (DVEs) who are motivated by a range of ideologies
and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the
Homeland in 2021. Enduring DVE motivations pertaining to biases against minority populations and
perceived government overreach will almost certainly continue to drive DVE radicalization and mobilization
to violence. Newer sociopolitical developments—such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the
emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic,
and conspiracy theories promoting violence—will almost certainly spur some DVEs to try to engage in
violence this year.
(U) The IC assesses that lone offenders or small cells of DVEs adhering to a diverse set of violent extremist
ideologies are more likely to carry out violent attacks in the Homeland than organizations that allegedly
advocate a DVE ideology. DVE attackers often radicalize independently by consuming violent extremist
material online and mobilize without direction from a violent extremist organization, making detection and
disruption difficult.
(U) The IC assesses that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) and militia violent
extremists (MVEs) present the […]