Domestic Extremists Praise Club Q Shooting Suspect: Homeland Security

ACROSS AMERICA — Department of Homeland Security officials issued a terror threat bulletin Wednesday warning that domestic extremists’ online praise for the Nov. 19 Club Q gay nightclub shooting that killed five and injured at least 18 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, could lead to copycat killings.

“We have observed actors on forums known to post radically or ethnically motivated violent extremist content praising the alleged attacker,” the agency said in its latest National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin.

The bulletin warned that “threat actors could exploit several upcoming events to justify or commit acts of violence,” including midterm election certifications, large holiday gatherings and the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, but said other yet-to-be defined threats could develop based on “ideological beliefs or personal hostility.”

“Targets of potential violence include public gatherings, faith-based institutions, the LGBTQI+ community, schools, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, U.S. critical infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents,” the bulletin said.

The influence of domestic extremists extends beyond U.S. borders. The DHS’ Office of Intelligence & Analysis exposed similar praise from U.S. extremists who encouraged violence after a shooting at an LGBTQ bar in Slovakia last month that left two people dead.

Intelligence analysts said the attacker posted an online manifesto espousing white supremacist beliefs and his admiration for people who have carried out attacks, including some based in the United States.

“That is a concern to us as it might motivate others to carry out similar attacks,” a senior Homeland Security official told reporters Wednesday, noting the LGBTQ community, in particular, continues to be “targeted for violence,” CBS News reported.

An earlier bulletin outlining threats to the LGBTQ community was set to expire Wednesday. The current bulletin expires in May.

Increasingly, extremists who espouse different ideologies have coalesced online around violent attacks on LGBTQ communities, the official said.

“Having a racially or ethnically motivated set of violent actors look to this attack in Colorado and highlight it as something worthy of emulation — I don’t think I find it particularly surprising,” the official added.

Colorado Springs investigators are still trying to unravel the suspect’s motivation in the shooting, the bulletin said. Preliminary state charges include five counts of bias-motivated crime on top of five first-degree murder charges.

The bulletin also warned of “the enduring threat to faith-based communities,” including Jews.

A New Jersey man who is accused of threatening attacks on Jews and synagogues shared a manifesto that praised 9/11 terror attack mastermind Osama bin Laden and claimed to be motivated by ISIS and his hatred toward Jewish people. The suspect also talked about targeting LGBTQ clubs, according to court documents.

Intelligence officials are monitoring for potential violence in the days ahead of the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff election.

“The same concerns that we were focused on during the midterm elections, obviously, still pertain to the runoff,” the official said at the news briefing. “And that concern doesn’t evaporate on election day.”

Midterm election certifications will continue through December, and that could inspire social media posts encouraging violence based on false accusations of election fraud, according to the bulletin. During the election cycle, several elected officials, candidates and political organizations received threatening letters with suspicious powders that, “while not found to be dangerous or toxic, were likely intended to target the political process,” it added.

The attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband during a home invasion in October was inspired by “partisan grievances and conspiracy theories,” according to the bulletin.

“Perceptions of government overreach” have led to attacks on government officials and law enforcement officers, the bulletin said.

A man wearing body armor and armed with a firearm and nail gun who forced himself into the FBI field office in Cincinnati in August had said in an online appeal for others to acquire weapons and kill federal law enforcement officers that he felt as if he was fighting in a “civil war,” according to the bulletin.

“Some domestic violent extremists have expressed grievances based on perceptions that the government is overstepping its Constitutional authorities or failing to perform its duties,” the bulletin said.

Issues related to immigration have historically been cited by extremists as the inspiration for violence, the bulletin noted, and any changes in border security and immigration policy “may heighten these calls for violence.”

The warning comes as the Biden administration weighs whether to appeal a federal court ruling requiring U.S. border officials to stop expelling migrants under the Trump-era Title 42 policy.

Homeland Security officials have issued such memos about homegrown terrorists since 2015. The memo issued after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was the first outlining a wholly domestic threat to the nation, originating from what it terms “Domestic Violent Extremists,” or DVEs.

The bulletins describe current developments and trends, but fall short of an “elevated alert,” which warns of a credible, specific imminent threat.

The Biden administration has issued seven NTAS bulletins among more than 120 intelligence products related to domestic extremism.