DHS terror threat bulletin warns online forums are encouraging copycat Uvalde attacks
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a terror threat bulletin Tuesday warning that online forums harboring domestic violent extremist content and conspiracy theories have encouraged copycat attacks in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Members of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence & Analysis assess that these online platforms have also “seized on the event to attempt to spread disinformation and incite grievances, including claims it was a government-staged event meant to advance gun control measures.”
A recent report for the FBI found that since 2018, six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the United States have been carried out by gunmen 21 years of age or younger.
“With individuals who are younger in age, committing these attacks, we think — and this is something we’re still looking at — access to content online is really fueling those personal grievances and often inaccurate misperceptions about current events,” a senior homeland security official told reporters during a briefing this week. “It’s really difficult for younger individuals to navigate the internet and understand what is considered to be credible information that they’re consuming.”
The bulletin released from DHS also warns of the growing popularity of “replacement theory.” President Biden spoke about the replacement theory after the mass shooting in Buffalo New York where the gunman targeted African Americans in the shooting at the Tops Grocery store.
“As recent acts of violence in communities across the country have so tragically demonstrated, the nation remains in a heightened threat environment, and we expect that environment will become more dynamic in the coming months,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement after the most recent mass shooting in Tulsa Oklahoma.
After all these mass shootings a new report came out saying that there has been one mass shooting a week in the year 2022. From all the mass shootings the President is urging Congress to pass gun violence legislation. All the mass shootings it has sparked school walkouts all across the United States and protests on Capitol Hill on Monday.
As this bulletin was released a bipartisan group of Senators are set to meet and continue negations on trying to make a deal on gun violence prevention including things like red flag laws, raising the minimum age of purchasing assault riffles to 21, requiring background checks and giving more funding to schools to ramp up security.
