FBI and DHS warn faith-based communities 'will likely continue' to be targets of violence
CNN
Top officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security warned in a letter Monday that faith-based communities will likely remain targets for violence, urging state and local partners to evaluate their security postures for mass gathering events and at houses of worship.
"Faith based communities have and will likely continue to be targets of violence by both domestic violent extremists and those inspired by foreign terrorists," said the letter from Paul Abbate, FBI deputy director, and John D. Cohen, the top intelligence official at DHS.
Online forums linked to domestic violent extremists have referenced Jewish targets tied to conspiracy theories about Covid-19, the outcome of the 2020 election and "even the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and resettlement of Afghans to the United States," according to the letter obtained by CNN.
President Joe Biden asserted Friday that Hamas has been degraded to a point where it can no longer carry out the type of attack that launched the current 8-month conflict in Gaza, laying out a three-phase proposal Israel has submitted to wind down the grinding crisis as he declared, “It’s time for this war to end.