(WASHINGTON) — A “diverse set of actors” in the U.S. could use Monday’s one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel as an opportunity to “engage in violence or threaten public safety,” Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials warned on Wednesday, sources said, adding that the actors could specifically target Jewish, Muslim or Arab communities.
Law enforcement is particularly concerned about hoax threats targeting symbolic institutions or public gatherings, according to sources, although there is currently no credible threat that anything is going to happen.
Those places are “pretty attractive targets” if an extremist wanted to carry out an attack, officials said.
Actors with a range of motivations, including those who are antisemitic or Islamophobic, could be motivated to strike, especially with Al Queda and ISIS encouraging lone offenders to carry out attacks against the West, according to sources.
Foreign terrorist organizations online could escalate the threat of violence in the U.S., particularly targeting Jewish community institutions and U.S. officials who support Israel, sources said.
At the same time, it is unlikely that Hezbollah or Iran or its proxies would attack inside the U.S. homeland, sources said.
After the events of Oct. 7, hate crimes in the U.S. skyrocketed. Hate crimes continue to be the biggest threat to members of the Arab, Jewish and Muslim communities, officials warned.
Senior DHS and FBI officials are concerned that graphic images from the continuing conflict in the Middle East could contribute to radicalization, violence and even retaliatory attacks.
Sources also said that the FBI and DHS are “aware” that violence can occur at local protests.
Officials went into more detail about the threat that election officials face from domestic violent extremists.
White supremacists did make threats in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, according to sources, and officials remain concerned they could be inspired to carry out an attack.
The FBI believes that the threat from domestic violent extremists could persist through the presidential inauguration in January.
Violent extremists could seek to use a range of violence or disruptive tactics against individuals and entities associated with the presidential election, including physical attacks, threats of violence, swatting and doxing, mailing or otherwise delivering suspicious items, arson and other means of property destruction, FBI officials said on a call with law enforcement partners that was described to ABC News.
Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie Canegallo said on the call that the threat environment is “volatile.”
Individuals who could be targeted include candidates for public office, elected officials, political party representatives, election workers, judicial personnel, participating in court cases related to the election media personnel and perceived ideological opponents, the FBI assesses, according to sources.
Domestic violent extremists could also target voting locations, ballot drop boxes, voter registration locations, political rallies, campaign events and political party offices, and could target the homes of public officials.
The concern from security officials is that domestic violent extremists continue to “promote and exploit” narratives about the election and that that could motivate some extremists to act upon grievances.
“Since the last presidential election, some of the most common social and political issues extremists have violently reacted to include immigration, LGBTQIA+ rights and abortion access,” an FBI official said, according to sources.
Some indicators, sources said, are suspicious behavior around the sites themselves, specific threats of violence, packages with excessive tape or postage stamps, photographing election related infrastructure and unfamiliar people around a certain site.
The warning comes as DHS on Wednesday issued its Homeland Security Threat Assessment that outlined threats facing the United States.
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